THE HORSE AND HIS PEDIGREE. 145 



tlio noble creature wliose arclied nock and slender 

 IciTS command the admiration of ten thousand 

 connoisseurs on the English downs U[K)n a modern 

 Derby-day. 



If we compare the horse, the donkey, tlie zebra, 

 and their allies, as we know them nowadays, with 

 all other forms of existing- quadruped, there is one 

 difference so innnediately striking that it cannot 

 fail to attract the attention of even the most 

 casual and superficial observer. While other ani- 

 mals have five, four, three, or at least two toes, 

 the liorse family stand alone in the possession 

 of a single solid and undivided hoof upon each of 

 the fore and hind legs alike. It is this hoof, of 

 course, with its firm tread upon the plain beneath, 

 that gives the horse his undoubted superiority over 

 all other forms of quadruped as a swift runner 

 and a sure-footed, trustworthy beast of burden. 

 The hoof, therefore, may be fairly looked upon as 

 tlie great trade-mark or family scutcheon of the 

 liorses and tlieir allies, the one chief })oint of van- 

 tage whereby they have made good their jiositioii 

 upon all the great level grasslands of the world, 

 from the South American pampas to the Austra- 

 lian plains, and from the African vehit, with its 

 multitudinous herds of graceful zebras, to the 

 Central Asian stej)pes roamed over in abundance 

 b}' countless troops of beautiful onagers ami Tib- 

 etan wild asses. Now, anatomy teaches us that 



