605 
THE ELAND. 
because of his own special endowments, it is best to seek for 
improvement of form and quality through him. 
4. That qualities both of the form and also of the cha¬ 
racter become hereditary in proportion to the frequency of 
the repetition in past generations, but that it is dangerous 
to breed from any animal with important defects, however 
high its pedigree. 
5. That healthful, well-formed animals, without hereditary 
taint, even if closely related, may be safely permitted to pro¬ 
pagate their kind, provided the practice be not continued 
through many generations. 
6. That young animals, for their first impregnation, should 
be placed to the best of their own kind, in order to avoid the 
reappearance of stain in any future progeny. 
7. That science has not revealed any trustworthy arrange¬ 
ment by which the proportion of the sexes can be determined 
upon and secured. 
THE ELAND. 
Mr. Sclater, Secretary of the Zoological Society of 
London, reports most favorably of the acclimatization of the 
eland. “ 1 think it can hardly be fairly said that the eland 
is long in attaining maturity, as in this respect it appears 
superior to the domestic ox. The eland is adult when a little 
more than two years old, and commences breeding at that 
period, which is certainly not the case with ordinar}' cattle 
until long past that age. Our elands produce their calves 
with great regularity every season, and each of the three 
females in this Society^ gardens may now be seen accom¬ 
panied by a young one. The male eland we now possess, 
which was bred by Lord Hill at Hawkstone, is a little over 
three years of age. As he is the father of two of the young 
elands above mentioned, the eldest of which was born in 
December last, and the female of this antelope goes nine 
months with young, it is evident that my statement as to the 
early maturity of this animal is correct in this case, and I 
believe it to be generally so.” 
