On the inheritance of coat colour in horses

Abstract

Recent experiments by the writer have demonstrated the Mendelian inheritance of coat colour in rabbits. These results suggested that the inheritance of coat colour in horses might also be in accordance with the Mendelian principles. In the case of horses, however, the ordinary method of direct experiment was impracticable, so that recourse was had to the valuable series of records contained in ‘ Weatherby’s General Stud Book of Race Horses.’ This work consists of 20 volumes, containing fairly complete records of the age, colour, sex, and parentage of British throughbreds from the earliest accounts down to the end of 1904. In the modern volumes, at all events, these records have been carefully registered, and with the allowance of a small margin of error, may be safely accepted as scientific evidence, as the results of this paper show.