VIGOUR AND HEREDITY (CLASSIC REPRINT)

Excerpt from Vigour and HeredityOne of our leading Mendelians once said that when he went to a cattle, poultry, or pigeon show and saw the hundreds of various races that had been produced and bred to perfection by our stock-raisers and fanciers, he doubted whether science would be able to find any law by which their results could be surpassed. The keynote of the fanciers method is individuality, and it is for this reason that what to the lay mind appears a fabulous price is often given for prize stock. Unfortunately, scientists as a body have not yet grasped this principle - which is, in our opinion, a fundamental one.To be able to draw any deductions or formulate any hypothesis from the study of individuals entails the making of numerous notes and observations over a considerable period of time, and this is work which should undoubtedly be done by zoological gardens, yet a perusal of the Reports of the various institutions throughout the world gives us practically no notes of any scientific value on the animals. We are generally told (i am referring to no gardens in particular) the number of visitors, the amount of the money received, the number of keepers, the number of animals, and the total aggregate of food consumed in the gardens. We are not told the sexes of the animals bred, the period of gestation or incubation, any peculiar mating or nesting habits, the conditions and exact food of any particular animals and the effect of these conditions on their temper.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our