526 Mr. R. I. Pocock on the 



to the north of which wild asses do not appeal' any longer to 

 occur, although Burton, be it remembered, recorded the 

 ]nesence of wild asses in his day in tlie so-called Arabian 

 desert of Middle Egypt to the east of the Nile. 



I also feel convinced that this ass was, at all events, the 

 main ancestral stock, with periia[)3 an infusion of africanus ov 

 tceniopxis blood, whence our domestic breeds are descended ; 

 but since I am unable to point out any characters by whicii 

 the alleged wild asses referred to this race differ from what 

 may be regarded as typically coloured domestic asses of 

 EnglaTid, 1 propose to extend the meaning of the name asinus 

 to include them. 



The conclusion that the basal patch on the ear is not a 

 recently acquired feature in domestic breeds, but is a deep- 

 seated ancestral trait of long standing, and that its slight 

 development in E. a. africauus, Iceuiopus, and somaliensis is 

 due to suppression, is confirmed by a number of facts. To 

 begin with, the backs uf the ears in all well-striped Zebras 

 and Quaggas, w'ith the excejjtion of some nearly white-cared 

 varieties of Bohni''5 Quagga, have a considerable quantity of 

 black, often forming a patch, on the lower half. Secoudly, a 

 dark brown patch similar to, but less emphasized than, that of 

 domestic asses is present on the ears ot Kiangs (£". kiang), 

 though at most the merest shadow of it is visible in tlie 

 (/higetai {JH. liemionus) and in Onagers {E. indicus, onager ^ 

 heviij^puii). Again, it was well developed in four foals bred 

 in the Zoological Gardens between a stallion E. asinus somali- 

 ensis, in which, like the spinal and shouldei-stripes, it is 

 absent, and donkey-mares of Spanish and English breeds, in 

 which it was present. Moreover, although two out of tiie 

 four mares were nearly black, and only one a true " ass- 

 grey," the foals in every case were grey, with moderately 

 strongly barred legs and shoulder and spinal stripes. Thus 

 the essential characters of the sire were eliminated and the 

 subhybrids * reverted to what 1 believe to have been the 

 original coloration of African asses, from which the three races 

 E. a. africanus, tceniopusj and somaliensis have departed in 

 varying degrees. Keversion of this kind is not uncommon 

 when distinct varieties are crossed. Finally, the patches are 



* Although the word " subhybrid " is open to criticism on the score of 

 its mongrel extraction, 1 cannot at the moment think of a better to express 

 the result of a cross between two subspecies, the word " hybrid " denoting 

 the progeny of two species, like the horse and ass, and " mongrel " being 

 reserved in zoology for that of two domestic breeds, like spaniels and 

 terriers. The name is, at all events, as defensible as " colype," which 

 has passed into general use. 



