THE ORIGINAL HORSE 17 



are seen, one on each side of the cannon bone. These 

 are the metacarpals of the index and little fingers, 

 the phalanges having disappeared altogether, and 

 the metacarpals themselves being reduced to mere 

 splinters of bone, without a trace of a joint at either 

 end. 



I may here mention that even when the horse did 

 appear, it was very unlike the beautiful animal of the 

 present day. It was even smaller than the Shetland 

 pony, had a head and neck very large in proportion 

 to the body, a coarse and heavy mane, and was alto- 

 gether a clumsy sort of animal. This we learn from 

 the wonderful engravings upon bone or antler exe- 

 cuted by those born artists the Men of the Caves. 

 To them we are indebted for portraits of the mam- 

 moth, deer, horses, and other animals, drawn with a 

 freedom, a truth, a vigour, and a fire of which our 

 best animal artists might be proud. 



The various breeds of horses which we possess at 

 the present day are, so to speak, artificial, and are due 

 to the constant influence of man. When deprived of 

 this influence, they soon display a tendency to retro- 

 grade to the ancient type, their bodies and limbs 

 gradually dwindling, but their heads remaining of 

 their original size. 



Every now and then a horse is born which ex- 

 hibits traits of its ancestry, just as fancy rabbits of 



c 



