The Nervous System. 113 



of the thighs it takes the opposite directions; the oppo- 

 site directions of the hair on the backs of pigs constitute 

 swirls. The color of the hair varies in animals at dif- 

 ferent periods of their lives, e. g., the iron gray horse as 

 it ages grows whiter; the color is also affected by wounds, 

 old scars often growing white or gray hairs; the foal is 

 generally an entirely different color to what it is at ma- 

 turity. 



The hair is a valuable aid to determine the quality of 

 an animal; coarse hair means a coarse skin; waviness in 

 the hair of the tail, a sign of want of breeding. The 

 longhair on the legs of heavy horses is dubbed "the 

 feather," and the term silky denotes the quality desired. 

 The claim of more endurance for some colored horses 

 than for others is stoutly upheld by many horsemen it 

 is more probable that the conformation, and not the 

 color, was at fault. Capt. Hayes says that dark-colored 

 horses endure the heat better than light-colored ones. 

 Favorite colors in horses are determined by Fashion, and 

 that controls the market to some extent, especially with 

 regard to coachers, saddlers, roadsters, etc. Every one, 

 possibly, has heard it said "that a good horse cannot be 

 a bad color," and also that if a horse has one white foot 

 buy him, two try him, etc., be that as it may, great 

 splash ings of white are not desired on the body, unless 

 for the circus. Coal black horses fetch high prices for 

 funeral purposes. The location of the white markings 

 on horses have been named, thus rendering description 

 of those animals more easy, e. g., a small patch of white 

 in thje center of the forehead is called a star, if the patch 



is larger it is dubbed a blaze, a narrow strip right down 



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