CHAPTER VIII 
(THE Story oF THE Horse 
Ever since men have been familiar with the idea 
of evolution there has been a temptation on the part 
of the zodlogist to draw up pedigrees expressing the 
relationship between the various groups of the animal 
kingdom. The impulse is natural, and, if the result- 
ing tables are not accepted with too much confidence, 
the result is not undesirable. The truth of the matter 
is that all of these pedigrees are more or less hypo- 
thetical. They simply show what connection seems 
most likely. In all of them are spaces filled with 
doubtful names. Each addition to our acquaintance 
with the past history of animals necessitates revision 
of our tables. The student of fossils, trying to re- 
build in imagination the world of the past, finds him- 
self often strangely unable to link these animals to- 
gether. The result is that the more we know of 
fossils, the more distrustful we become of the easy 
connections we have been making between groups. 
Accordingly we are more than commonly pleased 
when we find the clear indication of a genuine pedi- 
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