446 THE MULTIPLE ORIGIN OF HORSES AND PONIES. 



storm. The monieiit the storm set in the jjoiiy orientated herself so 

 that the snow aahs driven against her hind quarters. In a few min- 

 utes the lock of liair was spread out to form a disk, to which the snow 

 adhered, and thus i)rovided a shiekl which effectually prevented the 

 flakes finding their way around the root of the tail, where the}^ would 

 have soon melted and effectively chilled the thinl}^ clad inner surface 

 of the thighs. Provided Avith a caudal shield, long, thick hair over the 

 hind quarters and back, and a thick mane covering both sides of the 

 neck and protecting the small ears, a Celtic pony is practically snow 

 proof. AVhile the storm lasted the pony in question stood perfectly 

 still, with her head somewhat lowered, save when she shifted her posi- 

 tion as the wind veered from northwest to north. Very different was 

 the behaA'ior of an Arab and a thoroughbred Highland colt close by. 

 After trj'ing various attitudes the Arab, carrying her head low and to 

 one side, made a rush for the shelter of an adjacent wood; the half- 

 bred colt — prevented by her Celtic blood from running away — tried 

 in vain one position after another, and long before the storm ceased 

 looked thoroughly miserable and began to shiver as if chilled to the 

 bone. It hence follows that the tail lock is not, as I at first assumed, 

 an inheritance from a primitive ancestor akin to the wild horse, but 

 a highly specialized structure which eminently adapts the Celtic pony 

 for a subarctic environment. I need hardly say the caudal fringe is 

 not a product of artifical selection, for even in Iceland, where it reaches 

 its maximum development, neither its existence nor its use has, so far 

 as I can gather, ever been referred to. It need onl}' be added that to 

 maintain a tail lock of this kind it is necessary that the short, wiry 

 hairs of which it consists must be renewed once a year. 



In separating asses and zebras from horses, stress has hitherto 

 been laid on the difference in the mane and tail, and especially on 

 the absence of hind chestnuts. As already jiointed out, the wild 

 horse during sunnner in its mane and tail agrees with asses and 

 zebras. The mane and tail are hence no longer of specific impor- 

 tance. This is also true of tiie chestnuts, for in the Celtic pony, 

 as in asses and zebras, the hind chestnuts (hock callosities) are com- 

 pletely absent. In the wild horsc'. as in the vast majority of heavy 

 and cross-bred horses, the hind chestnuts reach a considerable size, 

 but in asses and zebras and the Celtic pony I have failed to find any 

 ludiments of hind chestnuts, either before or after birth. Further, 

 in (he Celtic pony the front chestnuts are small, and, still more 

 remarkable, the fetlock callosities (ergots) have entirely vanished; 

 in asses and ze])ras the ergots are always present, and in some cases 

 still play the ])ai-t of ])ads. The Celtic pony is hence not only more 

 specialized — further removed from the primitive type — -in its mane 

 and tail, but also in having lost the fetlock pads (ergots) and the 

 hock (heel) callosities. Nature makes little effort to get rid of use- 



