56 A HISTORY OF THE PEECHERON HORSE 



flicts with the first in that it shows that the breed 

 was not literally "destroyed" nor "absolutely anni- 

 hilated," because the author points the way whereby 

 it is to be rehabilitated. Evidently Citizen Fon- 

 tenay, who used this strong language, merely in- 

 tended to express, with Gallic exuberance of lan- 

 guage, a feeling of overwhelming regret that the 

 native race had been so grievously injured. The refer- 

 ence is of sufficient importance, as leading up to the 

 modern history of the Percheron, to warrant our 

 making it the starting-point of our story of how the 

 old breed rose Phoenix-like from the fiery ashes of 

 the Eevolution, and was transformed from a race of 

 saddlers, hunters and diligence stock into the mod- 

 ern horse "de trait," or heavy draft. The increase 

 in weight began to be clearly manifested, as we shall 

 soon relate, around 1820. 



Delestang and His History. — So far as we are 

 aware, no writer on the Percheron horse has quoted, 

 or even mentioned, the author of the first really im- 

 portant publication or document in which the word 

 "Percheron" is used, as applied to the native breed 

 of horses in The Perche. "We refer to the work 

 entitled, "Essai de Chorographic du IV Arrondisse- 

 ment du Department de I'Ome. Chef lieu; Mor- 

 tagne. Thermidor, an IX," printed in July, 1801, 

 and written by M. Delestang, the first Under-Pref ect 

 of the Arrondissement of Mortagne, a division cor- 

 responding practically to a county in the United 

 States. True, Grallier, in his work on the French 

 breeds, has some idea that such a volume exists be- 



