Dec. lo, 1 8 74 J 



NATURE 



107 



purpose has been for some time exempt from duty on 

 certain conditions. An excellent preparation, the nicotine 

 dip, is thus manufactured. 



We have had in view in the foregoing remarks the 

 utility of this worl: to practical men who may seek in its 

 pages facts and principles which would be of direct use 

 and benefit to them in their pursuit of agricultural wealth. 

 Possibly the author intends that it should become a text- 

 book for the use of the 760 persons who, according to the 

 last census, are learning farming professionally in Eng- 

 land and Wales. Many of these will, it is to be hoped, 

 in due time, become the agricultural luminaries of their 

 country. It is of national importance that their minds 

 should be thoroughly filled with the great truths of scien- 

 tific agriculture. They can pick up facts readily enough 

 on the several farms on which they reside ; but to books 

 they must look mainly for an exposition of scientific prin- 

 ciples. To review this book, or any kindred work, in a 

 way which would be of value to the agricultural student, 

 would require more space than is at our disposal. We 

 shall therefore select one subject well adapted to our 

 purpose, and notice the author's treatment of it. That 

 subject is breeding, which to the agricultural student and 

 to the nation at large possesses the deepest possible 

 interest. The section, or essay, on this subject is intro- 

 duced under a high-sounding title — " The Principles and 

 Practice of Breeding." We expected a masterly exposi- 

 tion of principles and an array of facts to maintain them. 

 We have been disappointed. Some principles enunciated, 

 which are either wholly or partially true, are illustrated 

 by unhappy examples ; and statements are made which 

 are either questionable or contradicted by other state- 

 ments. In common w-ith many authors and breeders, 

 Mr. Spooner is of opinion that in the offspring the 

 characteristics of the male prevail in the majority of 

 cases (p. 145). The discussion of this subtile topic would 

 occupy much space. We cannot enter upon it now. 

 But if the statement were true in the way Mr. Spooner 

 puts it, the majority of lambs would be of the male 

 gender ; but it is not always so. In support of the above 

 proposition wc are reminded that "the mule part ikes 

 more of the nature of its sire, the ass, than of its dam, 

 the mare." This is quite true ; but is it not also true that 

 the jennett is more like its dam, the ass, than its sire, the 

 horse ? The statements copied from one work into 

 another on the paramount influence of the male are based 

 partly on erroneous views, and partly on inadequate facts. 

 Given a male and female equal in breeding, in age, and 

 vigour of constitution, they will contribute equally to the 

 characters of the offspring. As a rule the male in every 

 class of live stock is better bred than the female ; and 

 as a matter of course the offspring partakes more of his 

 characteristics. Mr. Spooner does not appear to have ap- 

 preciated the hereditary influence. " Some farmers," he 

 says, " are real advocates for a pure breed and a long pedi- 

 gree, whilst others despise the pedigree and prefer gaining 

 their ends by means of crossing. Each to a certain 

 extent is right, and each wrong." We ask, how can any 

 person be right to any extent, who despises pedigree ? 

 Again, we are told, in the same page, that " a long pedi- 

 gree may be useless." We give Mr. Spooner credit for 

 more intelligence than to believe he entertains the opinion 

 which those words convey. Indeed, we go so far as to ex- 



press our belief that, owing to the peculiar style in which 

 he writes, his words do not always convey his real views. 

 We find additional evidence of this in his remarks on 

 breeding in-and-in. Any person conversant with the first 

 principles of breeding knows that breeding in-and-in 

 intensifies the hereditary influence. Two rams, for ex- 

 ample, equal in size, age, shape, vigour, and quality, but 

 differing in this— that one is closely bred, while the other 

 is not, will leave their marks on the offspring in very 

 different degrees. The one which is closely bred will, as 

 every breeder of experience and intelligence knows, per- 

 petuate his own points with much greater certainty than 

 the other. According to the language of Mr. Spooner, 

 we should look chiefly to the "resemblance" of the 

 parents. " The stronger resemblance," he says, '■ there 

 is between the qualities of both parents, if they are good, 

 the more likely is it that the offspring will be perfect." 

 While it is quite true that the nearer the sire and dam 

 approach to each other in shape and quaUty the better, 

 we are not to recognise this as the embodiment of any 

 fundamental principle of breeding. One of the most 

 difticult things the breeder of improved stock has to 

 eftect is to produce uniformity of type or resemblance. 

 The question is, How is it to be done ? The answer is 

 this : Skill must be exercised in pairing animals until the 

 desired qualities are produced ; and those qualities once 

 obtained, are fixed by close breeding. It is thus that the 

 qualities of shorthorn cattle and Leicester sheep were 

 permanently established. And it is thus, and thus only, 

 that any breeder ol our time, or of future time, can succeed 

 in estabUshing an improved variety of our domestic 

 animals. 



In this section of his book, as well as in other parts of 

 it, Mr. Spooner gives a large number of useful and in- 

 structive facts on the subject of crossing. We feel very 

 great pleasure in adding that his remarks on this impor- 

 tant subject will be worth many times the cost of the 

 work to thousands of sheep-farmers in Great Britain. 



CLOWES'S PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY 

 Ail Elementary Treatise on Practical Chemistry and 

 (Qualitative Inorganic Analysis, specially adapted foi 

 use in the Laboratories of Schools and Colleges, and by 

 Beginners. By Frank Clowes, B.Sc. Lond., Science 

 Master at Queenwood College. (London : J. and A. 

 Churchill, 1874.) 



IF the rate of progress of a science is to be measured 

 by the number of text-books produced annually. 

 Chemistry must assuredly advance with greater strides 

 than any of its sister sciences. Whether this is actually 

 the case we leave to our readers to judge, contenting our- 

 selves here with pointing out the fact that while English 

 Physics is represented by a few manuals, of which a con- 

 siderable proportion are translations from foreign works, 

 the market is, so to speak, glutted with an ever-increasing 

 stock of chemical text-books. 



The volume now before us is the production of a prac- 

 tised teacher of the science, and will doubtless be found of 

 service outside the author's own classes. The work is 

 divided into seven sections and an appendix. In the 

 first section the student is introduced to experiments 

 ! illustrating the methods of preparation and properties of 



