EQUID.E. 



EQUII '.K. 



cno 



S. /4W/,iu, Temm. MSS. 1 (H. Smith) ; /lippotigrit 

 the iKiMU Quagga (H. Smith) ; Am- Imibvlle (U- Vaillant). 



LCMOO place* the Quagga with the true hone*, becaiue the hair 

 extend* nearer to the bam of the tail, overlooking the wart* nntl 



>!. r :. it.H .! . i. n :- 



(l tjtiagga). 



Le Vaillant, as Colonel Smith obBcrves, only saw, and did not 

 possess, the Ane Isabelle. The specimen in the British Museum, 

 described and figured by Colonel H. Smith, was certainly only a 

 young Quagga in a very imperfect condition, having lost nearly the 

 whole of it* fur before it was stuffed. It was presented by Dr. 

 Burchell as the skin of a Quagga. 



A. Jiurchellii, the Poets!, or Peechi. Pale brown, under side of 

 body whitish ; head, body, and upper part of leg, black streaked ; 

 tail, inside and lower part of leg, white. Hoof rather broad, only 

 slightly concave beneath. Skull: suborbital foramen as in E. Jfemiontis. 



It is the Equu* Zebra (Burchell) ; Aiinut Burchellil (Gray) ; Eq 

 Zfbroidft (Lesson); Eqttiu BarcheUtl (Bennett); quu Zebra, male 

 (F. Cnvier); Equut monianus, the Dauw (F. Cuvier); llippoligrit 

 Burclullii, the I)auw (H. Smith) ; Burchell' a Zebra (Harris) ; Striped, 

 or Bonte Quagga of the Cape Colonists (Harris) ; Peet-sey of the 

 Matabuli and Bechianas ; Danw (F. Cuvier). 



It is a native of the plains of South Africa. 



It is found in herds in every district north of the Orange River. It 

 admits of being tamed to a certain extent with considerable facility, 

 and occasionally a half-domesticated specimen is exposed for sale in 

 Cape Town with a rider on its back. Even in the most tractable state 

 to which it has yet been reduced, it is regarded as wicked, treacherous, 

 obstinate, and fickle. 



M. F. Cuvier has applied the Hottentot name for the true Zebra to 

 this species, and used for it the name K. monlanut that Burchell gave 

 to that animal, though it only inhabits the plains. 



tt Hoofs narrow, deeply concave beneath ; legs cross-banded. 



Living on the Mountains. 



A. Zebra, the Zebra. White; head, body, and legs to the hoofs 

 black-banded ; nose reddish ; belly and inside of thighs not banded 

 tiil end blackish. Hoofs narrow, deeply concave beneath. Skull 

 suborbital foramen as in Jlcmivntu. 



Zibn (Atitmt 



It U the Zrl/ra fadiea (Aldrov.) ; /.'-/UK* Indtrvt (Jonston) ; Etjuvt 

 Jiriuiliennt (Jacob) ; //i/.^'liyrii (Dio Casa. ' Hist.' 1. 77). /.'</ Zebra 

 I Linn.); Aama Zebra (Gray); Z6bre (lluflon) ; /ebra (llay); Sebra 

 (StiiKI)); Jlippotigru campatrit (H. Smitlii: /.'/" monlanut (Bur- 



I'oard, r Wild Horse, of the 

 Esel (Kolbe) ; Daow (or True 



hell); Male Zebra (Edwards); Wild 

 hitch Colonist* (BurcheTl) ; Wil.l. r 



of the Cape Colonist* (Harris) ; ZeOra or Znora (Lobo) ; W.I.I 

 Ass (Kolbe) ; Var. (1) J/ippotigru Ztbra, the Zebra (H. Smith* ; // 

 igrit antii/uorum, the Congo Dauw or Zebra of Pigafetta (H. Smith) ; 

 'Hlil'utit/ru undi/HorHm, Angola Dauw (H. Smith). 

 It is a native of the mountains of South Africa. 



Hyhrida between the species of Eq*idas are numerous. The 

 >ffHpring of the male As* (Aiinui rulgarit) and a Mare is called a 

 rlule, which has generally the form, ina great degree, of the dam, :m.l 

 .he head, ears, and tail of the sire. The Spanish mules are \\.-ll 

 mown for their symmetry, surenesa of foot, and unwearied activity, 

 and are the produce' of a breed of aaaes far beyond those of thi* 

 country in stature, shape, and general appearance. The Hinny, win. h 

 s the offspring of the Horse and the female Ass, is altogether inferior, 

 and is leas esteemed than the Mule. Hybrids have also been produced 

 rom the Horse and the Ass breeding with the Zebra or the Quagga. 

