30 



A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



out upon some principle, and we can not quarrel with the 

 principle in physical nature which condemns to death the 

 worst." Natural selection, therefore, represents a progres- 

 sive development, with each succeeding generation some- 

 what stronger and better bred for meeting the requirements 

 of existence. An especially interesting phase of natural 

 selection is, that through it the species is developed so as to 

 be best adapted to its purpose and condition of hving. 



Artificial selection involves the introduction of man. He 

 controls the matter of selection, and thereby is able to cause 

 the animal to vary more or less from the parent type. In 

 the earliest times, no doubt man exercised some control over 

 the animals that he found useful, and caused changes in 



Figure 8. — The first prize Sliorthorn herd, Ringmaster at head, the result of 

 a policy in selection. Photograph from The Farmer. 



their development. Thus man's ability to affect the pur- 

 pose and value of dumb animals must have appeared evident 

 to him long ago. The famous sculptures of Egypt and 

 Nineveh, dating back thousands of years, show that domestic 

 animals at that time must have been improved by man 

 through the practice of selection. The Bible has been 

 repeatedly quoted bj'' writers on heredity, to show that the 

 influence of selection was recognized prior to the time of 

 Christ, as expressed in Genesis. Early writers like Plato, 

 Pliny, and Columella, all refer to the improvement of live 

 stock by selection. All through the intervening centuries up 



