22.0 Method of obtaining immediate Fixity of Type 



portance to purity of race on each side, because of the natural 

 law by which the offspring resemble, not merely the father and 

 mother, but sometimes the grand parents, great grand parents, 

 and further back still. Many other observers as well as myself 

 have seen in young animals the clearest resemblance to some 

 ancestor long since dead who was marked by some distinctive 

 feature. The purer the race of such ancestor, the more strongly 

 do its characteristics overcome the subsequent mixture of breeds 

 and imprint themselves on the new offspring : Avould it not then 

 have been more reasonable for French farmers to attach the utmost 

 importance to purity and antiquity of blood in the ram, repre- 

 senting as he does the improved type that is aimed at, but to avoid 

 on the other hand those qualities in the ewe whose defects were 

 to be corrected ? In giving motion to a projectile (for instance a 

 cannon-ball) the velocity obtained is not merely in proportion to 

 the propelling force, but also to the resistance of the medium 

 (air or water for example) through which the body is driven. Now 

 in our case the ram represents the power of propulsion, the ewe 

 that of resistance : since, if there were no obstacle on her side, the 

 complete effect would be realized by the faithful reproduction of 

 the improving type. Clearly, therefore, the influence of the ram 

 upon the offspring will be the stronger the purer and more ancient 

 in the first place his own race may be ; and in the next place, the 

 less resistance is offered by the ewe through the possession of 

 those qualities of purity and long descent which are so valuable 

 in the sire. We have seen above, and it is true of every attempt 

 at crossing in France, that an opposite state of things had obtained 

 in all these trials ; since purity and antiquity of blood exist 

 much more strongly in the French breeds than in the English, 

 which have been much more recently formed. The imperfect 

 result then of all these attempts is perfectly accounted for by our 

 reversal of a great law of nature ; and it seemed to me necessary to 

 restore this law and give the advantage of it to the English ram. 

 Such was the preliminary condition of success. 



It appeared then that in order to untie the Gordian knot whose 

 threads I have traced, inasmuch as one could not increase the 

 purity and antiquity of the blood of the rams (I purposely repeat 

 the first principles of the problem to be solved), one must 

 diminish the resisting power, namely the purity and antiquity of 

 the ewes. With a view to this new experiment, one must pro- 

 cure English rams of the purest and most ancient race, and unite 

 with them French ewes of modern breeds, or rather of mixed 

 blood forming no distinct breed at all. It is easier than one might 

 have supposed to combine these conditions. On the one hand, I 

 selected some of the finest rams of the New Kent breed, 

 regenerated by Goord. On the other hand, we find in France 

 many border countries lying between distinct breeds, in which 



