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CHAPTER XXXIII. 



WILD HORSES. 

 Prjevalsky's horse — The Tarpan. 



Probably the only two living varieties of horses which 

 have never been domesticated, and which consequently 

 hve in a wild state, are the Tarpan and Prjevalsky's Horse. 

 It is possible, as suggested by some authorities, that 

 tarpans are descendants of horses which escaped from 

 domestication a very long time ago. Unfortunately, we 

 have not sufficient evidence to decide this question. 



Prjevalsky's Horse (Equus caballus Prjevalskii, 

 Figs 607, 608, 609, 610 and 611). — Although I have seen 

 a few of these animals in captivity, I shall be guided in 

 making the following remarks chiefly by Salensky's ad- 

 mirable Russian book on this subject. 



The Russian traveller, Prjevalsky, was the first to 

 bring this animal to the notice of the scientific world, by 

 presenting a skull and skin of a three-year-old to the 

 Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg. On these somewhat 

 scanty data, the Russian naturalist, Polyakov, wrote an 

 article on this horse in 1881, and described it as a distinct 

 species. Since that time, several living specimens have 

 been imported into Russia, England and elsewhere, in 

 which good work Herr Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, has 

 taken a prominent part. Professor Ewart has done in- 

 valuable service in determining the zoological position of 

 this animal. 



