34 



Horse. Was the heginnimj of the Horse then in Pleistocene times ? 

 Was it "created" then ? The answer to the last question depends 

 on the meaning of creation. That a totally new creature sprang 

 suddenly into existence, a creation in the Miltonic sense, — no. 

 That our Horse did not exist before Pleistocene times, but has 

 existed ever since, — yes. Creation is a slow work, not an instant- 

 taneous one, — a gradual change and development, extending, it 

 may be over countless ages before the special form is produced. 

 " Evolution," says Professor Drummond in his last work, " is seen 

 to be neither more nor less than the story of Creation as told by 

 those who know it best." In deposits of slightly older age we 

 find bones and teeth, if not of horses, then of very horse -like 

 animals ; in enormous numbers at Pikermi, already mentioned, in 

 France, in Germany, and more sparingly in the crag of Suffolk, 

 &c. To this creature the geologist has given the name Hipparion. 

 It is shown on the upper half of the next shde. Notice the project- 

 ing toes, the smooth upper part of the tail. 



But now, before going any further, let us notice briefly the 

 characteristic points in the structure of the limb of the Horse ; 

 that of the fore-leg will be quite sufficient. The foreleg, as you 

 know, corresponds to our arm ; consequently there is no hiee in it ; 

 what is usually called the knee is really the wrist, and the space 

 between it and the tip of the hoof, as it is seen in front, corresponds 

 to the back of hand and lingers. Through our hand run five bones, 

 to which are attached the fingers of three joints each, one much 

 longer than the rest, and the thumb of two joints. But in the 

 " hand " of the Horse we find, not five bones, but only one, a very 

 stout bone called the " cannon bone," bearing one finger only, ot 

 three joints like our own, the lowest joint of the three bring 

 enclosed in the hoof, which is, as already remarked, neither more 

 nor less than a modified finger-nail. But now, note especially 

 alongside the upper half of the cannon bone, two rudimentary bones, 

 of no use whatever to the horse, and in old age becoming solidified 

 with the cannon bone. These are called the ipliiit bmes, they reach 

 little more than half-way down, they terminate in a point, and 

 they are enclosed in the skin. — Two apparently useless, supplement- 

 ary bones ; they are in fact, useless to our modern horse, — as useless 

 as the letter d in doubt and other silent fuuctionless letters. You 

 naturally ask. Why are these useless bones there ? what do they 

 mean '? Much ; as we shall presently see. A short time before 

 our modern Horse appeared, herds of a closely similar animal 

 roamed over the plains, — the Hipparion already mentioned. 

 Compare the fore-leg of this form with that of the Horse. Here 

 are the same splint bones, but lengthened out so as to reach the 

 whole length of the cannon bone, while to each of them is attached 

 a slender toe of throe joints, — very short however, so short that it 



