270 BarfiDiE, 



sauvage, ou sur le veritable Onagrfe des anciens" (Act. Acad. Sci. 

 Imp. Petrop. 1777, p. 258, 1. 11), figured a Wild Ass wMch was sent 

 by sea from Derbent to Astracan. The figure greatly resembles the 

 mule between the Hemione and the Ass in the Zoological Gar- 

 dens ; but the ears appear a trifle longer. It is coloured in the 

 same manner as the Hemione ; that is to say, the more prominent 

 parts of the body are dark, and the middle of the back, the front 

 of the haunches and thigh, and the under part of the body are 

 paler. The figure represents but a very indistinct cross band on the 

 shoulder. 



On this PaUas observes, " L'etalon diiferait encore de la femelle 

 en ce qu'il avait tout le corps plus robuste, I'encolure plus grosse, 

 le poitrail et la crOupe plus large; et surtout par un barre ou raye 

 tranSversale (tab. xi.), qui croisait sur les epaules avec ceUe qui 

 s'etend le long de I'epine dans I'un et I'autre sexe. C'est cette 

 croix que la plupart des &nes dom'eStiques males oht conserves, 

 et qui embeUit slirtout ceux qui ont la couleur du poU claire. 

 Cette barre transversale bien plus ^troite que I'autre manque 

 enti^rement aux Onagres femelles: quelques Tartares m'ont au 

 contraire assure qn'eUe se voyait assez souvent double dans les 

 mSles" {I. c. p. 269). 



This paper is translated into German, and a copy of the plates 

 with a second figure of the back of the animal is given in Pallas, 

 N. Nbrd. Beytr. ii. p. 22, t\ 2 ; but in tMs figure the cross band on 

 the shoulders is not marked. From this description it would appear 

 that the animal which is called the WUd Ass is hot always marked 

 with the cross band on the shoulder which is s6 permanent in the 

 domestic kind and has hitherto been considered its specific cha- 

 racter. 



The chief diflference between Pallas's figure of the "Wild Ass and 

 the Hemione is the greater length and more acute form of the ears ; 

 of the latter the mule varies in this character. 



" No attempt has been made to break the Wild Ass (of Eajpootana) 

 in for riding, nor did it appear that the natives ever thought of- such," 

 ■ — Bishoja Heher ; H. Smith, EqmdcB, p. 311. 



" The Wild AsS of Cutch has the ci^oss stripe on th6 shOiildei', and 

 differs in colours and heavier proportion froni the Wild 'i^ss of Ker 

 Porter."-^ — Bishop Heber; H. Smithy Equidce, p. 311. 



Col. Ham. Smith confounds the domesticated Guddha with the 

 W^ild Ass of the Deccan described by Colonel Sykes, and states, on 

 the Colonel's authority, that " it iS not larger than a mastiff" 

 (EquidK, p. 307). 



EversiliailrL states that many specimens of the Kulari or Eqkus 

 onager, PaUas, have been brought to Orenburg from the high steppes 

 between the Caspian and the Aral seas. A good specimen and a 

 skuU are in the Museum of the University of Kasan. All these 

 specimens are without the cross band, and have only the longi- 

 tudinal dorsal stireak. Eversmann considers that the croSs band is 

 either not the character of the species, or perhaps a sexiial mark, 

 as he observes that he is not able to discover the sjleoiflc cha- 



