1909-10.] Restoration of an Ancient British Race of Horses. 299 
resemble the two molars figured by Owen (figs. 1 and 2), and the first molar 
(fig. 22) in all essential points agrees with the small first molar (fig. 6) from 
Oreston. Though all the teeth of the Newstead horse are smaller, they 
bear a general resemblance to the teeth of Eqnns sivalensis (fig. 24), the 
15 hands Pliocene horse preserved in the Siwalik Hills of India. As in 
Equus sivalensis there is a first premolar (fig. 22, p.m. 1), but the pillar of 
the third and fourth premolars is less elongated, and hence more like the 
pillar in the still older Pliocene species Pliohippus. With the exception of 
the last molar all the six large cheek teeth have relatively shorter and 
narrower pillars than in Equus przewalskii (said to he the modern repre- 
sentative of Equus fossilis ) and Equus namadicus ; they are also shorter 
than in prehistoric horses of the “ forest ” type (fig. 23), which probably 
represent the stout “ Elephant Bed ” horse and the horse of Solutre ( Equus 
robustus). The close resemblance between the teeth from Oreston and the 
teeth of the 12 ‘2 hands Newstead horse strongly supports the view that the 
small equine which lived in the south of England along with the mammoth 
was a true horse, and not, as Owen believed, an ass or a zebra. Further, 
when the limbs as well as the teeth are considered, there are good grounds 
for believing that the 12 '2 hands Newstead horse is a nearly pure descend- 
ant of the slender-limbed race which in Pliocene times inhabited Italy and 
France and in Pleistocene times ranged from North Africa to England. 
For the fine-limbed horse with small-pillared molars which in Pleisto- 
cene times ranged from Algiers to England, I originally suggested the name 
Equus gracilis ; but as this name is not available, I have adopted the name 
Equus agilis. 
The question now arises, What part did Equus agilis play in the forma- 
tion of modern breeds ? Further inquiry will in all probability show that 
during the Ice age there were two varieties of Equus agilis : (1) a Northern 
variety with a coat, mane, and tail adapted for a cold, damp climate — a 
variety from which modern ponies of the Celtic type are in part descended ; 
and (2) a Southern or North African variety with a fine coat, a thin lank 
mane, and a tail without a tail-lock — a variety which contributed largely 
in the making of the finer kinds of Barbs and Arabs. The Northern 
variety may be known as Equus agilis celticus, the Southern as Equus 
agilis libycus * 
In support of the view that ponies of the Celtic type have mainly 
sprung from Equus agilis, it may be mentioned that in a six-year-old 
Shetland pony of the riding or Celtic type, the first molar (fig. 11), in 
* This Southern, variety may be regarded as the ancestor of Prof. Ridgeway’s “ fine bay 
horse of North Africa,” Equus caballus libycus. 
