104 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



such as the red deer, the blue hare, and the fox, of 

 which several local races are now known to exist ; 

 but naturalists have agreed to solve the difficulty by- 

 taking the Scandinavian, or rather the Swedish, 

 representatives of such species as the respective 

 types. 



This being so, it is not only permissible, but 

 likewise imperative, if consistency is to be main- 

 tained, to follow the same course in the case of the 

 domesticated horse. Scandinavian horses may 

 therefore be regarded as the typical representatives 

 of the £quus caballus of Linnaeus ; and since 

 among these the "eel-backed dun" is a very 

 common and characteristic breed in Norway, it may 

 perhaps be permissible to take this as the actual 

 type of the species. This course was, indeed, pro- 

 posed some years ago by Professor Ewart, but 

 subsequently abandoned on account of the circum- 

 stance that dun horses may be produced by cross- 

 ing two distinct Scottish breeds. This fact, in the 

 professor's opinion, indicates that the dun is not a 

 true breed ; but it may be pointed out that if this 

 view is admitted the typical blue rock-pigeon is not 

 a true breed, let alone a species, because, as was 

 pointed out by Darwin in his Animals and Plants 

 under Domestication^ several distinct breeds of 

 pigeons will, when crossed, revert to that type. 

 And as what holds good for pigeons will like- 

 ^ Vol. i. p. 64. 



