xt73ff3kwr3r https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt73ff3kwr3r/data/mets.xml Stokes, William Earl Dodge, 1852-1926. 1917  books b98-33-40282565 English C.J. O'Brien, : [New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Eugenics. Heredity. Horses Breeding. Right to be well born, or, Horse breeding in its relation to eugenics  / by W.E.D. Stokes. text Right to be well born, or, Horse breeding in its relation to eugenics  / by W.E.D. Stokes. 1917 2002 true xt73ff3kwr3r section xt73ff3kwr3r 







































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W. E. D. STOKES.

 





The Right to be

      Well Born
                 OR
   Horse Breeding in its Relation
            to Eugenics



    By W. E. D- STOKES
Prejait of the Pzirhmn k'z.ltes Stoae Farm, Inr.
      LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.









          PRINTED BY
        C. J. O'BRIEN
      22 North William Street, N. Y.

 


































Thtered according to Act of Congre5s In
the year 1917 by W E In Stokes, In the
omce of the Librarian of Congressp at
Washington, D. C

 






                  CONTENTS
                                              PAGE
Humans and Animals Are Governed by the Same
Laws of Heredity ..........................       9
Cause of Sex ..................................    12
Contribution of Horsemen to Eugenics .........     20
Influence of Great Sires in Founding All Breeds.   24
Sterility  ................. ...................   41
Education and Heredity ......................      50
Defectives, Like Unfit Animals, Should Be Steri-
lized.............................. F            6
The Number and Cost of Defectives ............     70
Evils of Labor Unions ........................     78
The Labor Registry ..........................      81
The Jockey Registry ..........................     83
Birth Control ................................     90
Germs.                         ............. 93
Child Labor ..................................     96
How the City of Churches Looks After Its
Children and Their Amusements .............      98
Some Races Are Backward ....................      100
Subnormal Children in New York Public Schools    103
Public School Children of Seattle Show Great
  Intelligence and Seattle's Death-Rate Is the
  Lowest .............    .......................  112
Infant Death-Rate in Seattle 1.44 in a Thousand;
  in Manhattan 43.37 in a Thousand ...........   114
Making American Citizens .......    ..............  115
Conservation of Brains Man's Greatest Luty ....   117
Evils of Social Diseases .......................  120
Hereditary Insanity from Disease .............   126
Needed Laws .........   ....................  132
Things to Avoid ..............................    134
The Importance of the Health of the American
Hog ........................                 135
Alcohol America's Curse; Its E'ffeets on the
Unborn .   ...................................  137
Distillery Mash and Cattle ....................   141
Motherly Instincts ............................   143,
Relative Influence of the Sexes ................  150
Laws of Heredity the Same in     Pan, Plant or
  Beast .  ....................................  152
My Duty .   ....................................  154
The Wizard of the Thoroughbred Turf .........    160

 






                  CONTENTS
                                             PAGE
How to Establish a Family ....................   162
England's Strength Was Built 1Up by Younger
  Sons .................                      165
Some Races Possess No Elements of Improve-
  ment .   .....................................  167
Crossing of Distinctly Different Races Dangerous  170
Selective Breeding Among the Jews.     ...........173
Inbreeding and Inherited Talents ..............  177
Record Office and Research Foundation .........  182
Present System  of Marriage Wrong in Theory
and Practice ................................  185
The Milxing of the Breeds ....................   189
Our Old New York Families Have Bred Out ....     201
In Old New York .............................    202
The Old London Social Set Bred Itself Out ......  205
Plain Facts ...................................  213
Records of Death ............................    2 16
Modern Methods of Breeding Are Scientific .....  218
Grading of Men Who Are Candidates for Mar-
  riage ......................................   222
Government Records Prove That 75 of Our
  Young Men Are So Inferior in Breeding That
  They Cannot Pass the Simplest Army and
  Navy Mental and Physical Tests .............   227
If Our Army and Navy Compel Examinations of
  Men Who Are to Be Food for Cannons and
  Submarines, Our Government Must Pass Laws
  Requiring the Same Kind of Examinations
  Before Marriage of Our Young Men and
  Women, If Their Offspring Are to Be Our
  Future Soldiers and Sailors .................  230
America Needs Able Champions of Her Unborn
  Babes ......................................   235
The Value of Registry Associations .............  240
Medical Men Must Make a Record of All Cases
  of Syphilis .................................  245
The German Kaiser's Contribution to Beneficial
  Sciences..........                         246
Our Government Exclu(des Ilibred or Unsexed
  Animals, Except Under a Penalty, But Wel-
  comes Human Curs .........................     248
Conclusion ...................................   251

