

EQcm.i: 383 



as in America, horses imported by the European settlers have 

 escaped into the unreclaimed lands, and multiplied to a prodigious 

 extent, roaming in vast herds over the plains where no hoofed 

 animal ever trod before. 



A wild Borse from Central Asia, named E. prezevalslcii, 1 is 

 described as having callosities on both limbs and broad hoofs like 

 E, caballus; but the long hairs of the tail do not begin until about 

 half way down its length. It also differs from E. cabalhts in having 

 a short erect mane and no forelock ; neither is there any dorsal 

 stripe. The ears are of moderate size ; the whole body is of a 

 whitish-gray, paler beneath, and reddish on the head and upper 

 parts of the limbs. If rightly described this form would appear 

 to be intermediate between the true Horses and the Asses. 



The second species is the domestic Ass (E. asitms), and the wild 

 Asses of Africa (E. a sin us, var. africanus and var. somalicus 2 ). The 

 domestic Ass, which is now nearly as widely diffused and useful 

 to man as the Horse, was known in Egypt long before the latter, 

 and is doubtless of African origin. The ears are long, the mane 

 erect, the tail without long hairs at the base, and there are no 

 callosities on the hind limbs. There is a dark dorsal stripe, and 

 another across the shoulders ; while the limbs are frecpiently banded. 

 Of the wild forms the Xubian race (var. africanus) has distinct 

 dorsal and shoulder stripes, but the rings on the limbs are often very 

 indistinct ; while in the Somali race the dorsal stripe is indistinct, 

 and the shoulder stripe wanting, but the rings on the limbs are 

 very boldly marked. Teeth and bones from a Pleistocene cavern 

 deposit in Madras have been referred to E. asinus. 



The Asiatic wild Asses, which roam in small herds in the open 

 plains of Syria, of many parts of Persia, of the north-west of India, 

 and the highlands of Tartary and Tibet, from the shores of the 

 Caspian to the frontiers of China, differ from the last in being of a 

 more rufous or isabelline colour, instead of pure gray, in wanting 

 the dark streak across the shoulder, and having smaller ears. They 

 have all a dark-coloured median dorsal stripe. Though it is con- 

 sidered probable by many zoologists that they form but a single 

 species 3 (E. hemionus), they present such marked variations in size 

 and form that they have commonly been divided into three — the 

 Syrian Wild Ass (E. hemippus), the Onager (E. onager) from Persia, 

 Baluchistan, the Punjab, Sind, and the desert of Kach, and the 

 Kiang or Dzeggetai (E. hemionus) of the high table-lands of Tibet, 

 where it is usually met with at an elevation of 15,000 feet and 

 upwards above the sea-level. The last is considerably larger than 



1 See Nature, 21st August 1884, and Zool. Garten, vol. xxviii. p. 453. 

 - See Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1884, p. 542. 



3 See Blanford, Zoology and Geology of Eastern Persia (Journeys of the Persia, 1 

 Boundary Commission), p. 84. 



