Mr. Regnart says: "We often meet with Sports. Second- and third-rate parents may produce an exceptionally fine individual, but such animals are always failures to breed from. The law of Filial Regression comes into operation. Our aim is to find families that have produced a large number of fine animals--we know then that we are on safe ground." In these cases, it would seem that the "fine individual" results from so singularly harmonious and successful a complementing and fructifying of the parental halves in offspring as conduce to develop the best points of both; doubtless, too, to eliminate or to annul weak or faulty factors of either parental strain. Neither of such inferior-grade parents transmitting a fine _lineal_ potential, however, the exceptional fineness of the individual is not inherent in the Germ-plasm he or she transmits to offspring. The fine characteristics of such "Sports" are not transmissible, therefore, to descendants. Proof again of two planes of Life and Evolution, that of Species and that of the Individual. Moral, too, of the importance of fine selection in mating, since the harmonious mating of second- or third-rate parents may produce finer offspring than are born of ill-assorted matings of two finer breeds of parent. The case is recorded of a pony about the size of a Shetland pony, which was the offspring of pedigree Shire-parents on both sides, _both parents being over 17 hands_. The most striking feature about the animal was that there was nothing of the _horse_-type about him--he was a perfect example of _pony_. Shire horses are typical examples of Vigour, or developmental power, expressed in terms of stature, muscle and nervous energy. And for so long as the breeding for these characteristics was supplemented in terms of vital organs and vital functioning, by an equivalent maternal complement of Vital potential, to sustain the constitutional expenditure involved in stature, muscular equipment, and nervous energy, the breed improved in these particulars. Pushed beyond this limit, by introducing into stock further strains of Vigour, or developmental initiative, without simultaneously providing the indispensable equivalents of these in increasing Vital potentials, all at once the balance toppled, and reversion to inferior type resulted. An excessive proportion of the Vital power of these two Pedigree Shires of great stature and great strength had been expended in the achievement of such great stature and great strength, and in the equipment of digestive and assimilative organs required to sustain these. But little had remained, accordingly, for Reproductive investments. Hence reversion in the de-vitalised stock.