150 THE HORSE AND HIS PEDIGREE. 



our domestic donkeys are most certainly descend- 

 ed, lias tlie well known cross fairly marked upon 

 his back and shoulders, together with small banded 

 zebra-like stripes upon his hind-legs. We may 

 therefore pretty confidently conclude that the 

 common ancestor of horses and donkeys was a 

 zebra-like animal, more or less strikingly marked 

 with black and white belts over the whole surface 

 of his legs and body. 



Now, our modern donkey, as Mr. Darwin long 

 ago pointed out, often shows by reversion very 

 distinct transverse bars on it legs, like those on 

 the legs of the zebra ; and these bars are most 

 noticeable in the young foal, which thus follows 

 the rule of all other young animals in conforming 

 more closely than the fall grown form to the pecu- 

 liarities of its remoter ancestors. The stripe on 

 the donkey's shoulder, again, is sometimes donble, 

 — a zebra-like trait which closely assimilates it to 

 the wild qungga of the Transvaal jmstures. Evea 

 among lioi'ses themselves, the dark stripe down 

 the back frequently occurs in the most distinct 

 breeds ; and transverse bars on the legs have often 

 been observed on duns and mouse-duns, and 

 more rarely on chestnuts. A faint shoulder-stripe 

 may occasionally be seen in the same cases; and 

 Mr. Darwin once noted traces of the sort in a 

 bay horse. A Belgian cart-horse had a donble 

 stripe on each shoulder, as well as leg-bars; and 



