220 THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN 



the same is more than I can conceive. The 

 palmist says the life of man is written in 

 the palm of the hand ; scientists might add 

 — ^what his descendants will be can be de- 

 termined by his life germs. 



There are many reasons why stud duty 

 endangers a stallion's fertility. He may be 

 overworked by making more than one ser- 

 vice a day. Some stallions can stand only 

 one mating a day; some nine per week; a 

 few, two a day. Too frequent mating 

 greatly lessens the number, uniform size, 

 virility and vigor of the germ cells and af- 

 fects the offspring. Diseased mares may 

 carry to a stallion bacteria wMch will cause 

 him serious trouble, while any disorder of 

 the bodily functions interferes with his 

 sexual force, and, so every mare at my 

 farm, before being bred, is examined by 

 means of a speculum and treated with a 

 simple bacteria exterminator. The higher 

 bred the mare, the more bacteria; what 

 is true of the horse is true of the human. 



The necessity of such examinations, as I 

 have mentioned, may be seen when I stato 



