36 ete Pocock pattie 
groups and stating in a general kind of way that Burchell’s 
zebra is an exceedingly variable species, the far more im- 
portant objection may be alleged that it leads to an ignoring 
of the variations as of no significance and to a total disregard 
of the highly important but as yet unintelligible fact that in 
a particular locality a particular form prevails. It is the 
interpretation of this fact, the recollection of which is greatly 
assisted by the judicious use of nomenclature, that with the 
cooperation of the sportsman or collector should be the ultimate 
object of the systematist. 
In the present paper seven such subspecies or local races 
of Burchell’s zebra have been recognized, two of them being 
forms that have not previously been named. It must be 
understood, however, that scarcity of properly localized 
material renders some of the conclusions with regard to these 
forms more or less tentative, and that skins of zebras of 
different ages from all localities, wherewith to test the con- 
stancy of markings, are indispensable for the satisfactory 
settlement of the questions; and now that the need for 
practical evidence of this nature is known, it is hoped that 
sportsmen will endeavour to obtain it before the advance of 
civilization has either exterminated these beautiful animals or 
placed them under the artificial conditions of preservation—a 
contingency that is certain to follow if we may judge from 
the fate that has befallen two formerly abundant South- 
African species, namely the quagga and the so-called common 
‘or mountain zebra. 
Part I].—Descriptions of the Species. 
(1) Hquus zebra, Linn. 
Equus zebra, Linneeus, Syst. Nat. ed. x. p. 74 (1758). 
Equus montanus, Burchell, Travels &c. i. p. 189 (1822). 
This species was originally based upon figures and descrip- 
tions apparently representing three distinct species. ‘Two of 
these are from Edwards's ‘ Gleanings of Natural History,’ v. 
pls. cexxil. and cexxiil., the first of which is the form which 
now bears the name, the second being the quagga, while the 
others, though very inaccurate, appear to have been taken 
from examples of one of the subspecies of Burchelli (see 
Aldrovandi, Quadrup. i. p. 417, pl. vili., and Johnston, 
Quadrup. pl. v. fig. 1). The specific name zebra, however, 
has been definitely assigned to the species depicted on 
pl. cexxil. of Edwards’s work, the said figure being drawn 
from an example (the type) then preserved in the museum of 
the College of Physicians, London. 
