We now come to the questions, the assertions, the beliefs, and the acts concerning the inter-breeding of human races, to the consideration of which I have been preparing the way. The dog-fancier has generally a great contempt for "mongrels." Breeders generally dislike accidental crosses, because they interfere with the purpose which the breeder has in view of producing animals or plants of a quality, form, and character which he has determined on before-hand. This interference with his purpose seems to be the explanation of beliefs and statements, to the prejudice of "mongrels." Really, as is well known to great breeders and horticulturists, a determined and selective crossing of breeds is the very foundation of the breeder's art, and there is no reason to suppose that a "mongrel" is necessarily, or even probably, inferior in vigour or in qualities which are advantageous in the struggle for life in "natural"–that is to say, "larger"–conditions of an animal's or plant's life; not those limited conditions for which the breeder intends his products. Indeed, the very opposite is the case. In nature, as Mr. Darwin showed, there are innumerable contrivances to ensure the cross-breeding of allied but distinct strains. Dog-owners who are not exclusively bent upon possessing a dog which shows in a perfect way the "points" of a breed favoured by the fashion of the moment, or fitting it for some special employment, know very well that a "mongrel" may often exhibit finer qualities of intelligence, or endurance, than those exhibited by a dog of pure-bred "race." And the very "races" which are spoken of to-day as "pure-bred," or "thoroughbred," have (as is well known) been produced as "mongrels"–that is to say, by crossing or mating individuals of previously-existing distinct and pure breeds. The history of many such "mongrel breeds," now spoken of as "thoroughbred," is well known. The English racehorse was gradually produced by the "mongrelizing," or cross-breeding, of several breeds or races–the English warhorse, the Arab, the Barb. A very fine mongrel stock having at last been obtained, it was found, or, at any rate, was considered to be demonstrated, that no further improvement (for the purposes aimed at, namely, flat-racing) could be effected by introducing the blood of other stock. The offspring of the "mongrels" Herod, Matchem, and Eclipse accordingly became established as "the" English racehorse, and thenceforward was mated only within its own race or stock, and was kept pure or "thoroughbred." Another well-known mongrel breed which is now kept pure, or nearly so, is that of the St. Bernard's dog, a blend of Newfoundland, Bloodhound, and English Mastiff.