the presence of secondary sexual
characters, which render the comparison of mongrels with their
parent-breeds difficult.

It would appear that in certain families some one ancestor, and after him
others in the same family, must have had great power in transmitting their
likeness through the male line; for we cannot otherwise understand how the
same features should so often be transmitted after marriages with various
females, as has been the case with the Austrian Emperors, and as, according
to Niebuhr, formerly occurred in certain Roman families with their mental
qualities.[138] The famous bull Favourite is believed[139] to have had a
prepotent influence on the shorthorn race. It has also been observed[140]
with English race-horses that certain mares have generally transmitted
their own character, whilst other mares of equally pure blood have allowed
the character of the sire to prevail.

The truth of the principle of prepotency comes out more clearly when
certain races are crossed. The improved Shorthorns, notwithstanding
that the breed is comparatively modern, are generally acknowledged to
possess great power in impressing their likeness on all other breeds;
and it is chiefly in consequence of this power that they are so highly
valued {66} for exportation.[141] Godine has given a curious case of a
ram of a goat-like breed of sheep from the Cape of Good Hope, which
produced offspring hardly to be distinguished from himself, when
crossed with ewes of twelve other breeds. But two of these half-bred
ewes, when put to a merino ram, produced lambs closely resembling the
merino breed. Girou de Buzareingues[142] found that of two races of
French sheep the ewes of one, when crossed during successive
generations with merino rams, yielded up their character far sooner
than the ewes of the other race. Sturm and Girou have given analogous
cases with other breeds of sheep and with cattle, the prepotency
running in these cases through the male side; but I was assured on good
authority in South America, that when niata cattle are crossed with
common cattle, though the niata breed is prepotent whether males or
females are used, yet that the prepotency is strongest through the
female line. The Manx cat is tailless and has long hind legs; Dr.
Wilson crossed a male Manx with common cats, and, out of twenty-three
kittens, seventeen were destitute of ta