THE HORSE 
HISTORY. 
The Horse stands at the head of a small but noble tribe of quadrupeds, which naturalists termed Solepedes, or single-hoofed, 
from having but one apparent toe, covered by a single undivided integument of horn, although beneath the skin, on each side, are 
protuberances which may be regarded as rudimental toes. The stomach is single, and the males have the three kinds of teeth 
proper to other animals, namely, the front or incisor teeth, the canine teeth or tusks, and the molar or grinding teeth; but in the 
females the canine teeth are generally wanting. According to the views of modern zoologists, there is but one genus of the tribe, 
namely, Equus, which comprehends six species : 
1. Equus asinus, the Ass. 
2. Equus zebra, the Zebra. 
3. Equus quagga, the Quagga. 
4. Equus Burchellii, the Striped Quagga or Zebra of the Plains. 
5. Equus hemionus, the Dziggithai. 
6. Equus caballus, the Common Horse. 
The Ass, in the state of liberty, inhabits the regions of steril wilderness which stretch from the deserts of Syria eastwards 
between the northern shores of the Persian Gulf and the saline Lake of Aral. He extends his range far to the eastward into the 
boundless regions of the Eastern Tartars, migrating southward in the season of winter, and returning with the vernal season. He 
is found congregated in troops, sometimes in vast numbers together. He trusts for safety to the exquisite senses with which he is 
endowed, and shuns the fatal neighbourhood of man. In this his natural state of freedom he shows himself to be endowed with 
characters and instincts which fit him for his condition. He prefers the bitter and saline plants of the desert to the herbage of 
the richer plains. He contents himself with the water of brackish pools and saline springs. He is wary in a high degree, exqui¬ 
site in his senses of sight and hearing, swift in flight, bold in scaling the rocky precipice, and resolute in his own defence. When 
attacked, he employs his teeth and posterior limbs, without abating his flight. He is hunted by the tribes of the desert for his 
skin, and for his flesh, which is greatly esteemed by the Tartar and Kalmuck nations. He is sometimes taken in pitfalls, and thus 
reduced to servitude. 
The Ass of Africa appears to differ from that of Asia in certain respects. But, though travellers speak of the Wild Asses 
of the African deserts, no authentic record has reached us regarding their habits or distinctive characters. The African races 
seem to be of smaller size than the Asiatic, and are probably more the inhabitants of sandy plains than of mountains. They have 
the hair very fine, and of a bright mouse-colour, and their general form is delicate. Ad ANSON, in describing those of Senegal, 
brought by the Moors from the interior, says that he could not recognise them as the same animals with those of Europe. 
From the earliest times we have records of the habits and condition of this wild and migratory creature. The Sacred 
Writings make him the subject of many beautiful descriptions and allusions. “ Who hath sent out the Wild Ass free? or who 
hath loosed the bands of the Orud ? whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwellings. The range of the 
mountains is his pasture, and he searclieth after every green thing.” He is often referred to as typical of indocility, perverseness, 
and scorn of control; and his very presence is associated with images of barrenness and desolation. “ Upon the land of my 
people shall come up thorns and briers, yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city; because the palaces shall be forsaken; 
the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of Wild Asses, a pasture of flocks.” 
This creature, wild and intractable as he seems, has been subjected to captivity from the earliest congregation of men into 
societies. Amongst the treasures of the early shepherds of Syria, the Ass is continually mentioned, along with the Camel and 
the Ox, as the beast employed in journeyings and the bearing of burdens; and even after the return of the descendants of Israel 
from a country of chariots and horses to the land of their promised inheritance, they preserved the simple habits of their forefathers 
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