INTRODUCTORY. 13 



After him came a host of others, not all of whom 

 concealed their light beneath a bushel. By long con- 

 tinued and extensive observation, resulting in the 

 collection of numerous facts, and by the collation of 

 these facts of nature, by scientific research and practi- 

 cal experiments, certain physiological laws have been 

 discovered, and principles of breeding have been de- 

 duced and established. It is true that some of these 

 laws are as yet hidden from us, and much regarding 

 them is but imperfectly understood. What we do not 

 know is a deal more than what we do know, but to 

 ignore so much as has been discovered, and is well 

 established, and can bo learned by any who care to do 

 so, and to go on regardless of it, would indicate a 

 degree of wisdom in the breeder on a par with that of 

 a builder who should fasten together wood and iron 

 just as the pieces happened to come to his hand, re- 

 gardless of the laws of architecture, and expect a con- 

 venient house or a fast sailing ship to be the result of 

 his labors. 



Is not the usual course of procedure among many 

 farmers too nearly parallel to the case supposed? Let 

 the ill-favored, chance-bred, mongrel beasts in their 

 barn yards testify. -The truth is, and it is of no use to 

 deny or disguise the fact, the improvement of domestic 

 animals is one of the most important and to a large 



