Zhc (^bt^Zocb Hnimals. 



TENTH ORDER: Perissodactyla. 



IKE that of the Elephants, 

 the order of the Odd-Toed 

 Animals contains only the 

 few survivors of a tribe of 

 a formerly extensive devel- 

 opment; they are large ani- 

 mals, moving on hoofed 

 toes, the toe equivalent to 

 the third in five-toed ani- 

 mals being of greater de- 

 velopment than all the 

 others. With the Horses 

 it is the only one that is 

 developed at all. The 

 dentition of the Perissodactyla is distinguished by 

 the small size or absence of canines and the tuber- 

 cles of the molars connected by ridges. Both jaws 

 contain incisors. 



There are about twenty-five species of Odd-Toed 

 Animals, and they are indigenous to well-nigh the 

 entire globe, with the exception of Australia; they 

 may be divided into four sharply-defined families: 

 the one-toed Horses, the Tapirs with four toes in 

 front and three behind, the three-toed Rhinoceroses 

 and the Hyracidee or Coney family, possessing four 

 toes on their fore-feet and three on the hinder pair. 

 A general description of the order can not be given, 

 as the four families have very little in common with 

 each other, even in their modes of life. 



^be Iborsee. 



FIRST FAMILY: Equid^. 



All the now existing Horses form so clearly dis- 

 tinguishable a group and are so similar to each other 

 in anatomical development and general peculiarities 

 t^at one can not help uniting them all in one spe- 

 cies. 



THE HORSES PROPER. 



The Horses proper {Equus) are of moderate size, 

 have a beautiful form, relatively vigorous limbs and 

 a lean, elongated head with large, lustrous eyes, 

 moderately large, pointed, mobile ears and wide- 

 open nostrils. The neck is strong, the body is 

 rounded and fleshy, the hair soft and short, not 

 erect, but lying close to the body, growing into 

 long waving strands in the mane and tail. The 

 one daintily hoofed toe on each foot sufifices to 

 distinguish the Horses from all other odd-toed ani- 

 mals. Each side of the jaws above and below con- 

 tains three incisors, six long, quadrilateral molars 

 exhibiting intricate and tortuous convolutions ■ of 

 enamel on the grinding surface and one small, 

 hooked canine tooth of a blunt, conical shape, which 

 may in individual cases be absent. Among the 



digestive organs the narrow gullet, the communica- 

 tion of which with the stomach is closed by a valve, 

 is deserving of notice. The stomach itself is a sim- 

 ple, undivided, oblong and proportionately rather- 

 small sac. 



NaXioe We must regard the greater part of 



Country of the northern hemisphere as the orig- 

 the Horse. jnal native country of the Horses, 

 the fossil remains of which are first met with in the 

 strata of the tertiary period. In Europe the wild 

 Horses seem to have become extinct not very long- 

 ago; in Asia and Africa they still roam in herds- 

 over high table-lands and mountains. In America, 

 where they were extinct, descendants of imported 

 stock have reverted to the wild state; Australia, also, 

 has become inhabited by Horses that have returned, 

 to savagery. Herbage and other vegetable sub- 

 stances form their food; in confinement they have 

 learned to consume even animal food, such as fleshy, 

 fish and Locusts. 



Gcmrcd AttfJ- All Horses are lively, active, intelli- 

 butesofthe gent 3m".ma,ls; their gait is graceful 

 Horse. and stately. The -usial pace oi the 



untamed varieties is a tolerably brisk trot, their 

 faster gait being a relatively light gallop. They are 

 peaceful and good-natured to other animals which 

 do not harm them, but anxiously shun Man and the 

 larger beasts of prey; when hard pressed, they 

 courageously defend themselves, however, by strik- 

 ing with their feet and biting. Their rate of prop- 

 agation is small, the mare giving birth to only a 

 single infant, called a "colt," in any one year. 



The Domestic At least two and probably three va- 

 Horse an Animal rieties have been subjugated by Man. 



of Antiquity. History does not record, nor does tra- 

 dition tell us of the time when they were first won_ 

 to our service; no one can with certainty affirm upon 

 which continent the Horses were first tamed. The 

 tribes of central Asia have been generally believed 

 to be the ones to whom we are indebted for the first 

 subjugation of the Horse; the half-savage former in- 

 habitants of central Europe also reduced the Horse 

 to a state of domestication. But we lack any defi- 

 nite knowledge about the times in which the subju- 

 gation was accomplished and in regard to the na- 

 tions to whom we should turn in gratitude for it. 

 Various Breeds of Even at the present time the steppes. 



Wild Horses of southeastern Europe contain herds 

 Known. of Horses which roam over them 

 and are regarded by some as the progenitors of our 

 domestic animal and by others as springing from the 

 latter and having reverted to the savage state. These 

 Horses, called Tarpans, have all the characteristics 

 of unregenerated wild animals, and are considered 

 such by the Tartars .and, .Qo§sacks. The Tarpan is a 

 small Horse, with thin but strong, enduring legs, a 

 rather long, thin neck, a relatively thick, blunt-muz- 

 zled head, pointed ears inclined in a forward direc- 



(405) 



