ZEBKA-HOKSE HYBRIDS. 41 



rows of spots across the croup had already united to form 

 narrow bands. The face, measured from the occipital 

 crest to a line connecting the upper margins of the nostrils, 

 was slightly longer than in Romulus ; but the ears were 

 the same length — six inches. 



Sometimes when a horse utters a Avaruing call all the 

 members of the herd hurriedly collect together and rush 

 about in an excited manner. It seems to be of the utmost 

 importance for wild Equidss to at once make out the direc- 

 tion of any given sound. Probably the longer the ears 

 the quicker this is accomplished. If the length of the 

 ears, as is most probable, counts for much, one can 

 understand why they almost reach their full size at birth. 

 Foals are given to straying in all directions, and unless 

 they hear and at once recognise the call of their respective 

 dams^ and the direction from which the sound comes, their 

 chances of surviving in a wild state would be greatly 

 reduced. At birth, the ears of Romulus were longer than 

 in his dam, and only slightly shorter than in his sire. In 

 the case of Remus they were the same length as in his 

 dam, viz. six inches along the upper aspect. 



The eyes in Biddy's foal are hazel-coloured and gazelle- 

 like in their mildness, and the upper eyelashes are particu- 

 larly long and curved. The mane, though at first made 

 up of soft hairs, which bent over to the right side, soon 

 assumed an upright position, and when Remus reached the 

 eighth month, it consisted of near-ly erect but not very stiff 

 hairs. It looks as if the mane will always be as upright 

 and as short as in his sire. The tail contains fewer hairs 

 than any of the other hybrids, and has three bars across 

 the root. On the other hand, there are chestnuts on the 

 hind legs as well as on the foi-e ; ordinary mules are said 

 not to have chestnuts on the hind limbs. The front 

 chestnuts are large, level with the skin, and zebra-like ; 

 the hind chestnuts are raised above the level of the skin, 

 and, though narrow and only half an inch in length, are 

 horse-like. That the zebras and asses have no chestnuts 

 on the hind legs may perhaps be due to the absence of 



