288 



to domestication, these distinctive ancestral stripes 

 might gradually merge into whole colours, and a 

 solidifying pigmentation might accompany the pro- 

 cess. 



The broken colours of wild animals greatly help 

 to screen them from the attacks of other animals ; for 

 instance, Professor Cossar Ewart, F.R.S., in •'The 

 Penicuik Experiments," points out that a zebra, 

 twenty or thirty yards distant, can scarcely be seen 

 in a star-light night in consequence of the absence 

 of outline caused by its vertical stripes. On the 

 other hand, carnivorous animals, such as the tiger, 

 are similarly broken coloured, which is no . doubt a 

 beneficent provision of nature to aid them in procur- 

 ing their prey more easily, so that it is reasonable 

 to infer that the instincts of animals in nature are 

 much more acutely strung than those of animals that 

 are necessarily dulled by domestication. 



Bay horses are generally held in great esteem, 

 particularly if they possess the orthodox " four black 

 points." In hardy sorts the manes, tails, and legs, 

 from the knees and hocks to the feet, should be 

 black ; when bay hairs are interspersed in the manes 

 and tails, and the legs are tinged with bay to the 

 feet, horses thus coloured are generally considered 

 soft. Although there are exceptions to every rule, 

 this description is a pretty accurate one, and may- 

 be relied upon as a safe guide in the purchase of bay 

 horses. Faint dappling appears in richer -coloured 

 i>ays, and, indeed, in horses of most colours. 



