126 



NA TURE 



[December 7, 1905 



THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 1 



"THE re-discovery of the so-called Equus prze- 

 *■ walskii, or Mongolian wild pony, has during 

 the last few years awakened renewed interest in the 

 puzzling question of the origin and ancestry of our 

 domesticated breeds of horses and their relations to 

 their wild or semi-wild representatives, and workers 

 on both sides of the Atlantic have been doing their 

 best, with results more or less satisfactory . (at least 

 to themselves), to solve the problem. The subject, 

 like an apparently impregnable fortress, has been 

 attacked from several sides at once, in the hope that 

 if one plan fails another may succeed; and while one 

 worker has endeavoured to solve the mystery by the 

 study of apparently vestigial structures, a second relies 

 on cross-breeding, while a third believes that external 

 characteristics are alone sufficient to decide the ques- 

 tion. Prof. Ridgeway, on the other hand, has 

 primarily attacked the problem from the point of view 

 of the historian and the archaeologist, and it must be 

 acknowledged that naturalists owe him a large debt 



Fig- i.— Norwegian ponies, as examples of the typical dun 

 Fr.jin Ridgeway's " The Thoroughbred Ho 



of gratitude for bringing into prominence lines of 

 evidence with which, from the very nature of the case, 

 they are unfamiliar. Apparently, however, the author 

 soon discovered that salvation was nut to be found 

 from archaeological investigations alone, and that it 

 was essential for him to enter in some detail into the 

 natural history of Eqitits caballus and its allies. To 

 one who has thus been compelled by force of circum- 

 stances to enter on paths of study other than his 

 own, tender treatment should be accorded by the 

 critic, and especially should this be so in the present 

 instance, when the author has called to his assist- 

 ance at least two naturalists who have speciallj 

 studied the Equidaj. 



As regards the two introductory chapters on the 

 horse family in general, a very large proportion has 

 little or no bearing on the subject, and might 

 advantageously have been omitted. As it stands, it 



1 "The Origin and Influence of the Thoroughbred Horse." By W. 

 Ridgeway. Cambridge Biological Series. Pp. xvi + 535 ; illustrated. 

 (Cambridge : The University Press, 1005.) Price 12s. 6,/. net. 



NO. 1884, VOL. 73] 



is to a great extent inaccurate and misleading. If, 

 for instance, the list of existing Equidae on p. 12 be 

 compared with the descriptions of species and races 

 later' on, numerous discrepancies will be found. As 

 an example we may refer to the mention of the 

 chigetai, or dzeggetai (Equus hemionus), and of the 

 kiang (E. hemionus kiang) on pp. 44 and 45, and 

 the complete omission of the former on p. 12, where 

 the latter is quoted as E. kiang. The difference 

 between species and subspecies is, however, a great 

 stumbling block to the author, as may be inferred 

 from p. 61, where it is stated that " certain zebras 

 have been made into subspecies by some, though 

 there is no evidence that they are more than local 

 races," and we are left in pleasing uncertainty 

 whether the wild Mongolian pony is a species by 

 itself or a race of Equus caballus. In connection 

 with this part of the subject, the omission of any 

 reference to the present writer's latest paper (1904) 

 on wild asses, when his earlier ones are quoted, is 

 noticeable, as is also the statement (p. 143) that he 

 has sought to establish a relation between the ponies 

 of Java and Sulu and E. siva- 

 lensis. Perhaps too much is also 

 made of the expression " an 

 Indian domesticated horse " in 

 reference to a certain skull (pp. 

 159 and 470) in the British 

 Museum, which probably bel nged 

 to an imported animal. Strong 

 exception must be taken to certain 

 statements, even if they be quota- 

 tions, connected with fossil 

 Equida?. It may or may not, for 

 instance, be admitted that the 

 horses of Asia and Europe have 

 an American ancestry; but to state 

 (p. 10) that Equus stenonis, the 

 earliest European fossil horse, was 

 one of the earlier immigrants, 

 and that while this species 

 " was extending its range into 

 Europe and Africa, two others, 

 E. sivalensis and E. natnadi- 

 cus. were finding their way 

 into India," is neither more nor 

 less than nonsense, more especi- 

 ally since the Indian E. sivalensis 

 is at least as old, if not older 

 than any known American true 

 horse ! 



It is time, however, to take 

 into consideration the author's 

 views as to the chief existing types of horses, 

 which appear to be as follows : — First of all we have 

 the " typical horse," that is to say, Equus caballus 

 typicus, which we presume must be taken to be the 

 ordinary Scandinavian pony (Fig. 1), although the 

 author does not commit himself upon this point; 

 secondly, the Celtic pony (E. c. celticus) of Iceland, 

 the Hebrides, and other parts of north-western 

 Europe; thirdly, the tarpan and Mongolian wild ponv, 

 which we may agree to call provisionally E. c, prze- 

 walskii; and fourthly, the Barb, Arab, and thorough- 

 bred stock, for which the author proposes the name 

 E. c. libycus. All the first three appear to be closel) 

 allied, and are typically small animals with large- 

 heads, short manes, and tails often imperfectly haired 

 at tlie base, while their general colour is dun with 

 black points. In temper they appear to be intract- 

 able, and when first domesticated they seem to have 

 been broken to harness instead of for riding, and to 

 have been controlled with the bit. The Norwegian 

 pony is believed to have considerable intermixture of 



: of the horse. 



