12 Domezstio ANIMALS. 
2. The Arabian Horse.—The genealogy of the Arabian 
horse, according to Arab account, is known for two thousand 
years, Many of them have written and attested pedigrees ex- 
tending more than four hundred years, and, with true Eastern 
exaggeration, traced by oral tradition from the stud of Solo- 
mon. A more careful account is kept of these genealogies than 
of those of the most ancient family of the proudest Arab chief, 
and very singular precautions are taken to prevent the possi- 
bility of fraud, so far as the written pedigree extends. 
The head of the Arabian horse is inimitable. The broadness 
and squareness of the forehead, the shortness and fineness of the 
“muzzle, the prominence and brilliancy of the eye, the smallness 
of the ears, and the beautiful course of the veins, are its char- 
acteristics. In the formation of the shoulders next to the head, 
the Arabian is superior to any other breed. The withers are 
high and the shoulder-blades inclined backward, and so nicely 
adjusted that in descending a hill the point or edge of the ham 
never ruffles the skin. The fineness of the legs and the oblique 
position of the pasterns may seem to lessen his strength; but 
the leg, although small, is flat and wiry, and its bones uncom- 
monly dense.* 
Richardson says: “‘Often may the traveler in the desert, on 
entering within the folds of a tent, behold the interesting spec- 
tacle of a magnificent courser extended upon the ground, and 
some half dozen little dark-skinned, naked urchins scrambling 
across her body, or reclining in sleep, some upon her neck, 
some on her body, and others pillowed upon her heels; nor do 
the children ever experience injury from their gentle playmate. 
She recognizes the family of her friend, her patron, and toward 
them all the natural sweetness of her disposition leans, even to 
overflowing.” 
The Arabian horse Tartar, whose portrait we give on the next 
page, is thus described in the New England Farmer: “This 
beautiful horse was bred by Asa Pingree, of Topsfield, Mass. 
* Youatt. 
