212 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



ready to issue forth as the perfect fly. On the other hand, 

 I notice that the larger antelopes of South Africa are liable 

 to suffer from rinderpest, and be greatly reduced in numbers, 

 as are our domestic oxen. 



Among these drawings were seemingly two varieties of 

 the horse — the one having a heavy appearance, with a 

 Eoman nose or arched frontal, the other being of a lighter 

 type, with slim legs and hogged or short upstanding mane. A 

 most remarkable fact was that some of these horses were 

 seemingly haltered, otohers had a cord round the muzzle, and 

 two appeared to have some material thrown over the back — 

 a rug or possibly the skin of some other animal. — (Nature, 

 30th January, 1902, p. 300.) 



Here we seem to have certain proof that the man of that 

 time utilised the horse as a beast of burden, and held the 

 horse in captivity, or, as we say, it was " a domesticated 

 animal." But as yet, I believe, no figures of mounted men 

 have been reported ; perhaps the horse was then only used 

 as a pack animal, and these people do not seem to have been 

 in the habit of making drawings of the human figure — at 

 least, I have no remembrance of ever hearing of the fac-simile 

 portraits of the Palaeolithic man. Can they have had, like 

 the Maori of the last century, a superstitious dread of draw- 

 ing or carving the human figure in extenso, the Maori never 

 giving the carving the full number of fingers or toes, by which 

 simple method of abbreviation danger was assumed to be 

 avoided? The Australian blacks had no such scruples, as 

 they drew and carved on trees figures of men and women, 

 which were so roughly executed and were done in such a 

 childlike manner that they give no correct delineation of the 

 form or features. The Palaeolithic man of Europe was a 

 far superior artist, and his drawings were genuine rough 

 portraits. 



Of all animals the horse is most notable for the wonderful 

 length of the hair in its mane and tail, and, noting this, we 

 may suppose that primitive man may possibly have coined a 

 name for the horse indicative of this unusual characteristic. 

 In French the horse is named cheval. Taking as the root of 

 this word chev, as seen in chev-aux (horses), we may assume a 

 connection with chev-eu, hair ; chev-elu, long-haired ; chev-el- 

 ure, head of hair ; chev-et, a pillow or bolster (because filled 

 with hair) ; chev-etre, a halter (possibly from ropes and halters 

 being made from the long hair collected from the horse, and 

 we have fabulous stories of the use of ropes made from the 

 long hair of women in the building of notable edifices). 

 Chevetre is also the binding-joint in carpentry, and in sur- 

 gery a bandage to support the lower jaw. No doubt the 

 halter of the olden time, made from horse-hair, was passed 



