208 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 



llthly. Acquired qualities of mind as well as body may be 

 transmitted by either parent, as in the case of Dr. Brown's 

 ' Heather Jock,' whose prick ears were an acquired variety, and 

 yet have very frequently been transmitted ; but the converse is 

 not to be maintained, if only accidental, since the deprivation of a 

 limb or other organ by accident, is not perpetuated. But if a 

 variety, in which an organ is deficient, can be established without 

 violence, such a deficiency will often be propagated, as in the 

 tailless cat, short-tailed pointer, &c. 



12thly. The purer or less mixed the breed, the more likely it is 

 to be transmitted in the same form as the parent, and as the blood 

 of the male is generally more carefully attended to than that of 

 the female, it often happens, as a consequence of its greater purity, 

 that his form will predominate in the offspring. But if the male 

 is more crossed than the female, the contrary will generally be the 

 case. 



ISthly. Bad as well as good qualities may be transmitted, and 

 therefore it is clear that, to improve any stock, a male should be 

 chosen which has not only the requisite good points, but is free 

 from those defects, which are to be got rid of in the female. The 

 breeder must also select a male, in whose family these good 

 points have been long resident, and are not in him accidental 

 occurrences. 



14thly. Breeding f in and in ' cannot be shown to be injurious 

 in wild animals, since it is well known that, in gregarious wild 

 animals, the strongest male retains his daughters, grand-daughters, 

 and often great-grand-daughters, as part of his train. Nor is 



