570 The American Naturalist. [July, 
work is done by the animal machine in making good milk 
than in turning out an inferior article containing a larger pro- 
portion of water. 
Sex INFLUENCING THE TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY 
CHARACTERS. 
From the manner in which pedigrees are recorded in some 
of the herd books, there is a tendency to overlook the char- 
acteristics of the female ancestors, which, especially in the 
dairy breeds, are of great importance. In the chapters on 
“atavism,” and “the relative influence of parents” in my 
“Stock Breeding,” a number of cases are collected showing 
that sex has an influence on the transmission of characters. 
A sexual alternation in the inheritance of dominant charac- 
ters is often observed, female peculiarities being more strongly 
transmitted to male offspring, which they in turn impress 
upon their female offspring; and male characters are in the 
same way transmitted by females. This should not be over- 
looked in breeding dairy stock, as the milking qualities of the 
grand dam frequently appear to be transmitted to her grand 
daughters with greater intensity, and certainty, by her sons 
than by her daughters. The female ancestors of the bull ina 
dairy herd must, therefore, be of especial interest in his pedi- 
gree, as an index of the qualities he will be likely to transmit 
as dominant characters to his daughters. 
The means of improving animals in useful qualities may be 
expressed in a few general principles, and the success of the 
breeder will depend upon their judicious application under the 
circumstances presented in each particular case, and every 
detail of practice must conform to them to secure the best 
results. 
The most valuable qualities of our domestic animals are the 
outcome of highly artificial characters, representing a wide 
departure from the original stocks from which they sprung ; 
and if the same artificial conditions that produced them are 
not maintained, and the selection of breeding stock is not lim- 
ited to the animals that have the desired characters, they are 
