112 THE HORSE. 



settled on the vendor or his decendants. The birth of a horse can 

 never be considered a misfortune by an Arab, however much lie 

 may prefer a mare for the material advantages which they procure. 

 Mares almost always produce, and it is on that account principally 

 that they are preferred. I repeat it — the birth of an animal that 

 guarantees its master against humiliation can never be considered 

 a misfortune. A poet says: ' My brothers reproach me with my 

 debts, yet I never contracted one but for an honorable purpose. 

 In giving the bread of heaven to all, in purchasing a horse of noble 

 race, and buying a slave to attend upon me." — Bailey's Magazine 

 of Sports, June, 1860. 



My own belief in this matter, founded upon observations made 

 during a long series of years on the horse as well as the dog, is 

 that no rule can be laid down with any certainty. Much depends 

 upon the comparative physical power and strength of constitution 

 in each parent, even more perhaps than the composition of the 

 blood. There have been many instances of two brothers being- 

 used in the stud, both among horses and greyhounds, in which one 

 has almost invariably got his stock resembling himself in all par- 

 ticulars, not even excluding color, while the descendants of the 

 other have rarely been recognisable as his. Thus among horses 

 the Touchstones have been mostly brown or dark bay, and as a lot 

 have shown a high form as racehorses, while the Launcelots have 

 been of all colors, and have been below mediocrity on the turf. 

 Several examples of the same nature may be quoted from among 

 greyhounds, such as Ranter, Gripsey Prince, and Gipsey Royal, 

 three brothers whose stock were as different as possible, but the 

 fact is so generally recognised that it is not necessary to dwell upon 

 it. Now surely this difference in the power of transmitting the 

 likeness of the sire, when the blood is exactly the same as it is 

 observed to extend over large numbers, can only depend upon a 

 variation in individual power. Not only does this apply to the 

 males, but the females also show the same difference. Some mares 

 have gone on producing foals which afterwards turned out first- 

 class whatever horse they were put to, us. for instance, Phryne 

 (dam of winners by Pantaloon, Melbourne, and The Flying Dutch- 

 man). Barbelle, who produced Van Tromp by Lanercost, De Witt 

 by The Provost, and The Plying Dutchman by Ray 3Fiddleton. 

 Alice Hawthorne, successively as well as successfully put to Bird- 

 catcher, Melbourne, Touchstone, Windhound, Melbourne or Wind- 

 hound, and Sweetmeat; and lastly. Ellerdale. dam of Ellington 

 and Ellermere, and Gildermire by Plying Dutchman, Summerside 

 by West Australian, and Wardersmarke by Birdcatcher. On ap- 

 pealing to the greyhound, also, we see some remarkable instances 

 within the last few years, of which Mr. Jardine's Ladylike and 

 Mr. RandelPs Riot may be considered as very strong cases in point. 



