494 



UNGULATES. 



more remote parts of Central Asia, where it was met with by Colonel Prejevalski. 

 The troops there are under the leadership of an old stallion, and they always move 

 against the wind, with their ears and nostrils alert to detect the least trace of 

 danger. During the winter the tarpan scrapes away the snow with its front 

 hoofs in order to reach the scanty herbage beneath ; and its coat at this season 

 becomes so thick as to form a kind of thin fur. 



It has been frequently stated that tarpan are feral rather than truly wild 



THE TAHPAN (^ nat. size). 



horses. This opinion is, however, vehemently opposed by Dr. Nehring, who 

 believes that in these animals we have the last survivors of the ancient prehistoric 

 wild horses of Europe, which have been more or less modified by an infusion of 

 domesticated blood through the intermixture of individuals escaped from captivity. 

 If Darwin be right in concluding that the primitive horse was more or less striped, 

 it is possible that this infusion of domesticated blood has led to the nearly uniform 

 coloration of the tarpan. 



Prejevaiski's It may be mentioned in this place that a wild horse from Central 



Asia, described as E. prejevalskii, has been regarded as indicating 



Horse. 



