xvi INTRODUCTION. 



Evidence of this we especially have in the metacarpals being so 

 long and narrow that the length is 7.3 times the width at the 

 centre of the shaft instead of 5.4 in horses with limbs of the 

 Forest type. 



If I am right in assuming domestic horses are a blend of two 

 or more varieties, carefully conducted crossing experiments ought 

 to show (1) That all horses with a long face, i.e., a long interval 

 between the eyes and the nostrils, or with a prominence extending 

 above and below the level of the eyes, or with a " Roman-nose," or 

 with long ears and a mule-like tail, or with narrow hoofs contracted 

 at the heels, have in part sprung from Prjevalsky-like (Steppe) 

 ancestors. (2) That all horses with a. broad short dished face and 

 ar. elk-like nose, or with a long body, round quarters and a low 

 set-on tail, or with short legs tied-in at the elbows and ending 

 in broad hoofs, or a broad dorsal band and bars on the legs, include 

 Forest types among their ancestors. (3) That horses with small 

 ears and large eyes, a small, narrow face ending in a fine muzzle, or 

 with a long neck and obliqiie shoulders, or with the ergots and 

 hind chestnuts absent or very small, or with a bunch of hair 

 (t.aillock) at the root of the tail, will include Plateau forms amongst 

 their ancestors. 



If as I have indicated a horse of the Prjevalsky or Steppe type 

 has played an important part in the making of Shires, thorough- 

 breds and other important breeds, it will be evident that our 

 interest in the wild horses still living in the Great G-obi Desert is 

 certain to increase. 



In conclusion I ought to explain that the consent of Dr. Salensky, 

 and of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, having 

 been obtained, the late Capt. M. II. Hayes undertook to prepare a 

 translation (from the German text) of Dr. Salensky's book on 

 Prjevalsky's horse. As it happened Captain Hayes was so fully 

 occupied with a new edition of his standard work on the " Points 

 of the Horse," that at the date of his lamented and untimely 

 death the translation was still unfinished. Having learned that 

 Captain Hayes, who devoted so much of his life to studying the 

 Equidse and left to the world an unrivalled series of works on 

 the horse, was anxious that a translation of Dr. Salensky's work 

 should be published in England I appealed to Professor 0. Charnock 

 Bradley, D.Sc, who fortunately took the matter in hand, with the 

 result that English readers have now the opportunity of making 

 themselves familiar with Dr. Salensky's views as to the structure, 

 distribution and relationships of a horse, which I have no hesitation 

 in saying will, as the years roll on, attract more and more the 

 attention of all interested in domestic as well a^ in wild horses. 



J. C. EWART. 



