TELEGONY AND REVERSION. 99 



III the Burcliell zebras the eyes are less prominent than 

 in the horse. This is partly due to a slight insiuking of 

 the eyeball and the absence of a prominent supra-orbital 

 ridge. In the hybrids the eyes may be said to unite the 

 characters of both parents. The lower eyelid instead of 

 inclining inwards as in the zebra is nearly vertical in 

 position, while the supra-orbital ridge is more prominent. 

 The upper eyelashes are, however, peculiar, and the upper 

 eyelid never seems to be raised as high as in the horse — 

 only the lower half of the eyeball is as a rule exposed. The 

 upper eyelashes in all the hybrids, but especially in 

 Romulus and the very zebra-like Irish mare's hybrid Remus, 

 are long and curved, so that even when the upper lid is 

 quite raised the long hairs arch downwards in front of the 

 eye. In my Arabs and in Matopo the upper eyelashes are 

 comparatively short, and when the lid is raised they pro- 

 ject almost directly outwards. In Matopo under the lower 

 eyelid the skin is coloured so as to resemble a fringe ; 

 similar marks are found in zebra hybrids, especially in 

 zebra-ass hybrids. The nostrils in Romulus and the 

 other hybrids are zebra-like, narrow, short, and almost oval 

 in form, and not deeply notched as in the horse at the 

 upper angle ; and the rounded outer margin of the nostril 

 projects freely outwards as in zebras and asses. 



It thas appears that hybrids obtained by crossing dif- 

 ferent breeds of mares with a Burchell's zebra stallion 

 differ in many respects from both their respective parents, 

 and yet, except in a few points, they can hardly be said 

 to occupy an intermediate position, to resemble the ideal 

 " mid-parent " that presumably combines the characters 

 of the two immediate ancestors. This is true not only 

 of their colour, but also of their make, habits, and dis- 

 position. They differ from their respective dams in being 

 elaborately striped, they differ from their common sire in 

 the number and disposition of the stripes. But what is 

 perhaps most remarkable is that, while differing from all the 

 Burchell zebras in the number and arrangement of their 

 stripes, all the hybrids either closely agree with the Somali 