 





  THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN
                  or
HORSE BREEDING IN ITS RELATION
            TO EUGENICS.
              PREFACE.
  To the patriotic young men and women
of our country, who contemplate marriage,
and to the research workers in the field of
eugenics, these few lines on heredity are
dedicated lay a horse breeder, whose ex-
periences have taught him to realize that
the rights of our unborn children are not
fairly or honestly protected. Every un-
born child has an inalienabio right to come
into the world free froti dissae, from
hereditary ailment-s and from mental and
physical defects. 'fShe Aicaighty never in-
tended that any one man or woman should
have all the attainments and all the graces,
but that each child should have the right
kind of inherent mental and physical abili-
ties, which, if properly cultivated, would
permit him or her to well fill the station
in life to which each is destined.
                   s

 



6     THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



While I take onlv a bird's eye view of
this wide field, over which my experiences
have led me, my earnest hope and prayer
is that I may cite practical illustrations in
the animal kingdom which will open the
eyes of the young to a clear understanding
of their serious duties to the state, to them-
selves and to their offspring. It may lead
them to a study of the subject and to a
perusal of the writings of some of our
well known eugenic scholars, like Dr. C. B.
Davenport, Dr. C. L. Reed, Dr. David
Starr Jordan, and others, who have gone
scientifically into the subject of heredity,
in its cwery releasoe with a, uicroscopic ex-
amination. If they are cQnvinced of the
logic of these seientists' arguments, let
them help along the good.work by putting
into practice their. co-vvitntons, and join us
in the advancement of the cause of eugenics.
  I feel certain that every sensible man
and woman, who has given attention to this
subject, must acknowledge that it is the all
vital question of the hour; that it touches
the foundations of society and the stability
of our country.

 


BREEDING BETTER MEN



  I realize that I throw myself open to
criticism. Only the vital importance of
the subject to the permanency or ruin of
our American institutions gives me cour-
age to express these views, for I have
avoided even reading books on heredity or
breeding, except as I now look up refer-
ences. I have never so much as opened
Mendel's Essay, "Investigations into the
Hybrids of Peas." I determined to search
out the truth of heredity, unbiased by other
views.
  My sole object is to lead my countrymen
to a vision of the need of breeding better
men and better women, each superior
mentally and physically, free from hered-
itary ills and defects, which make life a
burden. Let us breed men and women
especially fitted by their mental and
physical qualities to best fill the stations in
life which they are to occupy. Let us all see
that this problem of eugenics, which means
"well-born," is given the public and pri-
vate thought and attention it justly de-
serves. For it means the elimination of
sufferings from hereditary ills and the sav-



7

 


8     THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



ing from over-straining the unfit, who at-
tempt to do things which they were not
ordained by nature to perform,-a "shoe-
maker to his last" and each to his calling.
It means the breeding out of weaklings and
defectives, and the breeding in only of the
fittest and the best. It means the saving
of our country from moral and physical
decay; and the preservation of its integ-
rity as well as its position among nations.
  All this and more I hope to prove to
you has been done in the horse family. If
all this can be done in the horse family, it
can just as easily be done in the human, if
thinking people will give heed.
  If this can be done, let us start to do it
now-right now, not wait another day or
hour.
  If what I say in this book will only in-
duce a few thinking men to discuss these
matters with those with whom they come
in contact I shall feel that the spare hours
of my vacation which I gave to these lines
were well spent.
  Lexington, Kentucky, August 15, 1916.

 



THE LAWS OF HUMAN HEREDITY



HUMANS AND ANIMALS ARE GOV-
    ERNED BY THE SAME LAWS
           OF HEREDITY.

