260 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE 



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widely distributed, not confined even to the salubrious 

 region of Arabia. 



But there is one argument in favor of the Arabian 

 being the primitive horse, which I have chanced upon, 

 and which I here present to those enthusiasts who 

 will appreciate it. There is a conjecture of Darwin's 

 that the dark stripe running along the spine of some 

 horses, and occasionally extending to the shoulders 

 and legs, may indicate a " descent of all the existing 

 races from a single dun-colored, more or less striped 

 primitive stock, to which our horses occasionally re- 

 vert." In the Cleveland Bay family this dark stripe, 

 or "list," is valued as a mark of pure blood; it is 

 found also in the Exmoor breed of ponies, and in some 

 other strains. 



Now Major Upton reports an observation made by 

 him upon horses in the desert as follows : " A line 

 somewhat darker than the general color of the animal 

 is to be seen in colt foals, running in continuation of 

 the mane along the spine, and to be traced for some 

 way even among the long hair of the tail. I never 

 saw it in a filly. ... It can be traced in old horses 

 and in those of a very dark color. ... It appears as 

 the first or primitive color of the animal, which tones 

 away by almost imperceptible degrees from the back 

 to the belly; it may be seen in lines on the males of 

 other wild animals. At certain seasons, and as the 

 horse ages, and dependent also in some degree on his 

 condition, the dark color spreads over the shoulders 

 and upper parts of the body, ... as if shaded with 

 black." To be sure. Major Upton states that this phe- 

 nomenon is " totally different from the markings of 

 the zebra, quagga, or any of the hybrids " ; but never- 



