11 



parts of the world, such as surra, the horse sickness of India, and the tse-tse or 

 fly disease, the horse sickness of South Africa, and analogous diseases which have 

 been recently discovered, which render horse life in certain regions of Africa 

 impossible. This study is for the purpose, if possible, of finding an adequate 

 explanation of the extermination of the horse south of the glacial belt, which 

 extended only as far south as New York. It is a most rmarkable fact that 

 the moment horses were re-introduced into this country and into South America 

 they multiplied with enormous rapidity. Comparatively few horses were 

 brought in by the Spaniards, but the horse bred and multiplied, producing the 

 great herds of mustangs, and also forming the source of the broncho and other 

 wild types of horse in North and South America. 



The W11.D Ze;bras and Asses. 



We pass for a moment into the region of Central Asia and north- 

 eastern Africa — a region now inhabited by the wild asses of the world. The 

 Abyssinian ass is interesting as the progenitor of the donkey, and of the domesti- 

 cated asses of the entire world, including in all probability the fine varieties found 

 in Syria. One means we have of establishing this fact is the presence of the cross 

 or shoulder stripe which is common to the domesticated asses, the world over, and 

 also the presence of the back stripe. The Abyssinian ass has a near relative in 

 the Somali ass, distinguished by the presence of a number of horizontal stripes 

 on the limbs, like the zebra. This Somali ass we have in different points of 

 view here in Fig. 22. It seems to me quite possible from observations made 

 among the donkeys in Mexico, many of which have striped legs, that the Somali 

 ass may also have been domesticated and that certain strains may have found 

 their way into the donkey blood of the world. As we pass north, we find the 

 wild Syrian and Indian asses, animals that correspond to the Onager of the 

 ancients, and were highly estimated for food. In Northern Asia we find the 

 Kiang, an ass distinguished by its light colored belly. The color of these animals 

 is a matter to which we have not alluded before, but it is very similar, as we shall 

 see, to the coloring of the wild horses which have been found in the same belt. 

 This coloring is purely protective; the light striking on this brown upper 

 part of the back, and the shadows of the white under surface, tend to harmonize 

 the animal, which has a general earth color, with the adjoining soil. Kig. 21-22. 



The home of the zebra, extends from the home of the ass on the north, 

 Somaliland, down to the Cape of Good Hope on the south. Remember that 

 Africa has never been entered — until comparatively recently — from the coast 

 There are only two gateways to Africa which are free from malaria. One is 

 the north and one is the south. All the coast land is deadly and many expedi- 

 tions perished in an effort to reach the high healthful spots of the interior, 

 from the coast level. The Dutch, entering through the southern gateway at the 

 Cape, found the first of the zebras, the mountain zebra, a small animal with long 

 ears, a dew lap beneath the neck, and short limbs, the smallest of the zebra 

 tribe. The second of the zebra group is represented by what are called the 

 Burchell zebras, from the fact that Burchell, the English explorer, crossed the 

 Orange River into the regions of the north and found this second type This 



