SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
413 
their parents. The cause is probably the same in both, and is to 
be found in their infertility, whereby their whole vigor is left at 
liberty for self-maintenance instead of being expended in two 
directions. The spermatic fluid of the mule contains no sperma¬ 
tozoa—a fact that has been established in an interesting manner 
by Wagner in the case of birds, of which many of those that are 
domesticated readily cross. The influence of the first impreg¬ 
nation also seems to extend to subsequent ones, and is especially 
marked in the equine genus. This is illustrated by the well- 
known case of a thorough-bred mare who was stinted several times 
to a thorough-bred stallion but always proved barren. She was 
finally stinted to a quagga, the striped South American animal 
akin to the zebra, procured from a menagerie for the purpose, 
and proved in foal to him, producing a striped hybrid. There¬ 
after she was stinted three times in succession to three different 
stallions of pure blood, and in each instance gave birth to a 
striped foal. Phenomena of the same description are so common 
in the case of bitches of any pure breed that have been accidentally 
covered by a mongrel, that dog fanciers will not attempt to breed 
from such as have once borne ignoble or hybrid litters. In the 
human female, cases are of common occurrence in which the 
offspring of a widow who has married a second time resembles 
her first husband. The resemblance of countenance, figure, ges¬ 
ture and even mental qualities are family characteristics we daily 
observe. Acquired qualities are transmitted, whether they belong 
to sire or dam, and it is well known by experience that the good 
or bad points of the progenitors of the sire or dam are almost as 
likely to appear again in the offspring as those of the immediate 
parents, in whom they lie dormant. Ethan Allen was a strong 
case in support of this law. His get were almost universally 
curby or otherwise unsound ; and, while he was himself sound, 
he transmitted to his colts an unsoundness, that, lying dormant 
in himself, he had inherited from his dam, who was unsound in 
many respects. Hence, in breeding, the rule is that ‘ like pro¬ 
duces like or the likeness of some ancestor.’ The mare is com¬ 
monly supposed to be more highly prized by the Arabs than the 
stallion, but this idea is said to be unfounded by the celebrated 