  It is my pleasure to own the stock farm
at Lexington, Kentucky, formerly owned
by its Colonial Governor; the birthplace of
America's greatest thoroughbred, "Lex-
ington. "
  For a series of years, I have kept on this
farm a band of well-bred brood-mares.
Until February, 1916, "Peter the Great"
was at the head of my stud. He is today
considered by all horsemen the greatest
producing stallion of any breed that so
far has appeared. He has such great po-
tency that every colt by him at 2 years can,
if trained, trot a mile in 2:30 or better. I
may speak frankly of his greatness, having
only recently sold him in his twenty-second
year for 50,000 cash.
  It has been a source of very great grati-
fication to me to see how much this remark-
able stallion has contributed to the upbuild-



9

 


10   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



ing of the American Trotting Horse. The
winning race horses, which have been bred
on my farm in the last few years, would
fill a very long column.
  I always have believed that, if the prob-
lem of producing great race-horses could
be solved, much light would be thrown upon
the question of human inheritance. I be-
lieved this, because the highly organized
race-horse is more like the high bred man
in his physical and nervous constitution
than any other animal. The laws of hered-
ity, which govern the production of horses,
govern the production of men.
  One of the greatest of living geneticists,
Professor W1f. Johannsen of Jena, in his
great book on Heredity, published in 1913,
states: " The same Laws of Heredity
govern man that we find in animals and
plants. Any difference would be incon-
ceivable." This is the opinion of every
scientist in the world. It is possible to get
the results of heredity so much quicker in
horses than in men that eighteen years of
horse breeding will give as many genera-

 



FEW SIRES HAVE MAGIC FORCE



tions of horses as one hundred and fifty
years will give in generations of men.
I have bred horses for the knowledge it
would give me of human heredity, for I
knew such knowledge would eventually be
forthcoming and could be used for the up-
building of the human race. This has been
the dream of my life. Mly purpose in this
volume is to state some conclusions to
which I have been brought by my experi-
ences of twenty years as a horse breeder.
  The first thing which the horse breeder
has to learn is that only a few horses out
of the many which are bred are of any value
to improve the breed. At first, it is almost
impossible for him to realize that this is
a law of nature. To the young breeder, it
appears that all the sons and daughters of
a great sire or of a great dSam ought to
have the power of building up the breed.
He has to learn that the magic force for
improvement resides in the very few. The
trotting horse breed has had over fifty
thousand registered stallions used in the
stud and a far larger number of registered
brood-mares. Only a few score of this vast



11

 



12   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



number have contributed, or can contrib-
ute, to the evolution of the light-harness
horse. So far as the influence of the re-
mainder is concerned in the upbuilding of
the trotting breed, they need not have lived.
Before I have finished I shall show the
same is true in the human family.

           CAUSE OF SEX.
  Let us agree, for the purpose of the fol-
lowing contention, that the stallion and
brood-mare, under consideration, are bred
in the purple and are physically perfect.
  It has been found that every stallion and
every brood-mare has two centers, one a
male center and the other a female center,
and, when mated, if the two male centers
float over and join, the offspring will be
a male-life; if the two female centers join,
the offspring will be a female. These cen-
ters or tendencies are stronger at one time
to produce a male and weaker to produce
a female; at other times, the tendencies are
stronger to produce a female and weaker
to produce a male. It is the predominance
of these joint tendencies, either male or fe-

 



CAUSE OF SEX



male, which determines the gender of the
colt.
  Let us, mathematically, consider these
male and female tendencies or centers.
  In the stallion and in the brood-mare,
each always has 100 of tendencies. And
let us consider, for the sake of my combina-
tions, the relative percentage division of
each stallion's and each mare's tendencies
to be 100.
A = Stallion = 100 tendencies, male and
  female.
B = Brood-Mare = 100 tendencies, male
  and female.
M = Male.
F = Female.
  Then, we have the following five combina-
tions of tendencies, and as many more as
you like, but always bear in mind that there
are, after breeding, 200 tendencies to
each offspring, 100 from each parent, and
the gender of each offspring will de-
pend upon whether the majority percent-
age of the tendencies at the mating is male
or female.



