574 PROFESSOR J. C. EWART 



Do the Skulls from Newstead shed any light on the Origin of 



Domestic Horses? 



Having described the skulls from the Newstead fort, we are now in a position 

 to ask — What light do they throw on the origin of domestic horses ? 



Hitherto, for want of material — in the absence of crosses between typical members 

 of the Forest, Steppe, and Plateau varieties ; of skeletons belonging to the Palaeolithic 

 period, and especially of skeletons of typical representatives of modern varieties and 

 breeds — it has been well-nigh impossible to arrive at general conclusions as to the 

 origin of domestic breeds. Recently an important step has been taken by the Director 

 of the Natural History Section of the British Museum towards providing material 

 (skeletons, stuffed specimens, models, etc.) for a study of the origin and history of 

 domestic animals. If a sufficient response is made by breeders and others to the 

 appeal from the British Museum, a unique and extremely valuable collection will in 

 course of time be formed — a collection which will assist greatly in solving problems of 

 vital importance to stockbreeders. Although the skulls and other bones from the 

 Newstead fort, together with the specimens in the British Museum, will not admit 

 of dogmatic statements being made, they will at least make it possible to indicate from 

 which varieties some of the more important domestic breeds of horses have inherited 

 their more striking characteristics. 



Though Hamilton Smith, some sixty years ago, argued in support of the view 

 that domestic horses had sprung from several wild species, the single origin theory has 

 hitherto almost universally prevailed. 



Since 1902, I have on several occasions maintained that three or more wild 

 species have taken part in forming the domestic breeds. A similar view has been 

 promulgated by Professor Ridge way in his work on The Origin and Influence of the 

 Thoroughbred Horse. 



Recently Professor Osborn, of the American Museum of Natural History, arrived at 

 the conclusion that for untold ages there had been living contemporaneously several 

 perfectly distinct kinds of wild horses adapted for different environments — some large, 

 some small ; some with broad hoofs adapted for a forest life, some with slender limbs 

 and narrow hoofs adapted for a free life on boundless plains. Professor Salensky in 

 his work on Prejvalsky's horse, published in 1902, asks : " In what genetic relationship 

 does Prejvalsky's horse stand to the domestic horse ? Has it given origin to any of 

 the ancestors of the domestic ? Had it in the past a wider geographical distribution 

 than it has to-day ? " In reply he says : " These questions cannot be answered definitely, 

 for at the present time we have only very little actual foundation upon which to base 

 the answer." In an addendum he adds : " The resemblance of E. prejvalskii to any of 

 the varieties of the domestic horse is still open to question, since the material for 

 making such a comparison by which alone the question could be settled is yet 



