ZEBRAS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS 157 



this tendency to striping about the fore-legs may be 

 frequently observed, especially in the young animals. 

 The Norwegian pony appears to me to belong to 

 an ancient, unimproved stock, probably of Asiatic 

 descent. The Kattywar breed of horses in North- 

 West India is, says Darwin, so generally striped, 

 that a horse without stripes is not considered purely 

 bred. The spine is always striped, the legs are 

 generally barred, and a shoulder stripe (sometimes 

 double and treble) is common. The young of the 

 domestic ass is, as we all know, frequently and 

 persistently striped about the fore-legs. Wild asses 

 from North-East Africa have the same characteristic, 

 especially in Somaliland. In his Origin of ^iKcies 

 Darwin further points out that this tendency to 

 revert to striping is most strongly displayed in 

 hybrids, bred from the most distinct species; and 

 the tendency in hybrids to revert to an original 

 and far removed stock is well established. Mules, 

 especially, display stripings, or zebra-like markings, 

 about the legs with the greatest persistency. 



A well-known and remarkable case of this over- 

 powering tendency was displayed in a famous hybrid 

 bred by Lord Norton. This mule was the product 

 of a union between a male quagga {Eqims qtiagga) 

 and a nearly pure-bred chestnut Arabian mare. 

 The foal bore stripes "more strongly defined and 

 darker than those on the legs of the quagga." More 



