6 



The whippet and the four-toed horse are practically of the same size. I made 

 quite a search in the animal kingdom to find an animal exactly of the same size 

 and approximately of the same build, because one of the points that people are 

 most skeptical and curious about is the size in the various steps of evolution of 

 this animal. You will observe that in the whippet the wrist joint is about the 

 same distance from the ground as the wrist joint in the little ancestral horse, 

 not very much higher above the ground than our wrist, if we place our hand upon 

 a table. The heel joint of the Eocene horse is somewhat more elevated than 

 in the whippet. Even at this early stage of its development the horse was firstly 

 an intelligent animal, as we know by the relatively large size of its brain; sec- 

 ondly, a speedy animal, as we see by the delicate formation of its limbs. An- 

 other illustration of the small size of this animal is derived from the models, 

 which are based exactly on measurements taken from the little skeleton. This 

 little ancestor could, with a little straining, walk right through the skull of one 

 of his modern decendants. The grouping of these little horses shows that 

 they are by no means devoid of grace. The proportions are modeled from very 

 careful study. The muscles of the limbs are rather those of the hound than 

 those of the modern horse ; the skull or head differs from that of the horse in 

 the shortness of the face, and we see a reason for this, when we consider that the 

 horse has evolved as an animal especially to feed always upon the harder grasses. 

 It therefore required a very fine set of crown teeth. It has always been an alert 

 animal, living in the open country, exposed to attack from rather swift types 

 of animals, such as wolves and foxes, and it has always depended upon intelli- 

 gence and speed to avoid its enemies, because it was obliged at various seasons of 

 the year to wander long distances for its food. Fig. ii. 



I had a most amusing experience last year on the occasion of the visit 

 of Prince Fushimi of Japan. His Royal Highness came to the American Mus- 

 eum of Natural History and went around the hall to where the collection of 

 horses was on exhibition. He was very much interested, and we came to the 

 group of these little horses, when it occurred to me that the Orientals on visits 

 of this kind were in the habit of making presents to their guests. So I said 

 "Your Royal Highness, if you will do us the honor of accepting one of these 

 models we shall be very much honored and pleased to present it to you." The 

 Prince looked at the little model for a while and then made a short address to 

 his interpreter. The interpreter drew himself up very straight indeed and ad- 

 dressed me as follows: "The Emperor of Japan is greatly interested in the de- 

 velopment of the horse, particularly in the race of Japanese horses. His Maj- 

 esty is especially troubled by the fact that the small size of the native Japanese 

 horse makes the animal an inferior weight carrier and therefore of less service 

 for cavalry. His Majesty I know will be most pleased to accept this gift of the 

 model of the original American horse, and when he sees what the Americans 

 have done by careful breeding and culture of the animal, I am sure his Majesty 

 will be very much encouraged." 



The foundations of some of the modern characteristics of the horse were 

 probably laid down about three millions of years ago, because that is approxi- 

 mately the time when this little Eohippus lived. Now, when we deal in mil- 



