8o WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



horse : he habitually behaves as if there was 

 only a short growth of grass, or as if it were 

 necessary to bite as near the roots as possible. 



In the former case the method of grazing is 

 adapted for a life among trees and sheltered 

 meadows, where the grass is lank and lush from 

 abundant moisture. In the latter the method 

 is exactly suited for the parched and wiry 

 herbage which grows out in the open and is 

 exposed to drought, sun, and wind, and where 

 only that part of each stalk or blade which is 

 close to the ground has any great nutritive 

 value. 



I should like to discuss the question why the 

 horse in the wild state took to a life out in 

 the open, and what are the other effects of 

 such a life upon his structure and habits, rather 

 more in detail ; but this would involve too many 

 technical points in equine anatomy and physiology 

 for present purposes. His earliest known fossil 

 ancestor was a splay - footed five - toed animal 

 about the size of a collie-dog. It was by no 

 means swift or imposing in appearance, and pro- 

 bably paddled about in the soft marshes which 

 prevailed over a great part of the earth's surface 

 during the early part of the Tertiary geological 



