10 THE PEJEVALSKY HORSE. 



The degree of curvature of the back varies greatly. In two 

 living examples, in which this character can be best observed, the 

 curvature is well marked in one (a mare) and only slightly so in 

 the other (a stallion). 



The tail is an extremely interesting feature of the Prjevalsky 

 horse. It is quite pecviliar, and resembles neither the tail of the 

 onager nor that of tlie domestic horse, but is intermediate in form. 

 It differs from that of the onager in that it is not sharply divided 

 into two portions — a proximal part provided with tufts of short 

 hair, and a distal portion covered with long hairs. It differs from 

 the tail of the domestic horse, in that, for a certain distance from 

 the root, its dorsal surface is covered with short hairs. Long 

 liairs also begin close to the root, but they are present on the 

 sides only, and, therefore, are below the short hairs. The tail is 

 very long. In a foal at Tsarskoe-Selo it reached almost to the 

 hoofs. The short stiff hairs on the dorsal asjDect of the root are 

 arranged in the form of two converging streaks enclosing a less 

 prominent area, alono- the centre of which is a darker line forming 

 a continuation of the dorsal stripe of the trunk. The hairs of the 

 dorsal surface differ from the long hairs of the tail not only by 

 their coarseness, but also in tlieir colour. Poliakof states that the 

 short hairs are of the same colour as those forming the dorsal 

 stripe. This is correct so far as the winter coat is concerned ; 

 but, in the summer, these hairs differ conspicuously from those of 

 the back by their lighter colour, and so resemble the light- 

 coloured hairs of the edge of the mane. 



Poliakof refers to the remarkable thickness of the legs of E. 

 prjevalskil. In the living specimens which I have had an opjjor- 

 tunity of examining, the legs were by no means thick. On the 

 contrary, they might be described as slight, and looked ratlier 

 long in comparison with the height of the animal. 



The shape of the hoof forms an extremely important difference 

 between the horse and the wild ass. In the ass it is somewhat 

 long, and in the horse it is rounder. Measurements of twenty-two 

 kiangs, five onagers and eiglit Prjevalsky horses, showed that in 

 the last named the hoof is rounder than in the others — a difference 

 of some importance. In the onager the width of the hoof is to its 

 length as 100:140: in the kiang, as 100:149; and in E. 

 prjevaJsl-ii, as 100 : 124. But the maximum and minimum length 

 of the hoof is somewhat variable. In some specimens of the 

 Prjevalsky hcise the breadth of the hoof was to its length as 

 100:144 ; that is to say, the hoof was relatively longer than that 

 of the average kiang. In the kiang tlie hoof is occasionally longer 

 than in the onager, and. in extreme cases, a proportion of 100:168 



