GENERAL INTKODUCTION. xiii 



coloured ancestors of the horse, as well as to the 

 primitively decorated ancestors of the zebra. 



In addition to throwing light on reversion and pre- 

 potency, the hybrids are interesting in being, in some 

 respects, almost intermediate between their parents. In 

 Romulus the mane is nearly intermediate j in Remus it is 

 always upright ; while in two others it is long and almost 

 horse-like iti winter, but short and upright in summer. 

 Again, the warts (chestnuts) are sometimes intermediate. 

 In some they are quite absent, as in zebras, from the hind 

 legs ; in others they are present, but less than half the 

 usual size, or there is only one present, less than a third 

 the usual size. The warts on the fore-legs may be large, 

 oval, and smooth, as in the zebra sire ; or smaller, 

 rounded in form, and half as prominent as in the horse. 

 In the same way the hoofs vary, being almost interme- 

 diate in some, zebra-like in others. 



Romulus, the oldest of my hybrids, measured at the 

 withers on his second birthday nearly as much as his 

 sire. In many respects he resembles his dam (Mulatto), 

 the black Highland pony ; in some respects he is a zebra. 

 In the head and neck he is less like Mulatto than or- 

 dinary Highland ponies, as if he took after some of 

 Mulatto's less refined Highland ancestors. From the 

 shoulders backwards the hybrid is getting more and more 

 like his dam, and less like his zebra sire, in which the 

 sides are flattened, while the muscles of the back stand 

 out at each side of a median spinal groove. Mounted 

 on perfect legs, Romulus moves freely and rapidly, and 

 often carries himself as proudly as a zebra. He has 

 already been in harness, and, being very docile, he ought 

 when older to prove as useful as he is attractive. 



While in make the horse predominates in Romulus, he 

 takes after the zebra in his constitution and habits. A 

 zebra is in all respects more intense than a horse, he is 

 more on the alert, more timid and suspicious, and yet more 

 imbued with curiosity. When he once decides to take 

 action he moves more rapidly than a horse, is more regard- 

 less of consequences, and usually suffers less from an in- 



