PERCHERON PROTOTYPES 53 



derived from the name which the Seine had during 

 the Gallo-Romano epoch." 



He then goes on to say: 



"In the sandy alluvial deposits of the Seine Basin 

 at Grenelle, so rich in fossils, several skeletons of 

 horses were discovered in 1868. Among these was a 

 skull almost complete. 



"This skull (now conserved at the Museum of 

 Natural History at Paris), although broken at the 

 time by the pick-axes of the excavators, has been 

 reconstituted perfectly, and is the only perfect skull 

 of its epoch that science possesses, and as such is 

 extremely precious. Having been enabled to exam- 

 ine this skull before it was restored, we were struck 

 by the resemblance that each bone had to the 

 cranial bones of the Percheron of the present day. 

 Since then a methodical comparison of the two skulls 

 has permitted us to establish their complete iden- 

 tity." 



If a typical Ethiopian and a Chinaman were to be 

 buried side by side, skilled anatomists could a 

 thousand years hence establish their complete iden- 

 tity by an examination of their skulls alone, if con- 

 served intact. It is said that the race of any given 

 species demonstrates in the head, more than in any 

 other part of its anatomy, the specific characters in- 

 herent in the race. Whenever a breed has been ex- 

 tensively crossed with another, such crossing is sup- 

 posed to divulge itself unmistakably, to the trained 

 eye, in a modification of the cranial bones. 



The Percheron is said to possess a dolichocephalic 

 cranium. The Arabian horse is decidedly brachy- 

 cephalic. Among other dolichocephalic equine races 



