68 REPORTS. 



being hereditary or constitutional, may be disregarded, as in 

 the case of Lexington. Stonchcnge recommends a Govern- 

 ment inspection of all horses and mares used for breeding, as 

 a national good ; for it would be a guaranty against constitu- 

 tional and organic defects; As to the age for breeding, the 

 mare should not be less than three years old and the sire to 

 which she is put should not be less than eight years old, that is 

 to say, he should be of full maturity. 



Of the influence of sire and data, Abd-el-Kader an Arabic 

 writer says : " It is true, the foal proceeds from sire and dam, 

 but the experience of ages has proved, that the essential parts 

 of the body,- — such as the bones, tendons, nerves, and veins, — 

 proceed from the sire. This is true beyond doubt. The 

 most ignorant Arab knows that any malady specially belonging 

 to the bones, under which the sire may be suffering, at the 

 time of covering, will be perpetuated in his produce, such as 

 splints, bone and bl.)od spavins, the shape of the bones and all 

 diseases of the Tertcbral column. The dam may give to her 

 produce color, and a certain amount of resemblance in form, 

 the foal naturally partaking of some of the qualities of the 

 animal which had so long borne it ; but it is an incontestable 

 fact, that it is the sire which gives strength to the bones, sub- 

 stance to the tendons, vigor to the nerves, rapidity of pace, in 

 short, all the principal qualities. He also communicates what 

 may be called moral (?) qualities, and if he he of unquestion- 

 ably high blood, the foal is preserved from vice. Our fathers 

 Iiave said, ' A horse of noble race has no vices.' An Arab will 

 lend his Stud horse gratuitously ; he never accepts pay for his 

 services. To hire out a Stud horse for money, is, in the eyes 

 of an Arab, an unworthy action, and is contrary to the gener- 



