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(10). On Evidence of a Large Horse recently extinct in South Africa. 



-By E. BROOM, D.Sc. 



About five years ago one of my students brought rne a couple of 

 upper molars of a large horse from a superficial deposit in the 

 Karroo, but as they appeared to me to be those of a recent horse, no 

 further notice was taken of them. A couple of years later there was 

 found at Bloembosch, near Darling, a number of remains of a large 

 horse associated with the remains of Bubalus baini, and apparently 

 contemporaneous with the Bushmen. The front of the snout was 

 very appreciably larger (about i) than that of any recent horse of 

 which I could obtain the skull. As, however, the horse remains 

 were manifestly not old geologically, and there seemed just a 

 possibility that they might have belonged to horses of the earlier 

 European settlers, I sent the specimens to Professor H. F. Osborn, 

 who passed them on to Professor W. B. Scott. But as neither of 

 these palaeontologists has done anything with the specimens, I 

 assume that, like myself, they felt there was some doubt in the 

 matter. 



About 18 months ago a new specimen was discovered, which 

 makes it pretty certain that a very large horse was a native of South 

 Africa before European occupation. Along the western coasts of 

 the Cape Colony the sand hills frequently become converted into 

 limestone by the infiltration of lime. In some places the limestone 

 forms thick beds, but in others it is present as thin layers not more 

 than a few inches thick. In Table Bay and along the coast to the 

 north there is a similar formation of limestone in the sea, as after 

 storms slabs of it are cast up on the shore by the waves. It is 

 doubtful whether this limestone has been formed in the sea, but as 

 in structure it appears identical with that found on the flats, it seems 

 more probable that it has been formed on the land and afterwards 

 submerged. In one of the slabs cast ashore at Yzerplaatz is the 

 greater part of the left lower jaw of a large horse. The 3rd and 4th 

 premolars and the 1st and 2nd molars are fairly well preserved, and 

 the 2nd premolar less satisfactorily. The 2nd premolar probably 

 measures about 30 mm. in length. The 3rd premolar is 33'5 mm. 



