i6o THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



the blackness of the skin, which is compared to 

 antimony {kohl). Five strains of the kohl breed 

 are generally recognised by the Bedouin, of which 

 the kehailan is the first and best. Here it may be 

 mentioned that the low-caste horses of the towns 

 are termed khadishes by the Bedouin. 



Taking both external and anatomical characters 

 into consideration, Professor H, F. Osborn^ has 

 formulated the following features as distinctive of 

 the Arab : — The skull is relatively short, very wide 

 between the eye-sockets, which are high and pro- 

 minent, giving the eyes a wide range of vision, 

 while the profile of the face is concave (pi. ix. fig. 2) 

 and the lower jaw slender in front and deep and 

 wide-set behind. The chest is rounded, and the 

 back and the loins are well " ribbed up," due to the 

 fact that there are only five (in place of the normal 

 six) lumbar or ribless vertebrae. The pelvis has a 

 nearly horizontal position — a character connected 

 with speed ; the croup, or tail-region, is relatively 

 high, and the number of caudal, or tail, vertebrae 

 few. In the limbs the shaft of the ulna, or small 

 bone of the lower part of the fore-leg, is complete ; 

 the cannon-bones are elongated and slender, and 

 the pasterns long and sloping. Allusion is also 

 made to the occurrence of a slight depression in 

 front of the eye-socket, and to the statement that 



^ Bull. A}>ier. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. xxiii. p. 259, 1907. 



