WELL-DEVELOPKD HORN ON A MARE'S EAR 



This single horn, more than 3 inches long, sheds part of its substance every year, just as the 

 horns of many other animals do. A number of cases have been previously reported, 

 of horses with horns, but the explanation of these growths is something of a mystery. 

 (Fig. 8.) 



Percivall'* wrote: "Some time after 

 joining the Eleventh Dragoons, I was 

 asked by an officer of the regiment 

 whether I had ever seen a horse with 

 horns, belonging to L Troop. This 

 horse had once or twice been the subject 

 of conversation at mess-table, but it 

 struck me to be a hoax, and as such I 

 paid little or no attention to it. A 

 year and a half having elapsed, he was 

 admitted into the hosj^tal stable, with 

 an attack of sj^asm of the intestines, 

 when the dragoon ]jointed out the 

 excrescences above alluded to, ])laccd 

 al)out two inches above the orbital 

 ])r()cess of each frontal bone, in the 

 center of the forehead. 2 inches ai>^art, 

 projecting from one-half to three-quar- 

 ters of an inch from the surface of the 



frontal bones, very much resembling 

 what is felt in young calves five or six 

 months old." 



WHAT IS THE EXPLANATION? 



Should these horn growths on horses 

 be considered as a reversion to a type, 

 or merely abnormalities? Certainly the 

 evidence is not sufficient to warrant 

 the conclusion that the horse in its 

 descent possessed horns, 1 lU it is 

 interesting to speculate on the subject. 

 All the cases rei:)orted seem to be mere 

 extensions of the skull. exc"ept the 

 jjresent one on the car. If they are to 

 be classed as freaks, why do they come 

 in twos just as in all horned animals? 

 And why are they so uniformly located? 

 If the other cases were classed as 



* Pcrcivail, Charles. Morns in tlie Horse. Vclrrinariaii, WA. i, ji. 274, July, 1828. 

 304 



