It would appear that in certain families some one ancestor, and after him others in the same family, have had great power in transmitting their likeness through the male line; for we cannot otherwise understand how the same features should so often be transmitted after marriages with many females, as in the case of the Austrian Emperors; and so it was, according to Niebuhr, with the mental qualities of certain Roman families. (14/3. Sir H. Holland 'Chapters on Mental Physiology' 1852 page 234.) The famous bull Favourite is believed (14/4. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1860 page 270.) to have had a prepotent influence on the shorthorn race. It has also been observed (14/5. Mr. N.H. Smith 'Observations on Breeding' quoted in 'Encyclop. of Rural Sports' page 278.) with English racehorses that certain mares have generally transmitted their own character, whilst other mares of equally pure blood have allowed the character of the sire to prevail. A famous black greyhound, Bedlamite, as I hear from Mr. C.M. Brown "invariably got all his puppies black, no matter what was the colour of the bitch;" but then Bedlamite "had a preponderance of black in his blood, both on the sire and dam side." [The truth of the principle of prepotency comes out more clearly when distinct races are crossed. The improved Shorthorns, notwithstanding that the breed is comparatively modern, are generally acknowledged to possess great power in impressing their likeness on all other breeds; and it is chiefly in consequence of this power that they are so highly valued for exportation. (14/6. Quoted by Bronn 'Geshichte der Natur' b. 2 s. 170. See Sturm 'Ueber Racen' 1825 s. 104-107. For the niata cattle see my 'Journal of Researches' 1845 page 146.) Godine has given a curious case of a ram of a goat-like breed of sheep from the Cape of Good Hope, which produced offspring hardly to be distinguished from himself, when crossed with ewes of twelve other breeds. But two of these half-bred ewes, when put to a merino ram, produced lambs closely resembling the merino breed. Girou de Buzareingues (14/7. Lucas 'L'Heredite Nat.' tome 2 page 112.) found that of two races of French sheep the ewes of one, when crossed during successive generations with merino rams, yielded up their character far sooner than the ewes of the other race. Sturm and Girou have given analogous cases with other breeds of sheep and with cattle, the prepotency running in these cases through the male side; but I was assured on good authority in South America, that when niata cattle are crossed with common cattle, though the niata breed is prepotent whether males or females are used, yet that the prepotency is strongest through the female line. The Manx cat is tailless and has long hind legs; Dr. Wilson crossed a male Manx with common cats, and, out of twenty-three kittens, seventeen were destitute of tails; but when the female Manx was crossed by common male cats all the