ScHAKFF — On the Irish Horse and its Earlij History. 85 



some of the horse-bones were found along with those of Mammoth and 

 Keindeer. We possess no skull ; but in the structure and size of some 

 of the bones we recognize a strong family likeness to those from the 

 Craigy warren Crannog. A metatarsal from Shandon measures 257 mm., 

 while that from Craigywarren is 256 mm. in length.^ 



Prof. Adams' estimate of the height of the Shandon horse of 14 hands 

 agrees with my own of the Crannog horse. It appears to me probable, 

 therefore, that the Irish domesticated Crannog horse is the direct descendant 

 of the apparently wild Shandon horse. It might be urged, of course, that 

 primitive Man existed in Ireland contemporaneously with the Mammoth, 

 as he did in France ; and that even in those very remote times he brought 

 domesticated horses with him from England or the Continent. But as yet 

 we have not the slightest evidence of the coexistence of Man with the 

 Mammoth in Ireland ; and until we do get this evidence, we may safely 

 assume, I think, that primitive Man domesticated the wild horses which 

 he found in Ireland. 



My view to some extent agrees with that recently expressed by Prof. 

 Ewart," who urged that the modern ponies which occur in isolated and 

 outlying areas of western Europe, and whose head is small and Arab-like 

 in outline, are the surviving representatives of a once widely distributed 

 form of wild horse. He called it Equus cdballus celticus — the Celtic Pony. 



Prof. Ewart more or less confines his description to the external 

 characters; but in alluding to the teeth (pp. 25, 26), he points out that 

 the first premolars or wolf-teeth are always absent in the Celtic pony, 

 and that the canines are either absent or very minute. The former 

 character I observed in all my horse-skulls ; but well-developed canine 

 teeth are present in all our stallion-skulls. 



However, the principal point at issue seems to me whether the Arab or 

 Libyan features, as Prof. Eidgeway would call them, in the Irish horse are 

 the result of introductions by mankind of eastern or Spanish blood, or 

 whether those features were inherited from a wild ancestor. I believe that 

 the latter was the case; but as the result of the inquiry is of such great 

 economic importance, further more searching tests should be applied in the 

 endeavour to solve a problem which materially affects the future of horse- 

 breeding — one of the oldest and most profitable industries of Ireland. 



* AdMms, A. Leith : " Report on the Exploration of Shandon Cave." Trans. Roy. Irish Acad., 

 vol. xxvi., 1876. 



• Ewart, J. C. : "The Multiple Origin of Horses and Ponies." Trans. Highland and Agricult. 

 Soc, Scotland, 1904. 



K. I. A. PROC, VOL. XXVII., SECT. B. [P] 



