THE ANCESTRY OF THE HORSE l63 



mains of the bronze age and those found among 

 the ruins of the ancient Swiss lake dwell- 

 ings ; but earlier still than these are the bones 

 of horses found abundantly in northern Europe, 

 Asia, and America. The individual bones and 

 teeth of some of these horses are scarcely dis- 

 tinguishable from those of to-day, a fact noted 

 in the name, Equus frateniiis, appHed to one 

 species ; and when teeth alone are found, it is 

 at times practically impossible to say whether 

 they belong to a fossil horse or to a modern 

 animal. But when enough scattered bones are 

 gathered to make a fairly complete skeleton, it 

 becomes evident that the fossil horse had a pro- 

 portionately larger head and smaller feet than 

 his existing relative, and that he was a little 

 more like an ass or zebra, for the latter, spite 

 of his gay coat, is a near relative of the lowly 

 ass. JNIoreover, primitive man made sketches 

 of the primitive horse, just as he did of the 

 mammoth, and these indicate that the horse of 

 those days was something like an overgrown 

 Shetland pony, low and heavily built, large- 

 headed and rough-coated. For the old cave- 

 dwellers of Europe were intimately acquainted 