 Two mules that belong to the Zoological Society arc the offspring 

 of the Ass and the Zebra. The Earl of Morton bred a female hybrid 

 'rom a fine male Quagga and a Mare of nearly pure (seven-eight*) 

 Arabian blood. 



It may be expected that we should here notice the question as to 

 the power of reproduction in animals so bred between different 

 species. Mr. Bell, in his 'British Quadrupeds,' has treated this 

 subject in his usual luminous manner. After observing that the 

 inquiry how far the power possessed by two animals of producing 

 young on the one hand, or fertile young on the other, bears upon the 

 generic or specific identity of the parents, is one of the greatest interest 

 in the investigation of zoological relations, he proceeds thus : " It has 

 been supposed, and with very considerable probability, that the pro- 

 duction of male and female progeny which are fertile inter se is to 

 be considered in itself a positive proof that the parents are of the 

 same species, how much soever they may differ in external form and 

 appearance. It is well known that there are many instances of 

 animals undoubtedly distinct producing young, which become fertile 

 in conjunction with one or other of the parent kinds. This has been 

 proved in the case of several species both of gallinaceous and nata- 

 torial birds in a domestic state ; but there is not, I believe, on record 

 a single instance of a mole and female of such hybrid progeny being 

 mutually fertile. On the other hand the production of sterile hybrids 

 between distinct species of the same group is a circumstance so 

 commonly occurring as to require only an illusion ; and a reference to 

 the present animal [the Mule] is a sufficent illustration of the fact. 

 But the power of reproduction even of such progeny is considered by 

 some as indicative of a generic relation between the parent species, 

 and has been urged as an argument against the separation of the 

 Horse as a distinct genus from the Ass and its congeners. Before 

 this observation however can be allowed to have any weight, it rests 

 with the objectors to define the precise meaning and limits of a genus ; 

 and until this has been done, which has never yet been satisfactorily 

 attempted, such on argument is a mere begging of the question. The 

 Mule has been occasionally known to produce young with the Horse 

 or the Ass : these cases are however extremely rare, and serve as 

 illustrations of the statements which I have already made, as there is 

 no instance on record of two Mules having bred together." Mr. Bell 

 notices the following fact, as one which must doubtless be placed to 

 the account of this power of reproducing in the Mule. A small mare 

 was turned into a paddock in the Gardens of the Zoological Society 

 of London (Regent's Park), in company with a male white Ass, and a 

 male hybrid between the Zebra and the Ass. She had a foal which 

 was distinctly marked with black stripes across the legs. 



While upon this subject, we may as well advert to the curious 

 point, that the characters of the male parent of the mother's first 

 progeny show themselves in her subsequent offspring by oth.'i > 

 however different those males may be in form or colour. Mr. I'. 11 

 observes that this truth has already been illustrated by him wlion 

 treating on the Dog and on the Hog, and he adds that it reo i 

 remarkable and interesting confirmation from the case of the mar.' 

 (belonging to the Earl of Morton) quoted by him and above alluded 

 to. In that case the mare was young, and after producing the female 

 hybrid by the Quagga, hail first a filly, and afterwards a colt, by a 

 fine black Arabian Horse. They both resembled the Quagga in the 

 dark line along the back, the stripes across the forehead, and the bars 

 across the legs : in the filly the mane was short and Mill, like that of 

 the Quagga ; in the colt it was long, but so stiff as to arch upw.-ir.ls 

 and hang clear of the sides of the neck : in other respects they were 

 nearly pure Arabian. This and other such cases should not be forgotten 

 by breeders of animals, who are anxious about the perfection of their 

 stock, and should make them particularly careful an to the male 

 inllni-iii-i 1 which first makes its impression on the female. 



fouil E<ptid<t. 



Remains of Equida occur abundantly in the third period of the 

 Tertiary series (Pliocene of Lycll), in the fresh-water deposit*, in 

 what is called Diluvial Detritus, in superficial gravels, sands, and 

 clays, in the Otaifurous Caverns, in the Osseous Breccia, in the 

 K|.|.l. -Hhnim Sand, Ac. Hones of the Horse occurred, but not abun- 

 dantly, among the remains found by Captain Cautley lying on tlm 

 slopes among the niins of fallen cliffs, and partly in situ in the S:md- 



