Artificial insemination is the injection of SEMEN into the vagina by instrumental means. The first artificial inseminations of viviparous (live-bearing) animals were performed by the 18th-century Italian physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani, who proved that the male contribution to reproduction resided in the semen, although he did not recognize spermatozoa as the fertilizing agents. Pioneering work in the artificial insemination of dairy and beef animals was done in Russia about the time of the Revolutions of 1917. By the 1930s it was being practiced throughout Europe and the United States. The principal advantage of artificial insemination over natural breeding is that a single male of superior genetic quality can be used to impregnate thousands of females, thereby improving herds and increasing dairy and meat production. With artificial insemination, dairy farmers need not risk the deterioration of their herds from excessive inbreeding, nor incur the expense of maintaining their own......
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