Miller: Horned Horses 



305 



reversions to a type, this one on the ear 

 might be termed a variation, since in 

 the variation of the rhinoceros' horns, 

 they may be superficially attached. 

 That is, it does occur where the horn 

 has no connection with skull-bone 

 below. Strabo of the first century 

 mentions that horned horses of India 

 were not uncommon. Other early 

 writers reported horned horses. On 

 the other hand, Prof. Matthews of the 

 American Museum of Natural History, 

 states that no specimen they ever found 

 of the ancient horse had any indication 

 of horn cores on the skull. Prof. 

 Matthews' investigations have covered 

 no less than twelve stages in the evolu- 

 tion of the horse, over a period of some 

 three million years. 



Horns in cattle, sheep, rhinoceros and 

 others of the higher vertebrates, are 

 composed of two substances, (1) an 

 external shell, the true horn, which 

 takes its origin from the skin, epi- 

 dermis. Fundamentally it is the same 

 kind of tissue from which the hairs, 

 nails, scales of reptiles and fishes, and 

 feathers of birds are formed. All these 

 widely different structures are in their 

 earliest stages very similar, and are 

 derived from the same primordial cell, 

 the epiblast. (2) An internal core or 

 bone, derived from an entirely differ- 

 ent cell, the hypoblast. These cores 

 give support to the external shell. 

 Without such support a horn would be 



of no service as a weapon of offense or 

 defense. However, feathers, nails, hair, 

 scales on fish are normally without 

 bone support. But scales on sharks 

 and turtles, and some of the fishes, 

 especially geologically old fishes, are 

 usually supported by special bony 

 structures. In short, epidermal struc- 

 tures may or may not be associated 

 with bone and these structures can 

 develop without a bone support. 



Just what the structure is of the 

 horse's horn, cannot be determined 

 without a cross-section. By this means 

 it could be definitely known with what 

 horn, cow's, or rhinoceros', it is most 

 nearly related. It has all the appear- 

 ance of being a true horn. Its shape, 

 rate of growth, etc., indicate that it is 

 a real horn. In an early geologic 

 period we find that the horse and 

 rhinoceros took origin from the same 

 stem. If the horse at that time pos- 

 sessed horns, this is a case, perhaps of 

 reversion. I will advance one other 

 theory; as has been mentioned, the 

 hair and horns are derived from the 

 same structure, and this is possibly a 

 modified hair cell, which has been 

 caused by something being knocked 

 out of adjustment accidently, during 

 the horse's embryonic stages. But I 

 know of no instance of horn formation 

 from modified hair follicles, to support 

 this suggestion. 



Survey of Musical Ability in Schools 



All children in the seventh and 

 eighth grades of the Sioux City schools 

 were recently given psychological tests 

 of musical ability by Dean Carl E. 

 Seashore of the University of Iowa, 

 and his assistants. These exact tests 

 measure the amount of inherent talent 

 which the child possesses, and seventy 

 children were selected, who showed 

 unusual promise and were considered 

 worthy of special encouragement. Of 

 these, twenty-four had never had any 

 training; the rest had had some. It is 

 interesting to note (says School and 

 Society, p. 612, 1917) that Dr. Seashore 

 had no information about the previous 



performance of any of the pupils 

 examined, but the two whom his tests 

 showed to be the most gifted were 

 actually two who have a local reputation 

 as musical prodigies, one of them, a 

 girl of twelve years, being a concert 

 pianist. Dr. Seashore believes that all 

 fifth grade children should be given 

 tests of musical ability, with a view to 

 encouraging those who show talent. 

 His work, which has extended through 

 many years of experimentation, marks 

 an important step forward in vocational 

 guidance and the selection of those who 

 have inborn special abilities, and is to 

 be as widespread as possible. 



