442 THE MULTIPLE ORIGIN OF HORSES AND PONIES. 



of indigenous varities, in all probability meant the introduction of 

 yet other varieties. 



I may here repeat that now, as throughout the nineteenth century, 

 it is generally assumed that all the domestic breeds — small as well as 

 large — have sprung from a single wild species. The great French 

 naturalist Cuvier believed not only that all living horses belonged 

 to one species (the E(/U((s ralxillus of Linnaeus), but also that there 

 was no specific difference between living breeds and the fossil horses 

 of tlie Pleistocene period. Professor Sanson, of the French National 

 College of Agriculture, in his Traite de Zootechnie (1901), assuming 

 a single origin for domestic breeds, divides recent horses into two 

 groups — a long-headed and a short-headed group — each of which 

 consists of several races, while Captain Hayes, in his recently pub- 

 lished Points of the Horse (1904), says, " no breed of horses possesses 

 any distinctive characteristic which serves to distinguish it from 

 other breeds," and adds that " as a rule locality * * * and arti- 

 ficial selection are the chief factors in the formation of breeds." 

 Elsewhere Captain Hayes states : "As far as I can learn, no attempt 

 has been made to separate ponies from horses except on the purely 

 artificial basis of height.""" Even those who are prepared to admit 

 that recent horses nuiy have sprung from several wild species allege 

 that, owing to domestication, intercrossing, and artificial selection, 

 it is no longer possible to indicate the distinguishing characters of 

 the two or more wild species which took part in forming the present 

 races and breeds. 



THE WILD HOKSE {Eqvufi cahiiUus prjevalskii). 



The wild horse may be first considered. For many years- the 

 semiwild Tar})an of the Russian steppes was regarded as the nearest 

 living relative of the wild ancestor of the domestic breeds, but in 

 J881 the existence of a true wild horse was announced by the Russian 

 naturalist Polyakov. This horse occurs in the vicinity of the (lobi 

 Desert and tlie Gi-eat Altai Mountains, one variety living to the 

 southeast, another to the west, and a third to the south of Kobdo. 

 All three varieties are of a yellow-dun color, the southeastern (Zagan- 

 Nor) I'orm being especially cliai-acterized by a dark muzzle, dark 

 points, and a dark mane and tail; in the western (Urungu) variety 

 the muzzle is nearly white, the limbs ai-e light down to the fetlocks, 

 and the mane and tail are of a reddish-brown tint, the southern 

 (Altai) form being nearly intennediate in its coloration. The 

 markings consist of a narrow dorsal band, faint indications of shoul- 

 der stripes, and indistinct bars in the region of the knees and hocks. 



a I'oints of the Horse, i)i). 4'J2-425. 



