28 EVOLUTION 



We have dwelt on the case of the horse's 

 pedigree — at once longer and stranger than 

 any fairy ride — because it is one of the best 

 instances of its kind, and from one such we 

 may learn all. But we have only given the 

 bare outlines of a remarkable story, well 

 worth reading in detail. In the enthusiasm 

 of early discoveries the matter seemed simpler 

 than it really is, and the mistake was made 

 of hurriedly constructing a linear series which 

 showed, for instance, the gradual reduction 

 of toes from five to one, and supposing that 

 this was a genuine pedigree. More detailed 

 and critical inquiry has shown, however, that 

 there were several collateral series, and it is 

 not quite justifiable to fill up gaps along one 

 line by links which belong to other lines of 

 descent. One critic points out that Equus 

 actually appears in the rock record before 

 some of its alleged ancestors, and Deperet 

 writes in his interesting "Transformations 

 of the Animal World": "The supposed pedi- 

 gree of the Equidse is a deceitful delusion, 

 which simply gives us the general process by 

 which the tridactyl hoof of an Ungulate can 

 transform itself, in various groups, into a 

 monodactyl hoof, in view of an adapta- 

 tion for speed." It is interesting to notice, 

 however, that among competent critics of 

 too hastily constructed pedigrees even the 



