266 THE HORSE, 



Herod, and Matcbem, or Eegulus blood. It is not that a horse 

 goes back to one of these stallions in one line only, bnt through 

 six o)' seven, and sometimes through nearly all his progenitors. 

 Hence, it may fairly be assumed that all the horses of the pres- 

 ent day are related, eitlier closely or distantly ; but when we 

 speak of in-and-in-breeding we mean a nearer relationship than 

 this, such as a first cousin, or, at the most, one in the second or 

 third degree. But I believe it will be found tliat even tliis 

 amount of relationship is desirable, if not carried too far, and 

 that a vast number of our best modern horses have been bred 

 in this way. 



Examples of Success from this Plan. — ^The early race- 

 horses of the 18tli century were notoriously in-bred, of which 

 Mr. Smith, in his book on breeding for the turf, gives us numer- 

 ous convincing examples. The two Childers, Eclipse, Ranthos, 

 Whiskey, Anvil, Boudrow, and, in fact, almost all the horses of 

 tliat day, were much in-bred ; sometimes, as in the case of the 

 clam of Leedes, to an incestuous degree. In the above-men- 

 tioned treatise the breeder is advised to breed once in, before 

 breeding-out; and it appears to me that better advice was never 

 offered, except that I think it is only carried half as far as 

 it ought to be. But, in consequence of the injurious effects of 

 the system of in-breeding in the human family, a prejudice has 

 been raised against it; and the result has been, that in trying 

 the opposite plan great mischief has often ensued. I have al- 

 ready shown that in nature in-breeding prevails very generally 

 among gregarious animals, like the horse and dog, and I will 

 now endeavor to illustrate Mr. Smith's argument by modern 

 examples. It may be remembered that he instances the Herod 

 and Eclipse blood as having "hit" in a great number of horses, 

 such as Whiskey, Waxy, Coriander, Precipitate, Calomel, Over- 

 ton, Gohanna, and Beninbrough, which were out of Herod 

 mares, by sons of Eclii^se. But it must also be known tliat 

 Eclipse and Herod are both descended from the Darley Ara- 

 bian, the one on the sire's side, and the other on that of the 

 dam ; and that from this circumstance it is not surprising that 

 a "hit" should follow, if in-breeding be advantageous. There 

 are two points of view in which in-breeding should be viewed; 

 first, as producing successful runners ; and secondly, good stal- 



