20 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
breed, she is herself a cross ever after; the purity of her blood having 
been lost in consequence of this connection.” This will no doubt be 
received by many persons as an abstruse hypothesis, but there are un- 
equivocal incidents in favor of it ; and that valuable monitor, past expe- 
rience, must be received as a more convincing argument than the opinion 
of individuals, on subjects which are hidden from our understanding by 
the impenetrable veil which, on many occasions, enshrouds the secret 
mysteries of nature. There are events on record which prove this 
faculty, although they do not enlighten us as to the physical influences 
which control it. Sir Gore Ousely, when in India, purchased an 
Arabian marc, which during several seasons would not breed, and, in 
consequence, an intercourse with a zebra was resorted to; she produced 
an animal striped like its male parent. The first object being accom- 
plished, that of causing her to breed, a thorough-bred horse was selected, 
but the produce was striped. The following year another horse was 
chosen, yet the stripes, although less distinct, appeared on the foal. Mr. 
Blaine relates that a chestnut mare also gave birth to a foal by a quagga, 
and that the mare was afterward bred from by an Arabian horse, but that 
the progeny exhibited a very striking resemblance to the quagga. 
The progeny will, as a rule, inherit the general or mingled qualities 
of the parents. There is scarcely a disease by which either of them is 
affected, that the foal docs not often inherit or show a predisposition to 
it. Even the consequences of ill-usage or hard work will descend to 
the progeny. There has been proof upon proof that blindness, roaring, 
thick wind, broken wind, spavins, curbs, ringbones, and founder, have 
been bequeathed to their offspring both by the sire and the dam. 
Peculiarity of form and constitution will also be inherited. This is a 
most important but neglected consideration ; for, however desirable or 
even perfect may have been the conformation of the site, every good 
point may be neutralized or destroyed by the defective structure of the 
mare. The essential points should be good in both parents, or some 
minor defect in either be met, and got rid of by excellence in that par- 
ticular point in the other. The unskillful or careless breeder, too often 
so badly pairs the animals that the good points of each are almost lost, 
th e de fects of both increased, and the produce is far inferior to both 
sir^nd dam. 
The mare is sometimes pub to the horse at too early an age ; or, 
what is of more frequent occurrence, the mare is incapable from old age. 
The owner is unwilling to destroy her, and determines that she shall 
pay for her keeping by bearing him a foal. What is the consequence? 
The foal exhibits an unkindness of growth, a corresponding weakness, 
and there is scarcely an organ that possesses its natural and proper 
strength. 
That the constitution and power of endurance of the horse are in a 
great measure inherited, no sporting man ever doubted. The qualities 
of the sire or the dam descend from generation to generation, and the 
excellences or defects of certain horses are often traced, and justly so, 
to some peculiarity in a far-distant ancestor. 
It may, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that there is more difficulty in 
selecting a good marc to breed from than a good horse, because she 
