PERCHERON PROTOTYPES 43 



proof. On the other hand, if the testimony handed 

 down by artist and historian is of any value what- 

 soever, we may safely assert that gray horses of 

 noble character and stout conformation were in uni- 

 versal favor in France at the time of the Norman 

 conquest of England and continued to be popular 

 throughout the centuries preceding the introduction 

 of the diligence. We conclude, therefore, that the 

 strong, active grays with which those heavy vehicles 

 were horsed were in all probability the lineal de- 

 scendants, the logical successors, of the splendid 

 horses that graced the age of chivalry in western 

 Europe. This, then, is the likely prototype of the 

 Percheron of pre-Napoleonic times, the fountainhead 

 of that courage, soundness, stamina and color which 

 has long been his heritage. 



Before passing to our examination of the records 

 of the French Government, which throw such a flood 

 of light upon the modern type of the breed, we 

 present the report of a discussion which took place in 

 The Perche many years ago touching the mooted 

 question of the remote derivation of the race. This 

 has not heretofore been accessible to the general 

 public, but was uncovered in the course of our ex- 

 tended exploration of the agricultural literature of 

 France. In view of its historical importance we 

 here give it place. 



Normandy Invades The Perche. — We refer to a 

 congress of agriculturists held at Mortagne in 1843, 

 a full account of which we find in the official ' ' An- 

 nuaire de 1 'Association Normande," the only report 



