"Reject him, tho' the ram himself be white,
Under whose ousy palate lies concealed
A black or spotted tongue; for with black spots
He'll stain the fleeces of his future race."
After some amusing remarks on the same subject, delivered in a very quaint way, he concludes his description with the mention of "twisted horns,"—"not because this last is more useful, (for a ram without horns is better,) but because horns that are twisted and bended inwards are not at all so hurtful as those that are set upright and expanded. Nevertheless, in some countries where the climate is wet and windy, we would wish for he-goats and rams even with the very largest horns; because, when they are high and extended, they defend the greatest part of the head from the storm."
It is thus that among some of his most beautiful remarks, we have generally a something occurring which upsets the gravity of the whole by its childish absurdity.
(93.) Influence of Sex.—In early ages, the greater share of attention appears to have been bestowed on male domesticated animals, on account of the more numerous offspring of which they would become the parents; and from this, as the Rev. Henry Berry, of Acton Beauchamp, Worcestershire, supposes, (in a valuable essay on the breeding of live stock, published in the British Farmer's Magazine,) has originated the prevalent idea, that the male has a more decided influence, than the female, on the form of the progeny. "The ideas entertained respecting the useful qualities of an animal would (in former times) be very similar, and lead to the adoption of a general standard of excellence, towards which it would be required that each male should approximate; and thus there would exist, among what may be termed fashionable sires, a corresponding form and character, different from, and superior to, those of the general stock of the country. This form and character would, in most instances, have been acquired by perseverance in breeding from animals which possessed the important or fancied requisites, and might, therefore, be said to be almost confirmed in such individuals. Under these circumstances, striking results would doubtless follow the introduction of these sires to a common stock; results which would lead superficial observers to remark, that individual sires possessed properties as males, which, in fact, were only assignable to them as improved animals."
In general, the qualities of the male and female parents are visible to an equal extent in the offspring, as is well exemplified among horses, in the mixture of the blood and cart breed, where the great difference in form and character is nicely blended; but, occasionally, the peculiarities of the male, or female, are visible only on some particular part of the offspring, as in the crossing of the Merino ram with the Ryeland ewe, when the former affects the fleece, and the latter the carcass.
Though there are many opinions as to the comparative influence of the sexes on the progeny, yet, as before stated, the majority of voices represent the male as the more influential. Mr Boswell, in his essay on this subject, published in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, and in the Farmer's Magazine, is decidedly of this opinion, "Being fully convinced of the power of the male on the offspring, I have always accounted it as a loss to put a bad male to a high bred female, and have never done so. I have, however, observed, where the country people have purchased high bred sheep at any sale of mine, and bred from them with the ordinary rams, that the breed very quickly got bad: whereas, when a Bakewell ram had been purchased, I have seen a most remarkable change on the quality of the sheep; and, in several instances, where the ewes (Highlanders) had been tolerable from which they had bred, the cross was so nearly resembling a new Leicester, as to deceive any one who was not a thorough judge." Bewick, the natural historian, supports this opinion when speaking of the original breed of wild cattle, still to be found in a few English and Scottish parks. They are uniformly pure white, with black or red ears and noses. He says, that cows, when in season, used often to be turned into the park at Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, and that, when covered by the wild bull, all their produce was uniformly white, with red ears and noses. On the other hand, the female is, also, prevalently believed to have some share in the matter, and much may be adduced as evidence of its power over the form of the offspring, equally authentic with the former. Mr Ferguson, in a paper on live-stock, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, relates the following apposite and amusing story:—
"Naturalists are, I believe, nearly agreed, that the influence of the male exceeds that of the female in communicating qualities to the offspring, and a very providential arrangement it is, in respect that good points may be thus diffused with far more rapidity than could otherwise occur. The choice of the female is by no means, however, a matter of indifference, and it is only by due attention to both that perfection can be looked for. I recollect several years ago, at a distinguished breeder's in Northumberland, meeting with a shrewd Scottish borderer, (indeed, if report be true, the original and identical Dandy Dinmont,) who, after admiring, with a considerable spice of national pique, a very fine short-horn bull, demanded anxiously to see the dam. The cow having been accordingly produced, and having undergone a regular survey, Dandy vociferated, with characteristic pith, 'I think naething o' your bull now, wi' sic a caumb;' and, unquestionably, the mould or 'caumb' must have its own share in producing shapes, though in his haste to detract, (as he thought,) from the merits of the bull, poor Dandy totally overlooked the additional compliment paid to the judgment of the 'Southron.'"