IN-AND-IN BREEDING. 271 



clearly tlie evils of intermnrrying with relatives, — and if, as 

 all animals are constructed on one grand plan, we admit the 

 proximity of the sheep to the human race, it follows, that 

 what is destructive in this respect to the one, is destructive 

 to the other, and that we should seek, by a nearly similar, 

 if not wider range of rules, to obviate many of those dis- 

 eases, of which, when under our protection, they are so 

 frequently the subjects." 



The above is deemed sufficient to show the ground on 

 which the opponents of breeding in and in substantiate their 

 arguments. The writer will now introduce the views of 

 Mr. Spooner on the other side of the question, and from the 

 great interest which every sheep-breeder, who aspires to 

 complete success in his calling, should feel on the subject, 

 no apology is necessary for the length of the extract. 



" The subject of breeding in and in, or from near affini- 

 ties, is one which has given rise to much discussion, and on 

 which there still prevails much discordance of opinion. Its 

 merits, however, can be best understood by carefully exam- 

 ining into its advantages and disadvantages. In the human 

 subject, sexual intercourse between near relations is very 

 properly forbidden by law, and appears, indeed, altogether 

 foreign to our feelings ; and even marriage between rela- 

 tives of the second degree, such as cousins, is regarded by 

 many persons as subject to great objection, and apt to entail 

 disease on the offspring, and particularly disease of a men- 

 tal character. Statistical facts bearing on this matter cer- 

 tainly support this opinion in a marked degree. 



" With animals there is no reluctance to sexual intercourse 

 between the nearest affinities, and the custom of breeding 

 from sheep closely related has been for a long time prac- 

 tised by breeders of considerable eminence. In the human 

 subject the objections to the practice are at once granted, 

 but let us see whether they likewise obtain with animals. 

 In the former, marriages are generally entered into with 

 little, if any regard to the health of the individuals con- 

 cerned, the consequence of which is, that the diseases of 

 the parents, or rather their predispositions, are entailed on 

 their offspring. The result of this is, that most families 

 have predisposition to some particular complaint ; and 

 thus if two members of the same family have sexual inter- 

 course, the probability is, that if both parents had predispo- 

 sition to a particular disease in an equal degree, this will be 



