SOME BELIEFS OF PRACTICAL BREEDERS 573 
particular, unusual instance, because it is so striking fixes itself in the 
memory and the countless thousands of cases which do not support the 
doctrine are overlooked. There is something in it akin to the memory 
of the card player which retains so tenaciously the recollection of an 
unusual hand, but here it is usually clearly recognized that chance 
alone is responsible for the good fortune. So also in animal breeding 
remembrances of strange coincidences are longest borne in mind, but it 
seems to be a very common fault not to realize that they are after all 
nothing but coincidences. 
Prepotency.—It has been an early observation of animal breeders 
that some animals possess a superior power of impressing offspring 
with their characters. This is precisely what is meant by prepotency; 
a prepotent animal is simply one which has the power to stamp its 
offspring with its own characteristics. Obviously there is much room 
here for confusion of thought, but at least the existence of prepotent 
animals can scarcely be denied. The science of genetics unfortunately 
has not advanced far enough to be able to state precisely what are the 
requisites for prepotency, nor has it progressed to such an extent, as 
some seem to think, that prepotency, like those other popular doctrines 
which have been considered in this chapter, may be analyzed completely 
and its untenable features discarded. 
The fact of prepotency we say must be admitted, and this position 
is justified by a study of the history of any of the established breeds of 
domestic animals. Without exception such breeds all show a narrowing 
of the ancestral lines to a few favored families due to the superior excel- 
lence and transmitting power of the individuals belonging to the family. 
For prepotency is obviously a family matter. 
One of the most notable instances of prepotency is that of the Ham- 
bletonian family of trotters and pacers. The progenitor of this family 
was Hambletonian 10, a remarkable stallion who appears to have 
inherited his excellent characters from those famous imported sires of 
the early days of speed development, Messenger and Bellfounder. 
Hambletonian 10 himself was no mean performer, having to his credit 
a record of 2:48 14 as a 3-year old in 1852, at which time the fastest 
trotting record was 2 :28; but it is as a breeder that he has won enduring 
fame. 
E. Davenport has studied with considerable care the relation of prepo- 
tency to the development of trotting and pacing horses in the United 
States. He found that up to and including 1901, a total of 26,327 horses 
had been admitted to the list of performers, z.e., had records of 2 :30 or 
better. Of these performers, 14,808 traced back to eighty-five grandsires. 
In other words over 50 per cent. of performers traced back to slightly 
more than 1 per cent. of the grandsires of the breed. This fact is 
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