The earliest instances upon record, were during, and subsequent to, the reign of KING CHARLES the SECOND, who sent abroad his master of the horse to procure a selection of foreign HORSES and MARES for the establishment of a BREEDING STUD; and the mares then brought over (as well as many of their produce) have since been called ROYAL mares. The principal ARABIANS, BARBS, and TURKS, by which the original breed of Britain is supposed in some respects to have been improved, are as follows. The WHITE TURK was the property of MR. PLACE, stud-master to OLIVER CROMWELL when Protector; he was the sire of _Wormwood_ and _Commoner_. DODSWORTH, though foaled in England, was a natural Barb, his dam having been imported when in foal during the reign of Charles the Second, and was called a royal mare. The LISTER TURK was brought into England by the Duke of Berwick from the Siege of Buda, in the reign of James the Second, and was the sire of _Snake_, _Brisk_, _Coneyskins_, and _Piping Peg_. The BYERLY TURK was Captain Byerly's charger in Ireland in King William's Wars; he was sire of _Sprite_, _Black-Hearty_, _Archer_, _Basto_, _Grasshopper_, the _Byerly_ Gelding, and _Jigg_. GREYHOUND was got in Barbary, after which both sire and dam were purchased, and brought to England, by Mr. Marshall. He was the sire of _Old Othello_, _Whitefoot_, _Osmyn_, _Rake_, _Samson_, _Goliah_, _Favourite_, and _Desdemona_. The D'ARCY _White Turk_ was the sire of _Old Hautboy_, _Grey Royal_, and _Cannon_. The D'ARCY _Yellow Turk_ was the sire of _Spanker_, _Brimmer_, and the great great grand-dam of _Cartouch_. The MARSHALL, or SELLABY _Turk_, was the property of Mr. Marshall's brother, stud-master to King William, Queen Anne, and King George the First; he was the sire of some famous runners, but most of them were mares. CURWEN'S _Bay Barb_, the THOULOUSE _Barb_, DARLEY'S _Arabian_, the BELGRADE _Turk_, the GODOLPHIN _Arabian_, and others, may be referred to under the head BARBS in the First Volume. After having crossed the blood in all possible directions, (as fancy prompted in one place, or prudent deliberation justified in another,) numerous experiments were made (and for large sums) in bringing the different crosses to the post in opposition to each other; when, after every possible refinement, and every judicious exertion, to ascertain the superiority of the ARABIAN BLOOD, it was at length most clearly proved, that the more they bred _in and in_ with the foreign horses and mares, the more they acquired speed for _half a mile_ or a _mile_; but became gradually SLOWER, and longer upon the ground, the _farther_ they had to _run_. This discovery having been made (and proved by various means to be correct) at the very moment of the great DUKE of CUMBERLAND'S having brought the sport to nearly its present zenith of attraction and celebrity about the year 1760, the rage for Arabian extraction has been gradually upon the decline with the sporting