76 Tliomas Henry Huxley 



have no parallel in lun-ope. The researches of Leidy and others 

 have shewn that forms allied to the Hipparion and the Aiichi- 

 therium are to be found among these remains. But it is only 

 recently that the admirably conceived and most thoroughly and 

 patiently v^-orked-out investigations of Professor Marsh have 

 given us a just idea of the vast fossil wealth and of the scien- 

 tific importance of these deposits. I have had the advantage of 

 glancing over the collections in Yale Museum ; and I can truly 

 say that, so far as my knowledge extends, there is no collection 

 from any one region and series of strata comparable, for extent, 

 or for care with which the remains have been got together, or 

 for their scientific importance, to the series of fossils which he 

 has deposited there. This vast collection has yielded evidence 

 bearing on the question of the pedigree of the horse of the most 

 striking character. It tends to show that we must look to 

 America rather than to Europe for the original seat of the equine 

 series ; and that the archaic forms and successive modifications 

 of the horse's ancestry are far better preserved here than in 

 Europe. 



"Professor Marsh's kindness has enabled me to put before 

 you a diagram, every figure of which is an actual representation 

 of some specimen which is to be seen at Yale at this present 

 time. 



"The succession of forms which he has brought together 

 carries us from the top to the bottom of the Tertiaries. Firstly, 

 there is the true horse. Next we have the American Pliocene 

 form of the horse {Plio/iippus) : in the conformation of its limbs 

 it presents some very slight deviations from the ordinary horse, 

 and the crowns of the grinding teeth are shorter. Then comes 

 the Protohippiis, which represents the European Hipparion, 

 having one large digit and two small ones on each foot, and the 

 general characters of the forearm and leg to which I have 

 referred. But it is more valuable than the European Hipparion 

 for the reason that it is devoid of some of the peculiarities of 

 that form — peculiarities which tend to show that the European 

 Hipparion is rather a member of a collateral branch than a 

 form in the direct line of succession. Next, in the backward 

 order in time, is the Jlfio/iippics, which corresponds pretty 

 nearly with the Anchitheriu})i of Europe. It presents three 

 complete toes — one large median and two smaller lateral ones : 



