22 M. Poliakof on a supposed new Species 
of pure breed, to entice mares away from domestic herds; and 
if from this intermixture of blood were born descendants, 
these may have shown marks characteristic also of Lquus 
Przewalskii. To these may be referred the characteristic of 
the mixed breed noticed by Gmelin, viz. ‘legs from knee to 
hoof black.’? The converse might also occur: stallions from 
half-wild troops owned by the nomads of Asia might entice 
mares from the wild herds; and a peculiar mixture of colour 
and breed would result from this union. It may be consi- 
dered very probable that Hguus Przewalskii would give 
parentage to a fruitful progeny when intermingled with the 
domestic animal; and perhaps the wild herd of parti-coloured 
tarpans was the result of this cross-breeding. On the other 
hand, it is also probable that the domestic horse, varying in 
colour, size, and shape, is the descendant of a variety of wild, 
now extinct breeds. ‘Vhat Hquus Przewalskii may have been 
indigenous further to the west, not only on the Yaik or Ural 
of the present day, but even beyond, in North-eastern Kurope, 
is highly probable, judging from the history of its companions 
in the steppes of Central Asia. 
The saigak in the Diluvial epoch was met with at the Car- 
pathians, where its bones have been discovered, together with 
stone implements, in caves (Albin Kohn and Dr. C. Mehlis, 
‘Materialien zur Vorgeschichte des Menschen im 6stlichen 
Europa,’ Jena, 1879, p. 41). Remnants of the skull of a 
saigak have also been found in the Volga valley near Sarepta. 
Not longer ago than the end of last century the saigak was 
very numerous in West Siberia; and Pallas mentions having 
seen herds of this antelope on the Irtish below Semipalatinsk, 
where it is now never met with and has been completely 
forgotten. It is even rare at the present day in the environs 
of Lake Balkash, where not long since it was as numerous as 
the kulan, large herds of this last-named animal having in 
Rytchkof’s time roamed near the Yaik. In my last excursion 
to Balkash, during several days,passed im its solitudes I did 
not observe a kulan, and only saw the tracks cf one imprinted 
on the saline soil. These animals exist still in large numbers 
in the little-inhabited steppes of Hastern Dzungaria and 
Western Mongolia. A similar fate has probably befallen 
Equus Przewalskii, whose habitat has now been discovered to 
be the same as that of the saigak, the kulan, and wild camel. 
If this horse was indigenous at any time further to the west 
and became closely allied to the troops of domesticated 
horses owned by the nomads, it would of course be the 
object of the keenest pursuit, and would the sooner dis- 
appear from its earlier habitat. But there exist herds in 
