[16] "S'il n'y a pas héritage des caractéres paternels il y a donc au moins aptitude à en heriter, disposition à les reproduire, et toujours cette transmission de cette aptitude à des noveau descendants, chez lesquels ces mêmes caractéres se manifesteront tôt ou tard."—Longet's "Traite de Physiologie," ii: 133.
CHAPTER V.[ToC]
Relative Influence of the Parents.
The relative influence of the male and female parents upon the characteristics of progeny has long been a fertile subject of discussion among breeders. It is found in experience that progeny sometimes resembles one parent more than the other,—sometimes there is an apparent blending of the characteristics of both,—sometimes a noticeable dissimilarity to either, though always more or less resemblance somewhere, and sometimes, the impress of one may be seen upon a portion of the organization of the offspring and that of the other parent upon another portion; yet we are not authorized from such discrepancies to conclude that it is a matter of chance, for all of nature's operations are conducted by fixed laws, whether we be able fully to discover them or not. The same causes always produce the same results. In this case, not less than in others there are, beyond all doubt, fixed laws, and the varying results which we see are easily and sufficiently accounted for by the existence of conditions or modifying influences not fully patent to our observation.
In the year 1825, the Highland Society of Scotland, proposed as the subject of prize essays, the solution of the question, "whether the breed of live stock connected with agriculture be susceptible of the greatest improvement from the qualities conspicuous in the male or from those conspicuous in the female parent?" Four essays received premiums. Mr. Boswell, one of the prize writers, maintained that it is not only the male parent which is capable of most speedily improving the breed of live stock, "but that the male is the parent which we can alone look to for improvement."
His paper is of considerable length and ably written—abounding in argument and illustrations not easily condensed so as to be given here, and it is but justice to add that he also holds that "before the breed of a country can be improved, much more must be looked to than the answer to the question put by the Highland Society—such as crossing, selection of both parents, attention to pedigree, and to the food and care of offspring."
And of crossing, he says, "when I praise the advantage of crossing, I would have it clearly understood that it is only to bring together animals not nearly related but always of the same breed; never attempting to breed from a speed horse and a draught mare or vice versa." Crossing of breeds "may do well enough for once, but will end in vexation, if attempted to be prolonged into a line."