RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF THE PARENTS. 87 



influences may be such as to effect what may approxi- 

 mate a reconstruction or new combination of the ele- 

 ments, in a manner analogous to the chemical changes 

 which we know take place in the constituents of vege- 

 tables, as for instance, we find that sugar, gum and 

 starch, substances quite unlike in their appearance and 

 uses, are yet formed from the same elements and in 

 nearly or precisely the same proportions, by a chemistry 

 which we have not yet fathomed. Whether this sup- 

 position be correct or not, there is little doubt that if 

 we understood fully all the influences at work, and could 

 estimate fairly all the data to judge from, we might 

 predict with confidence what would be the characteris- 

 tics of the progeny from any given union. 



Practically, the knowledge obtained dictates in a 

 most emphatic manner that every stock-grower use his 

 utmost endeavor to obtain the services of the best 

 sires ; that is, the best for the end and purposes in view — 

 that he depend chiefly on the sire for outward form and 

 symmetry — that he select dams best calculated to de- 

 velop the good qualities of the male, depending chiefly 

 upon these for freedom from internal disease, for hardi- 

 hood, constitution, and generally for all qualities de- 

 pendent upon the vital or nutritive system. 



The neglect which is too common, and especially in 

 breeding horses, to the qualities of the dam, miserably 



