CHAPTER X 



PONIES 



THE breeds and varieties of ponies ani small horses 

 are numerous; even Asia and Africa possess many. 

 Some are covered with hair which approaches bristles 

 in coarseness and stiffness. Corsica had a breed of ponies 

 as untamable as the zebra. It is said that the body 

 length of the Asiatic horse about equals his height at 

 the withers, while the body -length of the African horse 

 is considerably less than his height. 



The pig has evidently sprung from two distinct 

 groups, 8us scrofa, of Europe, and 8us Indicus, of Asia. 

 Professor Low questions whether the African and the 

 Asiatic horses have not also sprung from two species, 

 or groups, originally radically different. However, it is 

 probable that differences in altitude, food and environ- 

 ment, and the time which has elapsed since the respective 

 varieties were domesticated have furnished opportunity 

 for variations to take place as wide as those noted. 

 Moreover, the variations noted in horses are not wider 

 than are found in the different breeds of domesticated 

 sheep. As yet, nothing is positively known as to 

 whether the modern horse sprang from one or two 

 radically different species. It is sufficient here to call 

 attention to the marked dissimilarity of horses in differ- 

 ent localities and in different countries. 



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