216 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 



appropriate to herself, as it were, those particles which are 

 most like herself and her progenitors in the compound or 

 crossed stallion put to her. Suppose, for instance, a bitch to be 

 composed of the blood of four different strains, which we will call 

 A, B, C, and D : then, if put to a dog composed also of blood from 

 four different strains, one of which was B itself, or a strain like B, 

 but united with three others, E, F, and Or, then the result would 

 be that the produce would be more likely to inherit the charac- 

 teristics of the B strain than of either A, C, D, E, F, or Gr. If 

 these characteristics are desirable, the result is called f a hit ; ' and 

 it is very extraordinary how far back these f hits ' will sometimes 

 go ; the dog and bitch may not be related for six or seven genera- 

 tions, at which point in their pedigrees they may each own a 

 particular dog as their progenitor, and yet their produce will appear 

 to go back to that particular dog in preference to all the others. 

 This fact has been very evident in crossing between rough and 

 smooth greyhounds, in which the nature of the coat of the puppies 

 is apparently very capricious, but really founded upon the above 

 principle. But it is also seen in form and colour ; a bitch descended 

 from a celebrated dog will sometimes breed two or three different 

 litters without producing one at all like him in form or other 

 characteristics ; but if put to a dog also descended from him, and 

 perhaps totally unlike him, a litter will result resembling in form, 

 colour, and style of going, their famous great-grandsire, or still 

 more remote ancestor. 



This I take to be the reason why e in and in ' breeding has 

 often been so successful. Certain dogs have been conspicuous in 



