30G 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



course, and in his reign the heavy native breed was crossed with lighter Horses of Spanish origin, 

 the offspring of the Arabs, which had been introduced by the Moors. From this time foi-wards, 

 great pains were taken by the English sovereigns to improve the breeds ; races were regularly estab- 

 lished in various parts of the kingdom, and various enactments 

 were passed to secure excellence. James I. gave as much as 

 five hundred pounds an enormous sum, according to the value 

 of money in those times for an Arabian ; and in the Pro- 

 tectorate of Cromwell, Horses were introduced from the south- 

 east and from Morocco, by which beauty of form, and a degree of 

 swiftness before unknown, were added to the stoutness which 

 had hitherto characterised English Horses. In the time of 

 Charles II., we may remark that the bell, which had hitherto 

 been the prize of the successful Horse in racing, was exchanged 

 for the cup, which has continued to be the prize down to the 

 present day. 



Mr. Darwin considers that the cause of modification in the 

 forms of Horses greatly arises from their varying conditions of 

 life ; that, for instance, Horses living in mountainous regions, or 

 on small islands, become reduced in size from want of a variety 

 of food. Corsica and Sardinia have native breeds of Ponies ; 

 and the Puno Ponies living in the lofty regions of the Cor- 

 dilleras are said to be strange little creatures. But Horses can 

 withstand intense cold, as they live wild on the plains of 

 Siberia, where they scrape away the snow in order to get at 

 the herbage underneath. Not only do the wild Tarpans in the 

 East possess this instinct, but also those that have run wild on 

 the Falkland Islands, as well as the Horses in North America 

 descended from those brought into Mexico by the Spaniards. 

 That the original colour of the Horse was dun may be gathered from evidence dating as far back 

 as the time of Alexander the Great, and the wild Horses now in Western Asia and Eastern Europe 

 are of the same colour. In Hungary and Norway, duns with a stripe down the 

 spine are considered of an aboriginal colour. 



The series of permanent teeth in the Horse consists of three incisors, one 

 canine, three premolars, and three molars in each jaw, or 40 in all ; and is of 

 great interest. The grinders (or molars and premolars) are remarkable for their 

 length, the complexity of their pattern, and for the thick coating of cement which 

 fills up the interspaces of the folds of enamel. The incisors present a peculiar 

 pattern, which is of great importance in deciding the age of a Horse. Each is 

 covered with a layer of enamel, which is folded inwards at the top, after the 

 manner of the finger of a glove, the top of which has been pulled inwards, as is 

 seen in the accompanying figure of a vertical section of an incisor tooth. This 

 hollow is filled with cement, and its state of wear enables the age of the Horse 

 to be ascertained, constituting " the mark." 



A Colt when born has usually the first and second molars forced through the 

 gum, and at seven or eight days old the two central incisor teeth appear ; five or 

 six weeks later, the next two incisors. At three months, they are equal to the 

 central ones, and both pairs have nearly reached their natural level. A third 

 grinder has then appeared ; and about the eighth msnth, the third incisor above 

 and below on each side. The Colt has now his full complement of incisor teeth 

 viz., six in each jaw. At six months the obliteration is apparent in the four 

 central incisors ; and at a year and a half the mark will be very faint in the central incisors, and 

 diminished in the other two. A fourth molar appears at twelve months, and a fifth at two years. 

 These are all milk or temporary teeth. At about three years old, the central pair of incisors, or 



1.7 



DENTITION OF HORSE. 

 (A) upper, (B) lower, jaw. 



VERTIC VL SECTION OF 

 INCISOR OF HORSE. 



(After Owen.) 

 e, enamel ; c, cement ; a cf, 

 inverted fold of enamel, 

 &c. i" the mark"). 





