128 
The ^Evolution of the Horse. 
great tendency to become united with the large middle bone as 
life goes on ; but in the horses of prehistoric, or still earlier, 
times, they are always found free. 
If space permitted, numerous other points of interest about 
the structure of the horse's limbs could be adduced as indicative 
of its position in Nature and probable descent. The number, 
arrangement, and relations of the muscles, especially the pre- 
sence of some in a perfectly rudimentary state — mere vestiges 
" c 
Fig. 4. — Side view of the skeleton of the foot, of — A. Anchitherium. it. Hip- 
parion. c. Horse, { from Gaudry, " Les Ance/res de. not Animau.v' ). 
II, III, and IV. Second, third, and fourth of the complete series of toes, 
m. Metacarpal, pi. First phalanx or (/rent pastern. p2. Second phalanx 
or lesser pastern, p 3. Third or ungual phalanx ; coffin bone. 
of those which in animals with many toes cause not onty the 
actions of bending and straightening, but also the various 
movements from side to side — can only be explained upon the 
supposition that the horse is the modified descendant of a more 
generalised type of animal, a view which is now held by most 
zoologists who have given much study to this question, and 
for which the principal evidence has been briefly set forth in 
this paper. AV. II. FLOWER. 
