PREHISTORIC HORSES IN AMERICA 389 



modern draft breeds, yet all these races became extinct, not 

 surviving into the human period, as was the case in South 

 America. The relation of these North American races to 

 those of South America and of Asia and Africa is a subject 

 requiring further investigation." The most ancient forms 

 had four toes on the fore foot and three on the hind foot, all 

 touching the ground. More recent species exhibit three toes 

 on both fore and hind limbs, with an increase of size in the 

 central, as compared with the lateral toes, but still all formed 

 for action in walking. Those of a later date have the two 

 lateral toes functionally useless, and carried up from the 

 ground with the middle toe well developed. In the horse 

 of the present day, as well as in that of the fossiliferous 

 remains of Pleistocene and recent times, the lateral toes are 

 still further reduced, being represented by splint bones, which 

 do not appear external to the skin, or only do so in the cases 

 of monstrosities which occur from time to time. 



Ridgway continues " It is generally admitted that the 

 ancestors of the living Equidce passed from America into the 

 Old World, for before the Ice Age it was perfectly possible 

 for American horses to cross into Asia by land bridges in 

 the vicinity of Behring Strait ; thence they extended into 

 Europe, and finally reached Africa either from Asia or by 

 the land bridges which then linked Europe to North Africa." 

 " It is believed that in the Pleistocene period Europe was 

 inhabited by several species of horse, as Africa now possesses 

 several species of zebra." It is of special interest to us in 

 this country that " the Pleistocene beds of Essex yield bones 

 and teeth of a large-headed, heavy-built horse, which probably 

 sometimes measured over fourteen hands high. From the 

 elephant bed at Brighton, portions of a slender-limbed horse 

 have been obtained ; and Kent's Cave, near Torquay, has 

 yielded numerous fragments of two varieties or species which 

 differed somewhat from the Brighton and Essex species." 



The true horse is in scientific language termed Equus. 

 It is distinct from another sub-genus of the family Equidce, 

 viz., A sinus, to which asses and zebras belong, and which are 

 represented by a good number of well-known genuine wild 

 forms. A sinus is distinguished from Equus by the contracted 

 as compared with the rounded and well-developed hoofs, by 

 the long hair of the tail being confined to a terminal bunch, 