13

 


14   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



COMBINATION 1.
    A. = 100 M. + B. - 1007 M-
    2007o A.B.M. This combination pro-
    duces a stallion colt of the highest
    order of potency with a male produc-
    ing vigor in his life germs of the order
    of " George Wilkes " or " Peter the
    Great"; a colt with a power to found
    a family, if properly crossed, and to
    stamp his individuality and his tem-
    perament on the offspring.
COZMBINATION II.
    A. = 100 F. + B. = 1001 F.
    200 A.B.F. This produces a brood-
    mare of the highest order of potency,
    with a producing vigor of the order of
    the "Bertha," "Beautiful Bells" or
    "Orianna" type.
  Any mathematician will tell you that for
the stallion and the mare, at the moment of
breeding, each to have 100 male, or each
to have 100 female tendencies are very
rare combinations. Great sires and great
dams are few and far between. Hence it
is hard to produce, even under the best
conditions, a great stock stallion or a great

 



WORTHLESS MALES AND FEMALES 15



brood-mare, and because of this a breeder,
when successful, obtains such high prices.
  Some sires are known as brood-mare
sires; others are known as sires of sires.
There are only a very few all round sires
of brood-mares and of sires. It is well
known that in some families the boys are
endowed with the ancestral ability, while
in other families the girls are the fortu-
nate ones. Very few families exist where
both sexes have inherited distinguished
ability.
COMBINATION III.
    A = 60O  M. and 40 F. + B. 40 M.
    and 60o F. = 100 A.B.M. and 100
    A.B.F.
    This combination will produce either
    a male or a female, as it generally de-
    pends upon which tendencies are the
    more vigorous, and, if it be a male, it
    will be useless as a sire, and if it be a
    female, she will be hard to get in foal;
    and so far as the benefit to breeding is
    concerned, will be about worthless,
    whether male or female. This com-
    ijination shows to a breeder how some

 


16   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



   brothers and sisters of great stallions
   or brood-mares vary in their value as
   producers. If all stallion colts of this
   combination were castrated and all
   fillies from this combination were
   never bred, it would be a good thing.
   In every big sales stable, you will find
   horses called "Dummies." They come
   from this combination, and are easily
   known by their lack of intelligence and
   physical vitality; and among humans,
   we have our "Sissie" and our "Tom-
   boy. "
   A "Sissie" has a soft voice and pre-
   fers to play with girls. As a general
   thing, neither have any great longe-
   vity. A "Tom-boy" has a man's voice,
   and prefers to play with boys. She
   often has coarse hair, sometimes
   growing in bunches. How many chil-
   dren have you ever known a "Sissie"
   or "Tom-boy" to have I confess my
   information in this particular is very
   meager, but it is to the effect that
   neither produce to any great extent.
Dr. Robert T. Morris, in "Microbes and

 



BREEDING SCIENTIFICALLY



Men," has stated a law of cultural limita-
tions; that culture is artificial, rather than
natural. Nature makes a strong effort to
preserve a mean or average type. The
animal or human family degenerates and
passes away, chiefly through the direct and
indirect action of microbic enemies, which
assail a weakened constitution. Humans
have not as yet taken the lesson to them-
selves; horsebreeders and fish-growers are
the only ones to take up the question of
breeding by impregnation in a scientific
way.
COMBINATION I-V.
    A = 60    M. and 407 P. + B. =
    60 M. and 40 F. = 120 A.B.M.
    and 80 A.B.F.
    This combination will produce a male
    colt whose ability and vigor in the stud
    will be in the relative proportion, as
    200 A.B.M. is to 120 A.B.M.
COMBINATION V.
    A. = 40 M. and 60 F. + B. = 40
    M. and 60 F. = 120 A. B. F. and
    80 A.B.M.



