so beautiful in his eyes, we must, I think, look further than to mere
variability. We cannot suppose that all the breeds were suddenly
produced as perfect and as useful as we now see them; indeed, in
several cases, we know that this has not been their history. The key is
man s power of accumulative selection: nature gives successive
variations; man adds them up in certain directions useful to him. In
this sense he may be said to make for himself useful breeds.
The great power of this principle of selection is not hypothetical. It
is certain that several of our eminent breeders have, even within a
single lifetime, modified to
a large extent some breeds of cattle and sheep. In order fully to
realise what they have done, it is almost necessary to read several of
the many treatises devoted to this subject, and to inspect the animals.
Breeders habitually speak of an animal s organisation as something
quite plastic, which they can model almost as they please. If I had
space I could quote numerous passages to this effect from highly
competent authorities. Youatt, who was probably better acquainted with
the works of agriculturalists than almost any other individual, and who
was himself a very good judge of an animal, speaks of the principle of
selection as that which enables the agriculturist, not only to modify
the character of his flock, but to change it altogether. It is the
magician s wand, by means of which he may summon into life whatever
form and mould he pleases. Lord Somerville, speaking of what breeders
have done for sheep, says: It would seem as if they had chalked out
upon a wall a form perfect in itself, and then had given it existence.
That most skilful breeder, Sir John Sebright, used to say, with respect
to pigeons, that he would produce any given feather in three years,
but it would take him six years to obtain head and beak. In Saxony the
importance of the principle of selection in regard to merino sheep is
so fully recognised, that men follow it as a trade: the sheep are
placed on a table and are studied, like a picture by a connoisseur;
this is done three times at intervals of months, and the sheep are each
time marked and classed, so that the very best may ultimately be
selected for breeding.
What English breeders have actually effected is proved by the enormous
prices given for animals with a good pedigree; and these have now been
exported to almost every quarter of the world. The improvement is by no
means generally due to crossing different breeds;
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