1 Juxx, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 21 
The figures given here were taken from Dr. Weckherlin’s textbook more 
than 15 years ago. This number may thus be added to those now given :— 
“The King of Wiirtemberg’s stud of pure Arabs have been bred exceedingly 
close for 60 odd years with good results—the best breeds of Dutch cattle for 50 
years; the cattle of the Canton Schwytz, 40 years; the Swiss Gurteurind cattle, 
60 years; the Simmenthaler cattle, 40 years; the merino flock of Achalm, 50 
odd years. It is also the case with the most famous fine-woolled flocks of 
Saxony, Silesia, Moravia, and Mecklenburg.” 
Whether this applies to some of the best Tasmanians, I am not in the 
position to state. It has been stated that some of them have been Vermontised. 
That wonderful flock of Ercildoun, so far as the quality of its wool is 
concerned, which T saw at the hey-day of its greatest popularity (1867), repre- 
sented then the unalloyed progeny of the old Campden as the result of careful 
selection and subsequent inbreeding. . 
So far as domestic animals are concerned, inbreeding, along with systematic 
selection, wherever anything like suitable material is present, has been proved 
to be the only rational method by which superior breeds with strong transmitting 
power can be formed. 
The question of intermarriages between near relations—so far as the human 
family is concerned—does not affect the breeder of domestic animals, We know 
from our observations of the life of wild animals that the closest possible inbreed- 
ing frequently occurs, and that, in spite of it, the wild races are strong and healthy. 
We are thus justified in believing that, just as much as disposition to diseases 
and idiocy may be intensified in the progeny if near relations so constituted will 
intermarry, just so much will health, physical strength, and mental capacities 
be improved if the breeder persistently excludes any weak animals. 
n the whole, I believe we are safe in considering that the good or bad 
effects of in-and-in breeding entirely depend upon the constitution of the 
animals. Strong and healthy ones will transfer good constitutions to their 
offspring. A tender and weak race that is bred in-and-in will soon come to an 
end. Of such instances the history of merinos furnishes many. Animals of 
bad constitutions should always be excluded from breeding, no matter how good 
they might be in other respects. In spite of what may be said against it, there 
is not the slightest doubt that in-and-in breeding affords us the only means of 
thoroughly consolidating an improved breed, so long as it is carried on with 
judgment, and is assisted by careful selection and good feeding. 
Having expressed myself to a certain degree an advocate of inbreeding, I 
think I should also make a few remarks on what is generally termed crossing. 
In order to avoid any misconception about the meaning in which I intend to 
make use of that word, I shall settle, first of all, by clear definitions, a few terms 
which I shall be obliged to use pretty frequently. We must make a distinction 
between a cultivated breed and a pure breed, and we have to settle the question 
what is a breed. Breeds or races aré varieties of the same species, which 
varieties, through h: ving been under the same influence of ‘climate, food, and 
method of living, &., for years, have adopted certain peculiarities, and a 
general type of their own. We may say a breed is a variety that has become 
sui generis : for instance, the Maoris in New Zealand, the Japanese, the Shet- 
land pony. A pure breed has never been mixed with other varieties. The 
Maoris and the Australian blacks probably descended from common progenitors, 
yet each of these nations, having lived separated from the other for a great 
number of years, have become distinct races. The safest test or the truest 
indication of their purity consists in the uniformity and constancy with which 
they transfer their distinctive characteristics. With reference to animals, this 
would chiefly apply to wild or semi-domesticated races; for instance, to the 
wild chamois goats in Switzerland and the original country sheep of Spain. 
Purebred animals are therefore the progeny of a pure breed in the sense 
I have explained. In speaking of pure merinos I mean that the sheep in 
question are the descendants of merinos that lived in Spain, and that have 
suffered no admixture of blood not originating from that country—for instance, 
