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n breed, has occasioned much of the disappointment of which breeders have had occasion to complain. The principle here laid down is one of broad application, and should never be lost sight of in attempts at improvement by crossing. Another point worthy special attention is that all crossing, to insure successful results, should be gentle rather than violent; that is, never couple animals possessing marked dissimilarity, but endeavor to remedy faults and to effect improvement by gradual approaches. Harmony of structure and a proper balancing of desirable characteristics, "an equilibrium of good qualities," as it has been happily expressed, can be secured only in this way. It may not be out of place here to say, that much of the talk about _blood_ in animals, especially horses, is sheer nonsense. When a "blood horse" is spoken of, it means, so far as it means any thing, that his pedigree can be traced to Arabian or Barbary origin, and so is possessed of the peculiar type of structure and great nervous energy which usually attaches to "thorough-bred" horses. When a bull, or cow, or sheep is said to be of "pure blood," it means simply that the animal is of some distinct variety--that it has been bred from an ancestry all of which were marked by the same peculiarities and characteristics. So long as the term "blood" is used to convey the idea of definite hereditary qualities it may not be objectionable. We frequently use expressions which are not strictly accurate, as when we speak of the sun's rising and setting, and so long as every body knows that we refer to apparent position and not to any motion of the sun, no false ideas are conveyed. But to suppose that the hereditary qualities of an animal attach to the blood more than to any other fluid or to any of the tissues of the body, or that the blood of a high-bred horse is essentially different from that of another, is entirely erroneous. The qualities of an animal depend upon its organization and endowments, and the blood is only the vehicle by which these are nourished and sustained;--moreover the blood varies in quality, composition and amount, according to the food eaten, the air breathed and the exercise taken. If one horse is better than another it is not because the fluid in his veins is of superior quality, but rather because his structure is more perfect mechanically, and because nervous energy is present in fitting amount and intensity. For illustration,
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