EFFECT OF CROSSING BLOOD. 27 



three of the first imported stallions, form the ne 

 plus ultra of all racing pedigrees. As to the asser- 

 tion, that, for a horse to claim the title of thorough- 

 bred, it is necessary he should be of pure Oriental 

 descent, it cannot for a moment be supported ; as, 

 independently of the fact, that only two mares are 

 stated in the Stud-Book, or elsewhere, on autho- 

 rity, to have been imported into England, in the 

 early days of racing, it is well known that the first 

 British race-horses were those of British breed, 

 changed, ameliorated, and, at last, perfected by the 

 admixture of Eastern blood, and judicious crossing 

 afterwards. 



The effect of what is called crossing blood is as 

 follows : The first cross gives one-half, or 50 per 

 cent. ; the second 75 per cent. ; the third 87i per 

 cent. ; and the fourth 93 1 per cent. In sheep, 

 after this, if the ewes have been properly selected, 

 the difference in the wool between the original 

 stock and the mixed breed is scarcely perceptible ; 

 but with the horse, the breeder must not stop here, 

 if he means to produce a race-horse ; and a curious 

 fact is stated respecting sheep, on the authority of 

 the Count Veltheim, of Brunswick, an extensive 

 breeder of that species of stock. " It has fre- 

 quently occurred to me,"*"* says he, " that rams, 

 which, after an improvement of four or five descents, 

 have rivalled all the msihle qualities of the purest 

 Merinos, when employed in propagation, have got 

 very ordinary lambs, and consequently they are 

 not fit to be used for breeding. On the other hand, 

 a fact may be stated, wherein, after a yqyj oppo- 



