Preface xi 



many of the interesting Arab traditions 

 as to the great antiquity of the breed in 

 Arabia proper, but Ridgeway shows that 

 even Arab traditions may be interpreted 

 to point to a remote African origin. 

 Ridgeway 's work forces a more careful 

 discussion and examination of this ques- 

 tion than has ever been made before, 

 and will, I have no doubt, end in its 

 solution. 



On sentimental grounds it will be hard 

 to take away the Arab from what we 

 have always considered its original home 

 and regard it as an importation into 

 Arabia from Africa. This question is 

 certainly not yet settled; but we may 

 regard it as settled that whatever the 

 issue the so-called Arabian is a very an- 

 cient breed, including characters which 

 were strongly established in a natural 

 state before domestication by man, and 

 which, therefore, have such great anti- 

 quity that they are extremely stable in 

 heredity and cross breeding. 



The most profound of these heredity 



