270 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



always be scraped carefully off before the flame be 

 re-applied. The same part should not be singed 

 several times in succession without allowing it to cool 

 thoroughly, otherwise great irritation and fever may 

 be induced. In singeing the neck, the mane must be 

 turned to the opposite side to that which it is intended 

 to burn, and a wet brush should be passed over the 

 roots of it, to prevent the flame running over it. We 

 would recommend that the operation of singeing 

 should not be done all at one time, but by degrees on 

 several successive days. 



COLOUR OF THE HAIR. 



Fashion too frequently regulates the prevailing 

 colour of horses, because, as we have already observed, 

 the colour of the coat is dependent upon chemical 

 action, and consequently the constitution of the animal 

 is connected with it. It will be found that there is 

 also a sympathy between the colour of the hair and 

 that of the eyes. The three primitive colours in the 

 horse are white, red, and black ; and all the inter- 

 mediate shades are modifications of these. Milk-white 

 horses have very often wall-eyes, while blacks have 

 dark hazel, and chestnut brown, varying in intensity 

 with the depth of colour. 



Black horses have in general excellent constitutions. 

 In Lincolnshire much attention has been paid to the 

 purity of their large and stately blacks. They are 

 peculiarly well adapted for waggons and other heavy 

 machines, but are defective in point of activity. In 

 the above and adjoining counties considerable attention 

 has been devoted to a smaller breed of blacks, for the 

 purpose of cavalry horses. They are remarkable for 

 their high action, a quality which, however valuable in 

 a draught-horse, is objectionable in a roadster, their 



