156 THE HORSE AND ITS RELATIVES 



their veins ; and he also suggests that the white 

 frontal star and stockings so commonly seen in 

 African and Arab horses are remnants of the mark- 

 ings of zebras and quaggas. Whatever value 

 may attach to the first argument, the second, as 

 already mentioned in the first chapter, has been 

 shown by Mr. Pocock^ to be utterly untrust- 

 worthy, such white markings being merely one 

 of the first stages in the development of albinism. 

 Moreover, the absence of the hind chestnuts and the 

 nature of the front ones in zebras and asses show 

 wide divergence from the horse. 



As a matter of fact, the theory of the origin 

 of the Arab type from the zebra-quagga group 

 has not a leg to stand upon ; and this being so, 

 there remains little to be said in favour of an 

 African birthplace for the former. That horses 

 of the Arab type have existed in Libya from a 

 very early date may be freely admitted. But the 

 same is the case with humped cattle and their 

 derivatives, which, as has been shown in the present 

 writer's volume on the ox, originally came from 

 South-western Asia, and are probably derived from 

 the wild bantin of the Malay countries. Moreover, 

 there is good reason to believe that the other 

 domesticated ungulates of Africa, such as sheep, 

 goats, and swine, are of Asiatic origin ; and there 



' Annals and Magazine of Nat. History^ ser. ^8, vol. iv. 'p. 

 406, 1909. 



