SOME BELIEFS OF PRACTICAL BREEDERS 567 



the first foal produced by Lord Morton's chestnut Arabian mare. Those 

 criticisms suggested by Ewart, however, because they are tempered by 

 abundant experimental research, are, perhaps, most just. 



Accepting the hybrid nature of the first foal, the question arises as to 

 how common striping may be in horses, especially those of Oriental 

 ancestry. On this point there is abundant evidence as Ewart points 

 out. The old yellow-dun horses of the forest type, which have had much 

 to do in the origin of modern breeds of horses, characteristically possessed 

 a broad dorsal band and zebra-like bars on the legs, and in addition to 

 these markings they often possessed faint stripes on face, neck and withers. 

 In fact evidence points to the belief that a remote ancestor of this forest 

 horse was probably as richly striped as some modern zebras. Even today 

 it is a very common thing among mongrel ponies to meet with individuals 

 which possess distinct markings suggestive of the forest horse. They are 

 not uncommon among Arabian crosses. Consequently we are not sur- 

 prised when this later filly is compared with the quagga to find that its 

 pattern, rather than suggesting residual effect of the previous impreg- 

 nation by the quagga, strongly indicates reversion to some ancestral type. 

 The bars on the legs, for instance, were more marked on the hybrid, on the 

 filly, and on the colt than on the quagga. The scanty mane and tail 

 upon which Lord Morton dwells may simply be regarded as additional 

 evidence of reversion. 



The Penycuik Experiments. All the debates which may center around 

 Lord Morton's mare, however, do not carry a fraction of the weight in 

 assigning telegony to the limbo of discarded doctrines of the experimental 

 work of the last two decades. The Penycuik experiments were designed 

 by Ewart to determine whether such a doctrine as telegony were tenable, 

 and, if so, to what extent it exerted influence in animal breeding. They 

 have been carried out on a considerable scale, and included experiments 

 not only with the Equidae, but also with other animals. In every case 

 Ewart was forced to the conclusion that alleged cases of infection may be 

 accounted for most easily and most satisfactorily as instances of rever- 

 sion to ancestral types. 



To illustrate Ewart bred the Burchell zebra stallion Matopa to a chest- 

 nut polo pony. She produced as a result of this mating twin hybrids. 

 The following year she produced a foal to a light chestnut thoroughbred 

 stallion, after which she was again bred to Matopa, and produced a third 

 hybrid foal. Subsequently she produced another foal to the service of a 

 dark chestnut thoroughbred stallion. The three hybrid foals from this 

 mating were all richly striped, in fact the stripes were more numerous, 

 although less conspicuous, than those of the zebra sire. In spite of this 

 fact, however, the two foals produced by mating Valda to the thorough- 

 bred chestnut stallion in no particular, either in color or in form, resem- 



