830 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



Corea, but tlie tiger of Corea is a very different animal from tliat of Bengal. 

 Instead of the short hair of the Indian tiger the Corean has clothed himself with 

 a robe of dense long fur to withstand the rigours of the north. It is* not unlikely 

 that if we had a sufficient number of skins from known localities we could trace 

 the change in the tiger from latitude to latitude, just as I have shown in the case 

 of the Equidae. 



Now whilst there is certainly a general physical type common to all the 

 peoples round the Mediterranean, it by no means follows that all those peoples are 

 from the same original stock. On the contrary, the analogy from man in other 

 parts of the world, as well as that of the Equidae, suggest tliat the resemblance 

 between the Berbers, who speak Hamitic, the Greeks who speak Aryan^ and the 

 Jews and Arabs who spoke Semitic, is simply due to the fact that those peoples 

 from having long dwelt under practically similar conditions in the Mediterranean 

 basin, have gradually acquired that physical similarity which has led Sergi to the 

 assumption that they have a proximate common ancestry, and that they accordingly 

 form but a single race. 



Nor is there any lack of instances of convergence of type under similar con- 

 ditions in the case of the lower animals. We saw that the asses of South- 

 Western Asia approximate iu colour to the asses of North-East Africa, and in 

 respect of the size of the ears and absence of shoulder-stripe, more especially to 

 the nearest of these, the ass of Somaliland. Yet it does not follow that they 

 are more closely related to the Somali ass than they are to their own next 

 neighbours, the kiang. On the contrary, it is much more likely that the 

 Somali ass is closely related to those of Abyssinia, and that the South- AVeetern 

 Asiatic asses are closely related to the kiang. The approximation in colour, 

 absence of shoulder-stripe, and size of the ears between the asses of Somaliland 

 and those of South-Western Asia must rather be explained by a convergence 

 of types under the somewhat similar climatic conditions of Somaliland and 

 the nearest parts of South- Western Asia. Again, though there are very 

 strong specific diflerences between the Grevy and Burchelliue zebras met in 

 the neighbourhood of Lake Barringo, there is a curious approximation not only in 

 marking but also in the teeth between these two species, which is best accounted 

 for by supposing that it is the outcome of similar environment. It may be said 

 that this approximation may be due to the interbreeding of the two species of 

 zebras in the region where they overlap. This, in itself a most unlikely contingncy 

 from all that is known of the habits of wild species, certainly cannot be alleged in 

 the case of the convergence in type between tlie asses of South-Western Asia and 

 the Somali ass, since they are separated by the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. 



Again, the representative of the crocodile family in the Ganges is dis' 

 tinguished by the extreme elongation of the head and jaws, whilst the same elon- 

 gation of the head is equally characteristic of the representative of the dolphin 

 family found in the same waters. Again, all through the Indian Ocean wherever 

 any family of crabs have become inhabitants of coralline sands its members have 

 long legs. Again, it has long been noticed that in Cutch all the larger animals 

 have a tendency to become a sandy colour, whilst in certain areas of South 

 America insects, no matter to what family they belong, have a tendency to one 

 common aspect. 



It may of course be said that the changes in colour of the horse family, tigers, 

 and insects are for ' protective ' reasons. But the case of the horse family alone 

 is sufficient to dispose of this objection. The kiang of the Himalaya had no 

 dangerous enemy until man was armed witli a rifle. In Africa the zebras have 

 had only two formidable foes — man and the lion. It is asserted by the most 

 experienced hunters that the gaudy livery of the zebra makes him conspicuous 

 from afar, whether he is on the mountain, on the plain, or in the shade of a tree. 

 His brilliant colour therefore really exposes him to man. But it will be said that 

 it is well adapted to conceal him at night, at which time the lion seeks his prey. 

 Yet as the best authorities hold that the lion hunts entirely by scent, the colora- 

 tion of the zebra affords him no protection against his inveterate foe. 



I have shown that in horses the colours — such as bay, black, grey, and white-p 



