440 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



Nature. Still all our continents, New Holland excepted, 

 possess Horses which have been in an independent state 

 for many generations, and might, consequently, serve 

 to give us a tolerable idea of what the Horse originally 

 was ; but the misfortune is, that our information concern- 

 ing them is so very imperfect, that no Very precise notions 

 are attainable on the subject. The observations of tra- 

 vellers on this point are so various, that they appear to be 

 speaking of different species or varieties, and it is next to 

 impossible to form any concordance between them. Nor 

 are they sufficiently ample to establish another fact, which, 

 however, appears by no means improbable : this is, that 

 Horses in the wild state have not universally the same 

 characters, but vary according to climate and other local 

 circumstances to whose influence they may be exposed. 

 These are points which it would be extremely interesting 

 to investigate, and which would tend to illustrate, not only 

 the history of this particular species, but also that of 

 animals in general. There is nothing so much wanting to 

 Natural History, as researches into the influence of exter- 

 nal causes on organization. 



Pallas has described a wild Mare caught in the country 

 situated between the Jaik and the Volga, which was very 

 young, and afterwards proved extremely docile. The Wild 

 Horses inhabiting these regions are fawn-coloured, reddish, 

 or light-bay ; in summer they proceed as far as possible to 

 the northward, to escape the heat and the flies, and pro- 

 cure better pastures. The Colt described by Pallas was of 

 an Isabella or light-bay colour, and the mane and tail were 

 black. Compared with a Domestic Colt of the Calmuck 

 breed, and of the same age, its stature was greater, its 

 limbs stronger, the head larger, and the ears longer; these 

 last it habitually carried in a couchant posture, like a 

 Horse that was about to bite. The forehead was convex, 

 a thick mane descended as far as the withers, and the tail 



