1905-6.] 
Professor Ewart on the Tarpan. 
9 
because it presents all the points of the common horse of Europe, 
I designated the E. caballus ty pious. I also in this paper 
mentioned that I regarded the Celtic pony as a member of a 
variety “which at a very remote period branched off from the 
main stem and possibly reached Europe and North Africa long 
before the advent of the Neoliths — to become the progenitors, not 
only of occidental, but also of African races ,” 1 and I added that, 
apart from its coat, mane, and tail, it is almost identical with the 
smaller kinds of Arabs. While in this country an effort has been 
made to prove that the domesticated horses have had a multiple 
origin, the conclusion has been arrived at in the United States 
that several species of horses flourished in America at or about 
the beginning of the Glacial Epoch. In a recent address Professor 
Osborn states : “It was formerly believed, for example, that the 
modern horse had a single line of ancestors extending back into 
the Eocene period ; now it appears that in North America there 
were always four to six entirely different varieties of the horse 
family living contemporaneously, including slow-moving forest- 
living horses with broader feet, and very swift plains-living horses 
with narrow feet fashioned more like the deer .” 2 
So much progress has been made during recent years in working 
out the origin and history of domesticated horses that the time 
has now come when enquiries may be profitably pursued along 
certain definite lines. 
In the first place (assuming that horses have had a multiple 
origin), enquiries should be instituted with a view to ascertaining 
as far as possible the characteristics of' the post-glacial species and 
varieties which have taken part in forming the present domestic 
races and breeds ; in the next place, enquiries should be instituted 
with a view to ascertaining to which of the lower Pleistocene 
species the more immediate ancestors of the living horses are most 
intimately related ; and in the third place, an attempt should be 
jaws, and broad hoofs, and by having a conformation eminently suitable for 
leaping and sufficient speed to enable it in times of danger to rapidly take 
cover in scrub or forest. The forest horse, though a clever leaper, lias no 
great speed, but given time and sufficient food, it can undertake long journeys. 
Though often timid and spiritless, he is intelligent and docile, moves well, and 
is capable of carrying heavy burdens. 
1 Trans. Highland Soc., 1904, p. 259. 
2 Science, N. S., vol. xxi., February 24, 1905. 
