36 SELECTION BY MAN. [Chap. L 



had chalked out upon a wall a form perfect in itself, 

 and then had given it existence." In Saxony the im- 

 portance of the principle of selection in regard to merino 

 sheep is so fully recognised, that men follow it as a 

 trade: the sheep are placed on a table and are studied, 

 like a picture by a connoisseur; this is done three times 

 at intervals of months, and the sheep are each time 

 marked and classed, so that the very best may ultimately 

 be selected for breeding. 



^What English breeders have actually effected is 

 proved by the enormous prices given for animals with 

 a good pedigree; and these have been exported to 

 almost every quarter of the world. The improvement 

 is by no means generally due to crossing different 

 breeds; all the best breeders are strongly opposed to 

 this practice, except sometimes amongst closely allied 

 sub-breeds. And when a cross has been made, the 

 closest selection is far more indispensable even than in 

 ordinary cases. If selection consisted merely in sepa- 

 rating some very distinct variety, and breeding from it, 

 the principle would be so obvious as hardly to be 

 worth notice; but its importance consists in the great 

 effect produced by the accumulation in one direction, 

 during successive generations, of differences absolutely 

 inappreciable by an uneducated eye — differences which 

 I for one have vainly attempted to appreciate. Not 

 one man in a thousand has accuracy of eye and judg- 

 ment sufficient to become an eminent breeder. If 

 gifted with these qualities, and he studies his subject for 

 years, and devotes his lifetime to it with indomitable 

 perseverance, he will succeed, and may make great im- 

 provements; if he wants any of these qualities, he will 

 assuredly fail. Few would readily believe in the natural 



