788 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



Rubican, — This expression is applied to horses of a bay, black, 

 sorrel, mouse, Isabella, and dark fox-color, which present, disseminated 

 here and there in variable quantity, isolated white hairs, but never 

 sufficiently numerous to change the nature of the groundwork of the 

 coat. 



It is important to mention their abundance and their seat. 



Examples: rubican chestnut sorrel; ordinary black, very rubican; 

 cherry bay, slightly rubican upon the cheeks, neck, and sides; dark 

 Isabella, very rubican upon the head and flanks. 



SnO'W-flaky (Neige). — The snow-flakes, or neigeures, are small 

 white spots strewn over a dark or colored coat, ordinarily the black, 

 the sorrel, and the bay, and resembling snow-flakes which have fallen 

 upon the body of the animal. 



The terms light or heavy are used to designate these spots, according 

 to the area of the base of the coat which is visible between them.^ 

 We have in one case seen a large number upon a sorrel horse which 

 had been previously aifected with herpes tonsurans. 



The neigeures, instead of being isolated, are at times confluent ; in 

 such cases they form patches or spots, which we propose to name snow- 

 balls or snow-spots. 



Examples : jet black, slightly snow-flaky upon the croup ; brown bay, 

 very snow-flaky upon the back and loins ; cherry sorrel, loith light snow- 

 flakes upon the shoidders and sides ; maroon bay, loith large snowballs 

 upon the loins and flanks. 



Flea-bitten. — This is found upon the sorrel and the bay, whose 

 red parts are invaded by white hairs, which are mixed with the red 

 in such a manner as to constitute flea-bitten areas upon the body or 

 the head. 



Examples: cherry bay, flea-bitten upon the left cheek; chestnut 

 sorrel, flea-bitten at the tail from birth. 



Grisonne, or Grayish. — These terms are often employed synony- 

 mously with the preceding, although in reality they have an entirely 

 diiferent signification. They indicate, in fact, the presence of white 

 hairs mixed at one point or another with the black coat or the black 

 parts of the body, such as the extremities, the mane, and the tail of the 

 bay, the Isabella, and the mouse-color. 



The grayish and the flea-bitten differ from the rubican, in that the 

 white hairs which form these markings are sufficiently numerous to 

 change, locally, the nature of the base of the coat. 



1 We need only mention the light snow-flake ; the heavy is the snow-flake properly so called. 



