when the utmost care has been exercised, still the maxim holds good in the
main. The second law is that of Heredity, too often paid inadequate
attention to, but which demands constant and unremitting apprehension, as
it modifies the first law in many ways. It may be briefly described as the
biological law by which the general characteristics of living creatures
are repeated in their descendants. Practically every one has noticed its
workings in the human family, how many children bear a stronger
resemblance to their grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc., than to their
parents, and in the lower order of animals, and it seems to me in the
Bostons especially, this tendency to atavism, or throwing back to some
ancestor, in many cases quite remote, is very pronounced, hence the
necessity of a good general knowledge of the pedigree and family history
of the dogs the breeder selects for his foundation stock. A kennel cannot
be built in a day; it takes time, money, perseverance, and a strict
attention to detail to insure success.

"Breed to the best," is a golden rule, but this applies not only to the
animals themselves, but also in a far greater measure to the good general
qualities possessed by their ancestry. Far more pregnant with good results
would be the mating of two good all-round specimens, lacking to a
considerable extent show points, but the products of two families known
for their general excellence for several generations, than the offspring
would be of two noted prize winners of uncertain ancestry, neither of
which possessed the inherent quality of being able to reproduce
themselves. It will be noted that very few first prize winners had prize
winning sires and dams. The noted stud dogs of the past, "Buster,"
"Sullivan's Punch," "Cracksman," "Hickey's Teddy IV." and many others were
not in themselves noted winners, and the same statement may be made of the
dams of many of the prize winning dogs, but they possessed in themselves
and their ancestry that "hall mark" of quality which appeared in a