SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 504 



SCIENCE; 



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THE FICTION OF THE AMERICAN HORSE AND THE 

 TRUTH ON THIS DISPUTED POINT. 



BY DE. E. L. TROTJESSART. 



The article of Mr. Robert C. Auld, published in Science, Sept. 

 2, 1892, brings before us the question of the introduction of the 

 horse (Equus domesticus) into America, It is generally accepted 

 that Europeans brought it to the New Continent, and that it was in 

 La Plata that Meadoza, in 1330, inti'oduced horses. Before that 

 time, the natives were familiar with the llama only. 



The only document which contradicts this historical fact, is a 

 map published by Sebastian Cabot, on his return to Europe, that 

 is after 1530, and which, moreover, had several editions. On this 

 map, Cabot figured the horse as a production of the Rio de la 

 Plata. It is diiScult lo attach any faith to this assertion of Cabot, 

 since it depends very probably, upon the same doubtful grounds 

 as the existence of the gold and silver mines in this country to 

 which he gave, fortunately or unfortunately, the name of " La 

 Plata." We know that all the objects of gold and silver which 

 Cabot obtained from the natives were brought from Peru and 

 from Chili, and that no metallic productions of any kind are to 

 be found in this part of the Argentine Republic. But to Cabot — 

 desirous above all things of dazzling the King of Spain, and later 

 the King of England, in order to obtain the command of new ex- 

 peditions for discovery — it was essential to make it appear that 

 these lands abounded in riches and supported large herds of 

 horses. It is quite likely, too, that Cabot knew that the horse, 

 recently imported into the country, could survive there and mul- 

 tiply in a state of freedom. 



Be that as it may, all navigators who visited Rio de la Plata, 

 before and after Cabot, contradict his assertions and agree in 

 afiBrming that the natives did not know the horse. Pigafetta, 

 notably, the historian of the voyage of Magellan, who visited Rio 

 de la Plata in 1519, and who enumerates with care all the produc- 

 tions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms of that country, 

 says authoritatively that the natives knew no other beast of bur- 

 den than the llama (gumiaco). 



It is time, therefore, to make an end of this fiction of the native 

 American horse. It is certain that this animal was imported by 

 Europeans into America and that the EquidcB, which had formerly 

 existed on that continent, were entirely unknown to the red men. 

 We recall the terror of the Caribbeans, the Mexicans, and the Pe- 

 ruvians, at the sight of the Spanish cavaliers: they believed 



themselves in the presence of a herd of centaurs. Geological 

 and palasontological evidence in regard to the Argentine Re- 

 pubUc abounds, also, to prove, in the most convincing manner, 

 that there elapsed a period, between the extinction of the in- 

 digenous American horse and the appearance of the domestic 

 horse imported from Europe, which was quite long enough to be 

 appreciable geologically. This is the point which is now to be 

 demonstrated. 



We know that the horse of three toes (Hipparion or Hippothe- 

 riiim) existed in the north of the two continents at the end of the 

 tertiary period (Pliocene and Quaternary). The genus Protohip- 

 pus, considered the direct progenitor of Equus, differs very little 

 from Hi2}parion, and may be regarded as a simple sub- genus of the 

 latter. This genus, Protohippus, which numbers several species, 

 lived in North America during the Pliocene epoch. The true 

 genus, Equus, appeared soon after in the same country (from the 

 Pliocene epoch), and several species {Equus crenidens, E. barcceni, 

 etc.) are contemporaneous with Hipparion and Protohippus. 



A genus akin to Equus, the genus Hippidium, is found also in 

 the Pliocene age of North America {Hippidium spectans, Cope). 

 This genus is the only one (with the true Equus) which is found 

 in the Quaternary epoch in South America. Indeed, Hipparion 

 and Protohippus are not known there, and Hipphaplus {Ameghino) 

 is too little known to take up our attention here. There seems 

 to be no doubt, therefore, that the South American horses of the 

 Quaternary age spread gradually across the continent, from 

 Mexico to Colombia, Brazil, and the Argentine Republic, for 

 before this period Macrauchenidm, the Proterotheridce and the 

 Tapiridce were the only Perissodactyls living in the last-named 

 country. 



The South American horses (genus Hippidium) bear charac- 

 teristics which forbid confusing them with the Hipparions and 

 the horses of the North. Those of South America had thick, 

 squat bodies, large heads, slender legs tapering to small hoofs; 

 their molar teeth were of a shape more square than those of the 

 true horse. These peculiarities are found again, in a measure at 

 least, in horses of the same country which have been referred to 

 the true genus Equus. In the same way, the Equus lundii of 

 Boas, which lived in Colombia in the Quaternary period, has been 

 compared to the zebra because of the thickness of its form. The 

 other species which were found in the Argentine Republic are 

 Eguus curvidens, E. argentinus, and E. rectidens ; this last is the 

 one which lived longest in this country where it must have been 

 hunted and eaten by prehistoric man. In the " etage platien " 

 (upper Quaternary) are found bones of this horse {E. rectidens) 

 associated with chipped-stone implements, with pottery, fire 

 refuse, etc., which are the evidences of the presence of man. The 

 long bones of this horse are often split for the extraction of the 

 marrow and the skull broken for the brains. The shape of the 

 teeth enables one to distinguish at once between the Equus recti- 

 dens and Equus aaballus of Europe,. 



If we study now the geological strata of the Argentine Republic 

 we may form the following table whose elements we borrow 

 from Mons. Fl. Ameghino: 

 ETAGES. EQUID^ QUI S'Y TROUVENT. 



Airien (actuel) Equus caballus domesticus. 



Aimara (recent) (Pas trace d' Equidoe). 



Platien (post-pampeen lacustre) Equus rectidens. 



Guerandien (post-pamp6en marin) . (Pas de Mammif eres terrestres). 

 Lujanien 1 f Equus rectidens. 



Bonairien \ ^ . \ ^^'^'^^ argentinus. 



„ , . \ Pampeen { Equus curvidens. 



Belgranien j [ Hippidium {5 %v.). 



Ensenadien J [ Hip2jhaplus{2sp.). 



This table, in which the " ensenadien '" formation is the most an- 

 cient, and the layer " aerien," or actual, the most modern, shows, 

 in the most evident manner, that the true horse of South America 

 {Equus rectidens) was extinct a long time when Equus caballus, 

 coming from Europe, made his first appearance in the Argentine 

 Republic. 



Indeed, the "Aimara" formation, where the bones of the llama 

 {Auchenia guanaco) are abundant, presents no trace whatever 

 of the genus Equus. 



