CHAPTER VI 



EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE 



Hieroglyphics on ancient tombs show that, even so long 

 as thirty-five hundred years ago, royal Egyptians went to war 

 in chariots drawn by horses. Other records tell us that wher- 

 ever man has gone since then in the development of civili- 

 zation, he has taken the horse with him. To-day, therefore, 

 we find this animal in all lands where man lives and can use 

 him. And this use takes different forms. Horses are bred 

 for strength, for speed, for gait, for looks, for size, for the 

 ability to perform tricks, and for several other special pur- 

 poses ; but no development of any sort changes them beyond 

 recognition. By their looks, their acts, and their anatomy we 

 decide without question that all modern horses are related to 

 each other. 



Bear these facts in mind as you go to the American 

 Museum of Natural History in New York City, and think 

 about them as you visit what is called the Department of 

 Vertebrate Paleontology. This is where many fossil bones 1 

 are kept. 



1 A fossil bone is one that has been gradually turned into stone during 

 past ages. Little by little, through chemical action, mineral matter takes 

 the place of the bone, and when the exchange is fully made, the bone it- 

 self has really become rock. Thousands of years are needed for the change, 

 but, once made, the fossilized bone is brittle and heavy and able to en- 

 dure as long as the rocks themselves shall last. It is to this bone petri- 

 faction that scientists owe their knowledge of animals whose skeletons 

 have been preserved unchanged for millions of years. 



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