After death these sacred bulls, which were distinguished by peculiar marks, had extraordinarily costly obsequies; they were called the risen Ptah, and regarded as the symbol of the soul of Osiris, by whose procreative power all that dies or passes away is brought to new birth and new life-the departed soul of man, the plant that has perished, and the heavenly bodies that have set.
"The Complete Historical Romances of Georg Ebers"
Georg Ebers
Other monstrosities seem to have begun in too close breeding, by which the powers of symmetrical development are impaired, just as the procreative power weakens under continuous breeding from the closest blood relations.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle"
U.S. Department of Agriculture J.R. Mohler
The process and effect he can easily describe, but the procreative power behind it all is beyond his ken.
"Natural and Artificial Duck Culture"
James Rankin