Ixxiv GENERAL INTEODUCTION. 



(6) Noo-a's Suhsequent Foal. — Nora, as explained below, 

 is an almost black ITl hands Shetland pony. Like 

 Tundra, she had a foal before she was put to the zebra, 

 but, unlike Tundra, she is not prepotent ; instead of being 

 a " repeater " she tends to produce offspring- like the re- 

 spective sires with which she is mated. Her first foal, 

 as explained in the telegony paper, was at birth of a bay 

 colour, and marked with a dorsal band, with bars across 

 the legs, and a number of stripes across the withers, — was, 

 in fact, for a time nearly as richly banded as the filly 

 bred from Lord Morton^s mare. Though a number of 

 these stripes vanished with the foal's coat, three distinct 

 bands persisted, as in Lord Morton's quagga hybrid, 

 across the withers. In Nora I had evidently a mare 

 with a tendency to produce striped offspring, but whether 

 the first foal inherited the stripes from his dam or from 

 his sire it was at the outset impossible to say, both 

 parents being equally dark in colour, and, though not 

 related, of the same strain. Nora's hybrid foal (Norette) 

 is more of a zebra than any of my other hybrids. The 

 body colour is, as a whole, of a leather dun shade, but in 

 some parts it is reddish brown, the stripes are nearly 

 black ; and, instead of spots, there have been, from the 

 first numerous well-marked stripes across the loins and 

 croup "^ as in the Somali zebra, and, as in Romulus, 

 numerous rounded arches on the brow. The hoofs are 

 longer than in the zebra sire, and the mane, though long 

 and pendent in winter, is in summer short and quite up- 

 right. While it might be difficult for Matopo to infect 

 the inbred skewbald Iceland pony, he had evidently an 

 excellent opportunity of permanently stamping his cha- 

 racters (or those of his ancestors) on the black four-year- 

 old Shetland pony. 



Nora, having given birth to her hybrid, was put to a 

 small Welsh pony, a bay with black points and black 

 mane and tail. The Welsh pony being of a different 

 breed, and having some dark hairs in the vicinity of the 



* From the markings over the croup of the hybrids a fairly accurate 

 estimate may be formed of the prepotency of their respective dams. 



