270 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
nostrils,” and this suggests the raised head of a 
hissing snake. 
What gives the head of the Arabian steed this 
peculiar appearance is chiefly the prominence of the 
forehead, — greater in the mares than in the horses. 
A small head the Arabians particularly dislike, as 
indicating a small brain, but the size should be in the 
upper regions of the skull. From the top of the head 
to a point between the eyes will often measure as 
much as from the last mentioned point to the upper 
edge of the nostril. Morever, the forehead, between 
and below the eyes, should be slightly convex or bul- 
ging.1 The space around the eyes should be free of 
hair, so as to show the skin underneath, which at 
this part is particularly black and lustrous. The 
name for the original breed of Arab horses, now 
divided into five families, is Keheilan, from kohl, 
antimony, the Arabian horse having by nature that 
dark circle about the eye which the women of Arabia 
are wont to obtain by the use of antimony. Some- 
times the whole face, and even the ears, are entirely 
free of hair. The cheek-bone should be deep and 
lean, and the jaw-bone clearly marked. ‘There is 
great width of jaw and depth of jowl. In fine, the 
head of the Arabian horse is large where the brain 
is, and large in the breathing apparatus, but small in 
all the unessential parts. The face narrows sud- 
denly below the cheek-bone, and runs down almost 
to a point. “A nose that would go in a pint pot” 
1 This feature, which, by the way, distinguishes the Touchstone 
family of English thoroughbreds, is not to be confounded with that 
of a convex or “Roman” nose. The latter points to a low descent, 
and is associated with obstinacy. 
