THE WHITE HORSE 35 



the hair, but a mere absence of any colouring 

 matter. It is as though the animal saved his 

 stores to paint his inside to a warm red during 

 the cold season instead of wasting it in mere 

 vanity upon his outer clothing. At the same 

 time nothing could be more reasonable than 

 a white coat for concealment against a snowy 

 background. Hares, Eskimo, and lots of other 

 tribes are most particular in this matter, and 

 among the best people of all snowy regions a 

 white suit is the correct mode for winter. It 

 may be that some tribes of ponies neglected 

 to change in the spring, and so became con- 

 spicuous in summer, a fatal error where there 

 are wolves about. These were not hkely to 

 prosper and raise children except under man's 

 protection, so one suspects that white coats for 

 summer wear date only from the human period. 

 Men have a feeling, too, that the white horse 

 was so beautiful that he must be sacred, a 

 special gift of the gods. Without any special 

 merit, being indeed of lower stamina and en- 

 durance than any other horses, the white stock 

 were favoured by breeders. Left to them- 

 selves, they would die out rapidly in any sunny 

 climate. One notes, however, that the Persian 

 wild ass has a silvery white coat, the hue of his 

 native desert. There are many animals whose 



