It appears to be rare when the male refuses any particular female, but Mr. Wright, of Yeldersley House, a great breeder of dogs, informs me that he has known some instances; he cites the case of one of his own deerhounds, who would not take any notice of a particular female mastiff, so that another deerhound had to be employed. It would be superfluous to give, as I could, other instances, and I will only add that Mr. Barr, who has carefully bred many bloodhounds, states that in almost every instance particular individuals of opposite sexes shew a decided preference for each other. Finally, Mr. Cupples, after attending to this subject for another year, has written to me, "I have had full confirmation of my former statement, that dogs in breeding form decided preferences for each other, being often influenced by size, bright colour, and individual characters, as well as by the degree of their previous familiarity."
In regard to horses, Mr. Blenkiron, the greatest breeder of race-horses in the world, informs me that stallions are so frequently capricious in their choice, rejecting one mare and without any apparent cause taking to another, that various artifices have to be habitually used. The famous Monarque, for instance, would never consciously look at the dam of Gladiateur, and a trick had to be practised. We can partly see the reason why valuable race-horse stallions, which are in such demand as to be exhausted, should be so particular in their choice. Mr. Blenkiron has never known a mare reject a horse; but this has occurred in Mr. Wright's stable, so that the mare had to be cheated. Prosper Lucas (48. 'Traite de l'Hered. Nat.' tom. ii. 1850, p. 296.) quotes various statements from French authorities, and remarks, "On voit des etalons qui s'eprennent d'une jument, et negligent toutes les autres."
He gives, on the authority of Baelen, similar facts in regard to bulls; and Mr. H. Reeks assures me that a famous short-horn bull belonging to his father "invariably refused to be matched with a black cow." Hoffberg, in describing the domesticated reindeer of Lapland says, "Foeminae majores et fortiores mares prae caeteris admittunt, ad eos confugiunt, a junioribus agitatae, qui hos in fugam conjiciunt." (49. 'Amoenitates Acad.' vol. iv. 1788, p. 160.) A clergyman, who has bred many pigs, asserts that sows often reject one boar and immediately accept another.
From these facts there can be no doubt that, with most of our domesticated quadrupeds, strong individual antipathies and preferences are frequently exhibited, and much more commonly by the female than by the male. This being the case, it is improbable that the unions of quadrupeds in a state of nature should be left to mere chance. It is much more probable that the females are allured or excited by particular males, who possess certain characters in a higher degree than other males; but what these characters are, we can seldom or never discover with certainty.