of the purest white, and to examine if their tongues are swarthy. We have seen that the Romans kept pedigrees of their pigeons, and this would have been a senseless proceeding had not great care been taken in breeding them. Columella gives detailed instructions about breeding fowls: "Let the breeding hens therefore be of a choice colour, a robust body, square-built, full-breasted, with large heads, with upright and bright-red combs. Those are believed to be the best bred which have five toes."[478] According to Tacitus, the Celts attended to the races of their domestic animals; {203} and Caesar states that they paid high prices to merchants for fine imported horses.[479] In regard to plants, Virgil speaks of yearly culling the largest seeds; and Celsus says, "where the corn and crop is but small, we must pick out the best ears of corn, and of them lay up our seed separately by itself."[480] Coming down the stream of time, we may be brief. At about the beginning of the ninth century Charlemagne expressly ordered his officers to take great care of his stallions; and if any proved bad or old, to forewarn him in good time before they were put to the mares.[481] Even in a country so little civilised as Ireland during the ninth century, it would appear from some ancient verses,[482] describing a ransom demanded by Cormac, that animals from particular places, or having a particular character, were valued. Thus it is said,-- Two pigs of the pigs of Mac Lir, A ram and ewe both round and red, I brought with me from Aengus. I brought with me a stallion and a mare From the beautiful stud of Manannan, A bull and a white cow from Druim Cain. Athelstan, in 930, received as a present from Germany, running-horses; and he prohibited the exportation of English horses. King John imported "one hundred chosen stallions from Flanders."[483] On June 16th, 1305, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, begging for the loan of any choice stallion, and promising its return at the end of the season.[484] There are numerous records at ancient periods in English history of the importation of choice animals of various kinds, and of foolish laws against their exportation. In the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. it was ordered that the magistrates, at Michaelmas, should scour the heaths and commons, and destroy all mares beneath a certain size.[485] Some of our earlier kings passed laws against the slaughtering rams of any good breed before they were seven years old, so that they {204} might have time to breed. In Spain Cardinal Ximenes issued, in 1509, regulations on the _selection_ of good rams for breeding.[486]