17

 



18   THD RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



      This combination will produce a fil-
    ly whose vigor and ability as a brood-
    mare will be in the relative propor-
    tion as 200 A.B.F. is to 120 A.B.F.
  At the time of mating, a marked impres-
sion is made on the colt if both stallion and
brood-mare are in perfect condition. I am
satisfied that greater and better colts will
be produced if the brood-mare has a colt
every other year, or even every third year.
It would give nature ample time to restore
strength and vitality exhausted or given
to the offspring.
  In every particular, as aboved noted,
whatever holds good of the horse, holds
good of the human.
  The day is not far distant when some
scientists will discover how to regulate the
tendencies which determine sex; and par-
ents will only have to make their wishes
known to have them realized.
  For three years, we have daily studied
the question of sex control at the Patchen
Wilkes Stock Farm, and have tried out
every claimed method, finally having dis-

 


REGULATING SEX



carded each and every such known scheme
for regulating sex.
  We have noticed, however, that, at cer-
tain seasons, there is a predominance of
male colts in our district and, at another
time, a predominance of female colts. At
the beginning of the stud season, we are
inclined to believe that male colts predom-
inate, but we have no positive proof. We
sometimes think that if a mare is bred di-
rectly after she has come in season male
colts will predominate, and as the season
advances female colts will predominate.
The difficulty lies in the fact that a breeder
can not always definitely ascertain the ex-
act date when a mare commences to come
in season.
  I have no doubt that I could breed
stallions and mares to produce only male
or only female colts by a continuous breed-
ing from sires and dams coming from
families that had produced only male or
female colts. In this way I produced a
herd of sheep that produced only twins or
triplets.  Whenever you find twins in
humans, you will generally find an hered-



19

 



20   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



itary tendency to twins on the mother 's
side.
  I have noticed, however, that the first
colt of a young well matured mare of five
or six years old is generally a stud colt,
especially if she catches at first mating;
and, if a mare aborts or loses her colt at
suckling time, that the next colt is generally
a stud colt. I sometimes have thought that
the secretions from the cells that nourish
the germ cells govern the inclinations,
either male or female. When this discov-
ery is once made, we shall have only
full male and full females of the I and II
combinations born, or close to them; no
more ''sissies," no more "tom-boys," and
our vigor, as a nation, in mental and phys-
ical stamina, will be on the ascendency,
provided laws are passed preventing the
marriage of defectives and diseased per-
sons.
CONTRIBUTION OF HORSEMEN TO
             EUGENICS.
  To the Trotting Horsemen, more than
anyone else, is due the advancement this

 



HORSEMEN AND EUGENICS



country is now making in eugenics. It was
Governor Leland Stanford, owner of
"Electioneer," and the great Palo Alto
Farm, who placed David Starr Jordan at
the head of Stanford University, with un-
limited funds, to carry out his ideas on
breeding and heredity.
  The trotting horse indutsry has in the
United States and Canada, perhaps, a
million or more persons financially or
otherwise interested in its success. It has
six or seven weekly papers entirely de-
voted to its interests, and in every big
city there are one or more daily papers
that give a column or part of a column
each week to matters relating to the trot-
ting horse.
  The Grand Circuit consists of about
fourteen large tracks.  In addition to
these, there are over 900 other tracks with
their smaller circuits which work inde-
pendently of each other and of the Grand
Circuit.  There are several thousand
people who go through the Grand Circuit
every year and thousands more that attend
the various smaller circuits, half-mile



21

 


22   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



tracks and fair tracks throughout the
country. There are three places where,
each year, from two to three large trot-
ting horse auction sales are held. At these
tracks and auction sales, you meet the
richest and the poorest, the most distin-
guished jurists, railroad presidents, mer-
chants, ministers, priests, and, in fact,
representatives of all trades, mingling,
hobnobbing and discussing horse interests
and breeding with the most ordinary un-
educated men on even terms. There is a
spirit of comrade-friendship among trot-
ting horsemen that is marvelous. Such a
phenomenon does not exist in any other
organization of business in the world. I
have a list of fifteen thousand men who
are in the habit of attending these various
auctions and bidding.
  The trotting horse breeders' associa-
tions and these newspapers have their
various futurity stakes, which generally
amount to several hundred thousand dol-
lars and are raced off every season.
All this gives competition and stimulates
the breeding of good horses. With it all

