DISAPPEARANCE IN AMERICA 391 



reach those southern plains in time to be observed by the 

 explorer. Youatt (1837) indicates the existence of methods 

 of defence employed by these animals which we are not 

 aware of among the descendants of horses that have broken 

 away from civilisation. He says : " All travellers who have 

 crossed the plains extending from the shores of La Plata to 

 Patagonia, have spoken of numerous droves of wild horses, 

 three thousand in one troop, under the command of a leader, 

 the strongest and boldest of the herd. The lion, the tiger, 

 and the leopard (local names for inferior beasts of prey) are 

 their principal enemies. At some signal, they either close 

 into a dense mass and trample their enemy to death ; or, 

 placing the mares and foals in the centre, they form into a 

 ring and welcome him with their heels. In the attack their 

 leader is the first to face the danger, and when prudence 

 demands a retreat, they follow his rapid flight." Professor 

 Angelo Heilprin 1 says, " It would appear not exactly improb- 

 able, from certain references contained in old narratives, that 

 at least in South America the animal still lingered on even 

 after the advent of the Europeans." John Lawrence also 

 remarks, 2 " The non-existence of the horse in America, 

 previous to its discovery by Europeans, has, however, been 

 disputed, but I recollect not by whom or upon what grounds." 

 In W. H. Flower's work on the Horse, an independent 

 reference is made to Cabot's supposed discovery, which is 

 regarded as possible in the light of the fact that forms undis- 

 tinguishable from Equus caballus, so far as their osteological 

 structure is concerned, " existed in America before its intro- 

 duction by the Spaniards." Whether Flower's information is 

 reliable or not, " it is certain," says Professor Cope, " that man 

 was contemporary with species of Equus on the North 

 American Continent" 3 



The alleged total extinction of all equine species in 

 America is by Ridgway attributed not to the great carni- 

 vora, but to the " insidious inroads of far meaner foes, for we 

 must not forget that there are no feral horses in Paraguay, 

 because an Hippoboscus or an CEstrus attacks the umbilical 



1 In Distribution of Animals, 1887. 



2 In the History and Delineation of the Horse, 1809. 



3 See the May 1892 vol. of Wallace's Monthly, Rialto Buildings, 

 Chicago, to which the Author is indebted. 



