Abstract
AMONG the authors of recent texts on animal breeding, there are no armchair philosophers who, retiring from active research, have time to write a comprehensive and well-balanced treatment of the whole subject. In the distant future, it is to be hoped, Dr. Hammond will fill this role. Meanwhile he has provided a short account of his more immediate interests in the form of two series of lectures-the one on fertility and growth and the other on genetics in relation to the practical problems of breeding farm animals. Were it not for the second and shorter part, the contents might well be described as a resume of recent Cambridge experiments on fertility and growth. Problems of fertility, artificial insemination and proportional growth in all the main classes of farm livestock have been discussed in the light of research which Dr. Hammond has himself carried out or inspired. The work on fertility has given promise of greater breeding efficiency, particularly in horses, which are notoriously unreliable. Besides a very clear and concise account of the ordinary processes of reproduction and the diagnosis of pregnancy, there are hints of future developments in hormone therapy. The possibilities with sheep in this direction are notable since they include raising, where desired, the numbers of lambs born, and extending the mating season. Closely linked with the subject of fertility, of course, is that of artificial insemination, the most effective use of which presupposes a thorough understanding of the natural process. No attempt has been made to advocate artificial insemination on a grand scale, but those whose special circumstances require it will find here much good practical instruction.
Farm Animals:
their Breeding, Growth and Inheritance. By Dr. John Hammond. Pp. viii + 199. (London: Edward Arnold and Co., 1940.) 14s. net.
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DONALD, H. Farm Animals. Nature 147, 430–431 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/147430a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/147430a0
