26 On a supposed new Species of Horse. 
their hoofs from one another; and most probably the Syrian wild 
ass (Equus hemippus) will be found to vary considerably from 
the djiggetai. Of all the wild asses of Central Asia, the kiang 
is most like the domestic ass, owing to the length of its ears 
and the ash-colour of the upper parts of its body, whilst it 
differs from it in being bigger and having no transverse dark 
stripes on the shoulder-blades. ‘The congeners of Hquus Prze- 
walskit, occupying an enormous extent of territory in 
Europe and Asia, as we are led to infer from their fossil 
remains, may have been still more varied and multiform ; 
and the first to be tamed were probably those on the outskirts 
of the great barren steppes, inhabiting well-watered and hilly 
tracts near one or other of those land-locked water-basins, the 
earliest abodes of primeval man. In such regions in Siberia, 
in the spurs and valleys of the Altai and Sayan ranges, in 
Dauria, even in more northern and central parts of Siberia, 
fossil remains of the stone period have been discovered by 
me and other explorers, whilst the outlying mountains of the 
Tian-Shan and Pamirs will doubtless afford many more. 
The primeval horse indigenous in these localities may have 
been more easily brought under subjection than its fellows in 
the steppes, and may have presented some such relationship 
to our Hquus Przewalski as exists between the kiang and the 
djiggetai and kulan. Afterwards descending with man from 
the more favoured hilly region, they may have together 
entered the plains, where human activity appears to have been 
of a more recent date, probably the bronze and iron period. 
But, however this may have been, Hguus Przewalskii is the 
sole wild species having close affinity with the horse (our 
domesticated Hquus caballus). 
_ Having pointed out the peculiarities which distinguish our 
horse from all wild asses, and amongst others the generic 
distinction, I must nevertheless distinguish it from the domes- 
ticated animal for reasons already mentioned, viz. its erect 
mane, absence of forelock, and tail only partly furnished with 
hair. Whilst possessing all the internal characteristics of the 
horse, externally Hquus Przewalskit, were it not for the warts 
on the hocks, occupies an intermediate place between the wild 
ass of Asia and Hywus caballus. Indeed, admitting that 
domestic horses are to be found with similar peculiarities, and 
even recognizing in the dun horse a descendant of the same 
stock as Hguus Przewalskiz, I hold nevertheless that the 
domestic horse of the present day is not merely the result of 
culture, but is an intermixture of various breeds inhabiting 
several parts of the Old World. 
