OF VARIEriES IN FORM. 393 



way we may gain slieep valuable for their fleece; or for 

 their carcass', large or small ; with thick or thin legs; just 

 such, in short, as we choose, within certain limits. 



The importance of this principle is fully understood in 

 rearing horses. The Arabian preserves the pedigree of his 

 horse more carefully than his own ; and never allows any 

 ignoble blood to be mixed with that of his valued breeds ; 

 he attests their unsullied nobility by formal depositions and 

 numerous witnesses*. The English breeder knows equally 

 well that he must vary his stallions and mares according as 

 he wishes for a cart-horse, a riding-horse, or a racer ; and 

 that a mistake in this point would immediately frustrate 

 his views. The distinguished and various excellences, 

 which the several English races of these useful animals have 

 acquired, shew what close attention and perseverance can 

 accomplish in the improvement of breed. 



Blood is equally important in the cock ; and the intro- 

 duction of an inferior individual would inevitably deterio- 

 rate the properties of the offspring. 



The hereditary transmission of physical and moral qua- 

 lities, so well understood and familiarly acted on in the 

 domestic animals, is equally true of man. A superior breed 

 of human beings could only be produced by selections 

 and exclusions similar to those so successfully employed in 



* " Several things concur to maintain this perfection in the horses of Arabia ; 

 such as the great care the Arabs lake in preserving the breed genuine, and 

 by permitting none but stallions of the first form to have access to the mares : 

 this is never done but in the presence of a witness, the secretary of the emir, 

 or some public officer; he attests the fact, records the name of the horse, 

 mnre, and whole pedigree of each ; and these attestations are carefully pre- 

 served, for on them depends the future price of the foal." 



A copy of a public legal certificate given to the purchaser of an Arabian 

 horse is added in a note. Pennant's British Zoology, v. ii. Appendix 1. 



Equal attention is paid to the breed of horses by the Circassians, who 

 distinguish the various races by marks on the buttock. To imprint the cha- 

 racter of noble descent on a horse of common race, is a kind of forgery 

 punished with death. Pali,as, Travels in the Southern Provinces of the 

 Russian Empire ; ch. xiv. 