 


E. H. HARRIMAN; J. D. ROCKEFELLER 23



comes a knowledge of heredity the trans-
mission of tendencies, an insight into the
benefits of good ancestral histories, and the
methods of combining the good qualities of
different horse families by crosses and, in
the same way, eradicating their failings.
  So is it any wonder that trotting horse-
men should be the first to notice the utter
neglect given to the breeding of humanst
  It was through the late E. H. Harriman,
the owner of "Stamboul" and "John R.
Gentry," that we have the Advanced
School of Eugenics and Heredity at Cold
Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York;
and through his widow, the patroness of the
Goshen Track, we have the priceless Eu-
genic Bureau, which thinking people are
now beginning to appreciate.
  It is to John D. Rockefeller, the owner
of "Cleora" and "Midnight," and breeder
of various other horses, that we are indebt-
ed for the Rockefeller Institute of Research
and the Rockefeller Foundation, both of
which are bound to be of the greatest
good imaginable to the health and happi-
ness of the country and for the stability of

 


24   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



this nation. The thanks of a nation should
go up to Mir. Rockefeller for his noble and
generous gifts.
  I do not know whether or not Andrew
Carnegie ever was interested in horses, but
his greatest monument will be the Carnegie
Institute for Experimental Evolution at
Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, which is
a branch of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, D. C. This great research in-
stitution has an endowment of 25,000,000.

INFLUENCE OF GREAT SIRES IN
     FOUNDING ALL BREEDS.

 The Orloff Trotter was founded by Count
 Alexis Orloff Tchestmensky. In 1775, he
imported from Greece a horse, " Sme-
tanka," an Arab or Barb, and, when mated
to a cart-mare, produced "Polkan," who,
from a Dutch mare, got "Barrs," in 1784.
From three sons of " Barrs," all Or-
loff Trotters have sprung.
  1. The dam of the first son was by an
Arab.

 



INFLUENCE OF GREAT SIRES



  2. The dam of the second son was by an
English Thoroughbred.
  3. The dam of the third was by a son of
"Smetanka. "
  Here, we see that just one horse estab-
lished the great Orloff Stud Book-whose
registry numbers at least 1,000,000.
  The founder of the American trotting
horse breed was "Hamiltonian 10." The
number of his sons is, perhaps, 600. Out
of these 600, four, alone, have made sub-
stantial contributions to speed. These four
are: "'Happy Medium,'" "'Electioneer,'"
"George   Wilkes"  and  "Strathmore."
The other sons produced numbers, but not
horses of value. An interesting fact con-
cerning the four distinguished sons is that
their greatness was sent on through only
one or two sons of each, except in the case
of "George Wilkes," who had four great
producing sons.
  "Pilot Medium," who carried the on-
breeding power of "Happy Medium," con-
centrated all the great qualities stored in
him into one son, "Peter the Great."
" Happy Medium, " with the aid of the dams



25

 


26   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



of " Pilot Medium " and " Peter the Great, "
concentrated in his famous grandson such
qualities of real greatness as intelligence,
early maturity, speed, and early speed,
great lung capacity, soundness of bone,
wind, tough tendons, stamina, great vital-
ity, great endurance, beauty of conforma-
tion and the "do or die spirit-" which
they particularly show in long drawn out
races.
  "Peter the Great" has, today, a stud fee
of 1,000 and to his harem come more mares
than he can cover. Other trotting stallions
stand as low as 1 and get no patronage.
  "Electioneer," through his matchless
grandson, "Bingen," who sold for a large
sum when 18 years old, contributes to the
trotting breed of horses early maturity,
beauty of conformation and extreme and
early speed. "George Wilkes" was able
to distribute his heritage of greatness to
four lines of descendants, as follows: " Bar-
on Wilkes," "Alcyone," "Onward" and
"William L." The characteristics, which
he handed on to these four important
strains of trotting horse blood, are: intelli-

 



