THE CROSSING, &C, OF CATTLE, ET AL. 317 



ant thereon, will go on breeding animals, and make no 

 attempt to repair such defects, as legs reduced in size, 

 and in bone, and void of wool ; a head hornless, 

 small, concave or too abruptly tapering ; body either 

 diminished in width, towards the rump, or, with chest 

 and barrel narrow and shallow; the ribs, forming but 

 a meagre arch from the spine ; the back, hollow ; the 

 ears, small; the withers, depressed; the tail, short and 

 small ; and other variations from the true symmetry 

 of build. 



Blackwell made, what must be considered, in theory, 

 as a mistake; although, practically, it was not such. 

 Reference is had, to the small size at which he aimed, 

 in all his animals. He was governed, in this, by per- 

 ceiving, that smaller animals are of more profit to the 

 breeder, because they consume less food, as the same 

 amount of pasture, which feeds a smaller number of 

 large animals, will suffice a larger number of small 

 ones. 



Upon even the strictest, practical principles of breed- 

 ing, he was justified, in this course. For, if the pro- 

 portion of the characters be maintained, it matters but 

 little, within certain limits, how the general size may 

 be reduced ; and, as the very little evil entailed by mere 

 reduction in size, would be made manifest, only after 

 many generations of the closest interbreeding, the gain, 

 resulting to the breeder, would more than outweigh 

 any consideration of the slight and remote injury to 

 the animals. 



That some evil, though, generally, inappreciably 

 small, does result from reduced size, is manifest, a 



