OEDEE OF PAOIIYDEEMATA. 197 



The Arab, pure from any alliance with other kinds, is the perfect 

 type of beauty and perfection, morally as well as physically. 



The forehead is wide and flat, the orbital arches are prominent ; 

 the orbital hollows are large and widely separated ; the face short, 

 with a straight flattened and broad nose. The nostrils are wide 

 and open, the lips thin, the cheeks flat, and the mouth small ; the 

 ears small, straight, mobile, and placed at some distance from 

 each other. The eye is prominent, bright, and energetic, and 

 the tout ensemble is mild, yet proud. Such are the principal 

 characteristics which may be noticed in the head of this noble 

 animal. Its height varies in the East from fourteen to fifteen 

 hands. Its colour is generally white, light gi'Qj, or flea-bitten, 

 not uncommonly chestnut,, rarely black or bay. Its straight neck 

 and large and strong joints serve as points of connection to muscles 

 of vast power, which stand out under a glossy, short-haired, silky 

 coat, underneath which, in every direction, can be distinctly traced 

 the veins. Its chest is wide, its legs handsome and sinewy, and 

 its foot is terminated by a hard hoof. Combining, as it does, 

 both strength and agility, it is able to travel habitually immense 

 distances, and is a better weight carrier for its height than any 

 other race extant. As the Arabian Horse transmits to posterity 

 its high qualities, together with its generous blood, it is looked 

 upon as the source from which the whole equine race obtained 

 improvement. 



Reared under its master's tent, and forming a part of his 

 family, the Arabian Horse manifests an unchangeable attach- 

 ment and fidelity for him. The Arab, on his part, would make 

 any sacrifice for the sake of his Horse, and in order to produce and 

 preserve these admirable qualities, he deems no amount of labour 

 trouble. The genealogy of each Horse is strictly preserved, and 

 its details are as authentic as those of the proudest families of our 

 nobility, for some of their pedigrees may be traced back in all due 

 form for more than four centuries. The Arabs, indeed, go so far 

 as to attribute a pedigree of two thousand years to the noble race 

 of Horses which they call Kochlanl This has formed a theme for 

 some of the most beautiful oriental verses. 



The following is the manner in which an Arab colt is reared. 

 When a suckling, it is siqDplied with camel's milk, in addition to 

 that of its mother's. As soon as its teeth are able to masticate. 