         LONGEVITY IN ANIMALS        27,

gence, speed, endurance, muscular develop-
ment, hard bone, strong tendons and good
wind.
  Strathmore's influence in the breed has
been mainly in the quality of brood mares
which trace to him.   He gave to his
progeny, stamina, hard bone, vitality, lon-
gevity and toughness, while his greatest
son, "Steinway," who was a world's cham-
pion trotter at three years of age, was used
successfully in the stud until he was well
past the meridian. His son, "Charles
Derby, " until he was 28 years old, was
possessed of great potency. Longevity
characteristics appear in certain strains of
animals, just as we notice them in certain
families among humans.
  All the English thoroughbred horses
trace in their male ancestry to three great
sires.  These three are,-" Matchem, "
"Herod" and "Eclipse." They, like the
trotting horses, sent on their elements of
greatness through one, two or three, at
most, of their sons and daughters. The
laws of heritage, it seems, decree that in
the evolution of a breed improvement is

 


28   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



not due to the many offspring of a dam or
sire, but to some one or two of the progeny,
as I have explained under Combination 1.
Great thoroughbred sires have sold for
200,000, and their stud service is 1,500,
while others stand as low as 1.
  There is no better illustration of great-
ness descending in a single line than the
recent establishment of the American Sad-
dle Horse. The foundation sire, "Den-
mark," succeeded in contributing but one
son. He, "Gaines Denmark," was out of
a "Cock-Spur" mare, and of all his nu-
merous sons, the one he got by being mated
with another "Cock-Spur" mare is the im-
portant one. His name would not even
have been entered in the Stud Book had it
not been for his son, "Washington Den-
mark." The entries in the Stud Book trace
back to  "Gaines Denmark," through
"Washington Denmark." "King William"
carried the greatness of his sire, "Wash-
ington Denmark," and he gave it all to
"Black Eagle," and "Black Squirrel" car-
ried the good points of his sire, "Black
Eagle," and was able to pass on his great-

 


GREAT FUTURE DEMANDS GREAT PAST 29



ness to two sons, 'Chester Dare" and
"Highland Denmark."
  A great future demands a great past in
breeding horses, as well as in breeding hu-
man beings. That is to say, if your ances-
tors are not the best, your family name will
disappear from the honor roll, unless you
mate your offspring well and continue to
mate them well.
  You do not build a great building with-
out an expert master-mind to advise and
direct you. You cannot expect to build up
a healthy, brainy, enduring family unless
you have a competent expert to advise you.
What do young people either know or care
about racial improvement at that stage of
the game, until some day, when it is too
late, they are awakened by the sad results
of their own ignorant marriages  Hence it
is the duty of all parents to have their chil-
dren instructed in the fundamental facts of
heredity and reproduction.
  Look at the trotting horse families that
were once great and are now dead and for-
gotten; where are the "Blue Bulls,"
the "Champions," the "Bashaws," the

 


30   THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN



"]Royal Georges," the "Messenger Du-
rocs, " etc. When the crucial test of
reproducing speed, stamina and intelli-
gence, was applied, each failed. Each
family went out of existence because their
offspring began to show the undesirable
qualities of their ancestors, as errors had
been made in the crosses.
  Confucius, of old, was a great scien4-
tist. When he discovered that ances-
tral traits, tendencies, facial and bodily
characteristics had been inherited by his
own generation from generations that lived
a thousand years before and were then be-
ing passed on to future generations, it was
too great a mystery for him to fathom, so
he instructed his followers to cultivate an-
cestor worship-and the Chinese practice
it, even today.
  Stallions and mares sometimes cast back
to an undesirable ancestor; and, again, to
a desirable ancestor.
  Whenever my stallion "Onward" had a
chestnut colt, I would be awakened at night
by the brood-mare man, to be told that a
"Champion" was born. That uneducated

 



THE INTELLIGENT BREED OFFSPRING 31



colored man knew by instinct that a great
ancestor's soul had come back to earth in
flesh and blood.
When you see a man of marked potency,
energetic of mind and body and of distin-
guished family features, carrying well
along in life the high breeding of a dis-
tinguished ancestor, you may be reasonably
sure that it is a case of atavism, and he is
very close to Combination No. I.
  Some people try to raise children; others,
who know their busines