56 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST, [Vou. XXXII. 
tory chapter, containing, among other things, a very complete 
description of Hambletonian, with measurements and his pedigree.~ 
The main body of the work is a list of all the descendants of Ham- 
bletonian that have trotted or paced in 2:10 or lower. The date of 
birth, best record, and the date when it was made are given for each 
horse, and also the name of each ancestor in the Hambletonian line 
with dates and records. The whole is cleverly arranged, so that, with 
the aid of the index, the entire pedigree of each horse can be traced 
easily as far as this particular line of descent is concerned. Follow- 
ing the list are a note on the transmission of acquired speed, remarks 
on the dual inheritance of the capacities for trotting and pacing, and 
several interesting tables. 
Hambletonian was the sire of 1287 colts. The American Trotting 
Register Association’s Year Book for 1896, from which Mr. Meston — 
has gathered a large part of his facts, credits Hambletonian with 
being the sire of 40 trotters (records 2:1714 to 2:30), 148 stallions 
that have sired 1398 trotters and 155 pacers, and 80 mares that have 
foaled 104 trotters and 8 pacers. `% At the close of 1896 the Year 
Books have listed altogether 12,945 trotters that have made records 
in 2:30 or lower and 4302 standard pacers, —a grand total of 16,207 
trotters and pacers with standard records.” 
“It is safe to say,” the author remarks, “that somewhere between 
80 and go per cent of the whole number ‘carry the blood’ of 
Hambletonian ro.” : 
In view of these facts, the ancestry of Hambletonian is of great 
interest. His descent is traced through three lines, one paternal 
and two maternal, back three and four generations, to Messenger, an 
English thoroughbred imported to Philadelphia in 1788. This horse 
is remarkable because of the trotting instinct which almost invariably 
appeared in his half-bred foals, and which was strongly transmitted 
by his thoroughbred sons. Moreover, the paternal grandam an 
maternal grandsire of Hambletonian were natural trotters, not related 
to Messenger nor to one another. It is not surprising, therefore, 
that Hambletonian should be the founder of a race of trotters. 
There are also a large number of pacers among his descendants, and 
it is a significant fact that there were a few pacers among the foals 
of his sire, Abdallah 1. 
The intensity with which the instincts for trotting and pacing and 
the capacity for speed have been transmitted through the descend- 
ants of Hambletonian is shown by the fact that of the 54 trotters and 
146 pacers of all breeds who have made records of 2:10 or lower, 5° 
