414 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
Abd-el-Kadir. He remarks, 4 It is true the foal proceeds from 
the sire and from the dam, but the experience of ages has proved 
that the essential parts of the body, such as the bones, the ten¬ 
dons, the nerves and the veins, proceed always from the sire. 
This is beyond all doubt. The meanest Arab knows now that 
any malady specially belonging to the bones, under which the 
sire may be suffering at the time of covering, will be perpetuated 
in his produce—such as splints, bone and blood spavin, the shape 
of the bones, and all diseases of the vertebral column. The 
dam may give to her produce color and a certain amount of 
resemblance in form, tiie foal naturally partaking of some of the 
qualities of the animal which had so long borne it; but it is an 
incontestable fact that it is the sire who gives strength to the 
bones, substance to the tendons, vigor to the nerves, rapidity of 
pace, in short, all the principal qualities.’ I have seen within 
my own experience so many curious and convincing proofs of 
the transmission of disease, that I have come to believe there is 
scarcely any constitutional defect or habit that cannot be inherited. 
Breeding “in and in ” has always been forbidden by the divine laws. 
On the other hand, it prevails extensively in a state of nature 
with all animals, among whom the strongest male retains his 
daughters and grand-daughters until deprived of his harem by 
younger and stronger rivals. It has even become well nigh settled 
that parents can control the sex of their offspring. Going back 
to some very low orders, it has long been known that the queen 
bee lays female eggs first and male eggs afterwards; the same is 
true of the hen and probably of all fowls. A distinguished 
French veterinary surgeon, Prof. Tliiery of the Academy of 
Science at Geneva, has shown how the sexes may be produced at 
pleasure. His plan has been extensively tested in Europe with 
valuable thorough-breds, and they who have fully experimented 
claim that its correctness is no longer a matter of doubt. Prof. 
Thiery says if the female be permitted to receive the embrace of 
the male during the early part of heat, the product (if both 
animals are healthy and in proper condition as regards their gen¬ 
erative functions and secretions) will be a female; but if the 
female be covered in the latter part of heat, other things 
