20 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jury, 1899. 
breed, are. of modern origin only ; consequently they possess less individual 
capability of transmission than those of the French race, whose origin could be 
traced back for several centuries.” 
Thus I thought it advisable to diminish the resisting tendency of our French 
sheep against the transfusion of English blood into their offspring. In order to 
obtain ewes of no resistance against the English blood, I chose such ewes which _ 
originated from four different races of sheep in France, mixed them amongst 
themselves, and received at last animals without any distinct character or type, 
and which should possess the slightest possible inheritance. In this way I 
received lambs (got by the English Leicesters) which possessed 50 per cent. of 
Leicester blood, and 123 per cent. of either of those four French races. ‘The 
French blood had thus to give way to the power of inheritance on the part of 
the English blood. The influence of the English type is indeed so decided and 
powerful that all lambs I bred in this way are considered to be pure blood 
English, and they perfectly resemble each other. Everyone of them which 
shows a remarkable reversion to the French race is culled, in order to improve 
the consolidation of the new race. This, he says, “is the mystery of the 
Lacharmoise breed.” 
Le Fevre mentions a similar instance of the difficulty of producing a 
valuable breed from animals that have a tendency to reversion. The origin of 
the Mauchamp breed dates from the December of the year 1828, when Mons. 
Graux, the founder of the flock, noticed a ram lamb that distinguished himself 
from all the others through his good carcass and the length and the silkiness of 
his wool.. He was called Soyeux (silky), and put to a most carefully selected 
flock of ewes more or less similar to himself. Amongst his numerous progeny 
of the first year there were only two ewe lambs perfectly like him. ‘he best 
individuals of his offspring during the first and the following seasons were 
inbred with Soyeux himself, and one might have expected to be soon in 
possession of a new breed like Soyeux. Owing, however, to very many instances 
of reversion, it took fully eight years before any signs of constancy were visible. 
For more than thirty years it was considered doubtful whether the new 
Mauchamp flock would ever attain to that constancy of inheritance without 
which no breed has any value. It is worthy of notice that such lustry-woolled 
sheep, as the ram Soyeux is said to have been, have not unfre uently been seen 
in other merino flocks, such as the French Rambouillets, and in some Victorian 
flocks. The Victorian lustre wool far surpasses that of the Mauchamp in 
quality, but I have not heard lately whether the establishment of such a 
lustre-wool merino flock has been successful in Victoria. It is evident that 
the elements of such a silky combing wool with good length must be latent or 
dormant in the merino. Some of the Ercildouns strongly reminded me of the 
samples of Mauchamp I have seen. The Mauchamps do not seem to be looked 
upon with favour, although their wool is exceedingly soft and silky. In all - 
propanly, their transmitting power is too uncertain. \'To my knowledge they 
ave never been imported into Australia, whilst other French merinos have been 
used with great success—particularly the Rambouillets. 
From what has been said about the laws of inheritance, and the different 
circumstances under which the effects of them may be desirable to us or other- 
wise, we must naturally conclude that animals of near relation will transfer 
their qualities better than others, because they are descended from the same 
ancestors and their constitutions are similarly organised. 
The highest authorities on sheep-breeding whose works I have read, and 
with some of whom I have come in personal contact, were unanimous in declaring 
that by carefully selecting suitable animals out of the same flock, by mating 
them judiciously, and by eventually inbreeding them, far better resulig may be 
obtained than by frequent freshenings up of blood. The following breeds, 
excellent in every respect, may serve as instances that it is possible to obtain 
results, desirable in every respect by inbreeding, although it is maintained b 
some that cohabitation of near relations produces in the human family weak 
constitutions, idiocy, &c, 
