should be chosen for the purpose of reproducing other perfect ones. If there is anything wanting or anything superfluous, we must be aware that it will show itself in some way or other in the foal, and generally in the spot where either the sire or the dam exhibited a like defect. Spavins, &c., are justly ascribed to shoeing as their principal cause; leave off shoeing and you reduce the prevalence of such kinds of ossification. ‘Like produces like.’ The tailless breed of Manx cats was produced only by persistently amputating the tails of all kittens, until there was not left upon the island a tail to reproduce another one. Within the memory of the writer a good sheep dog was supposed to be obtainable only if he had been pupped without a tail, or a curt apology for one. All those who dared to bring tails into the world with them were condemned to the horse-pond. Within his memory, the same law held good in France with regard to the poodle. Now-a-days a good tail is an important point in both the colley and the poodle; so much so, that neither colley nor poodle possessing a ‘stump’ would be admitted to a show or fetch three halfpence anywhere.
‘Men change with travel,
Manners change with climes,
Tenets with books,
And principles with times.’
Entire horses mostly save their tails in their entirety; strictly speaking, they would not be entire unless they did. So also do many mares; but if we were
