772 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



merous shades and diverse intermixing render the study of the coat 

 somewhat complicated. 



Nearly all writers on the horse have described these latter after clas- 

 sifications of their own, which they have considered simpler, more 

 explicit, and more complete than those of their predecessors. 



The history of these classifications and the examination of the 

 principles upon which they are based would be irksome and ^vould 

 lead us too far away. It may be said to their credit that they are all 

 tolerably satisfactory in relation to the facts mentioned, but not one of 

 them is free from serious objections. The reason of this fact is the 

 extreme complexity of the details of the subject. While most of the 

 varieties can be identified and easily arranged into one of the divisions 

 adopted, there are a certain number of them which defy all such at- 

 tempts, and to describe which our language should extend its vocabu- 

 lary. In our opinion, the invention of new terms would add fresh 

 complications instead of casting a new light on these already confused 

 descriptions. In practice it is wisest to make special mention of the 

 exceptions — rare exceptions they are, in truth — which we are liable to 

 meet. 



Basing our argument upon the fact that ordinarily foals are never 

 born either white or having pure white in their coat, and that this coat 

 only appears more or less late,' we will at once establish, after the 

 example of our noted colleague, Professor G. Neumann, three great 

 categories : the primitive coats, the derived coats, and the conjugate coats. 



By primitive, coats, we understand those which the foal has at 

 birth. 



By derived coats, those which appear some time after birth, and 

 are due to the introduction of white into a primitive coat. 



By conjugate coats, those which are characterized by the pres- 

 ence, upon the same animal, of two primitive or two derived coats. 



We will begin with the study of the first. 



1 We should, nevertheless, mention the following passage from De Curnieu relative to white 

 foals : " Often," says he, " the white coat characterizes a race. Mention is made of the small 

 white horses of the Duke of Montrose, in England, derived from Spanish or Barb horses. ... In 

 Hanover and Denmark white horses somewhat similar to the latter have been preserved for a 

 long time. They still exist there, and are called weissgeboren (while-born). (In De Curnieu, Lepons 

 de science hippique generale. Ire partie, p. 174, Paris, 1855.) 



