34 Mr. R. I. Pocock on the 
necessarily sketchy and far from exhausting even the syste- 
matic aspect of the question, may prove of some use to those 
who are interested in becoming acquainted with the different 
species and subspecies that have been established. 
It must be understood, however, that the statements that 
have been made have been derived, owing to the scarcity of 
material, from the examination of a relatively small number 
of skins, and that extended observations may prove hereafter 
that some of the conclusions are unjustifiable. For example, 
in the appended synopsis of species it is asserted that the 
presence of a longitudinal ventral stripe is distinctive of the 
zebras as compared with the asses, the assertion resting on 
its presence in all the zebras and its absence in the asses of 
the species hemionus, teniopus, and somaliensis * that I have 
been able to see. Personally 1 venture to doubt whether it is 
ever absent in the zebras, though it must not be forgotten 
that Gray described the belly of Burchell’s zebra as being 
without stripes, that Sir William Flower states that in the 
common zebra the belly often has a longitudinal stripe (‘ The 
Horse,’ p. 86), and that, according to Noack (Zool. Garten, 
xXxxlv. p. 293), the belly of the quagga frequently has a 
middle band, the qualifying adverb of time in each sentence 
clearly suggesting the occasional absence of the stripe in the 
species mentioned. 
Concerning the specific characters of the mountain zebra 
and Grévy’s zebra nothing by way of introduction need here 
be said ; but touching Burchell’s zebra and its subdivisions a 
few words of explanation may not be out of place. 
There seems to be a widespread misconception on the part 
of sportsmen in South Africa as to the identity of the genuine 
Burchell’s zebra, for, with the exception of the two well- 
marked species mentioned above, the name ‘ Burchell’s’’ is 
applied indiscriminately to all the zebras that range over East 
and South Africa from Masailand to the Orange and Vaal 
Rivers. For example, Dr. Donaldson Smith (‘ Through 
Unknown African Countries,’ p. 255, 1897) speaks of the 
occurrence of Burchell’s zebra near Lake Stephanie ; yet it is 
tolerably certain that no zebra resembling the typical 
Burchell’s occurs to the north of the Zambesi, and even to the 
south of this river the name is loosely assigned to animals 
distinguishable at a glance from the principal form. Why 
the characters of the principal form should have been so 
completely forgotten is hard to understand, unless, indeed, it 
be partly due to the circumstance that for many years past a 
* Noack, Zool. Garten, April 1884, p. 101 (= somalicus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 
Noy. 1884, p. 540). 
