tween the
two parents.

Thus, in the breeding of animals, if the object be to modify certain
defects by using a male or female in which such defects may not exist,
we cannot produce this desired alteration; or rather it cannot be
equally produced in all the offspring, but can only be attained by
weeding out those in whom the objectionable points are repeated. We
are, however, of opinion that in the majority of instances, the hight
in the human subject, and the size and _contour_ in animals, is
influenced _much more by the male_ than the female parent--and on the
other hand, that the constitution, the chest and vital organs, and the
forehand generally more frequently follow the female."

Dr. Carpenter, the highest authority in Physiology, says "it has long
been a prevalent idea that certain parts of the organism of the
offspring" are derived from the male, and certain other parts from the
female parent; and although no universal rule can be laid down upon
this point, yet the independent observations which have been made by
numerous practical breeders of domestic animals seem to establish that
such a _tendency_ has a real existence; the characters of the _animal_
portion of the fabric being especially (but not exclusively) derived
from the male parent, and those of the _organic_ apparatus being in
like manner derived from the female parent. The former will be chiefly
manifested in the external appearance, in the general configuration of
the head and limbs, in the organs of the senses (including the skin)
and in the locomotive apparatus; whilst the latter show themselves in
the size of the body (which is primarily determined by the development
of the viscera contained in the trunk) and in the mode in "which the
vital functions are performed."

On the whole it may be said that the evidence both from observation
and the testimony of the best practical breeders goes to show that
each parent usually contributes certain portions of the organization
to the offspring, and that each has a modifying influence upon the
other. Facts also show that the same parent does not always contribute
the same portions, but that the order is reversed. Now, as no
operation of nature is by accident, but by virtue of _law_, there must
be fixed laws here, and there must also be, at times, certain
influences at work to modify the action of these laws. Where animals
are of distinct species, or of distinct breeds, transmission is
usually found to b