, 1874-05-10


broached Cuyier met it By saying " II this il
true there must have been some intermediate
form between the paleotherium, with ita thref
toes, and the horse, with its one toe; produce
that form or abandon tho theory that is un-
tonable without it." The missing link has
since beon found by IN American scientist,
! Prof O. c. Marsh, OF Yale.
For several years Prof. Marsh has led to the
! Western Plains, every summer, party Of explor~
ers. He has done this at great personal OK
| pensa. But he WAS willing, like a second Rich
| ard, to give his kingdom for horse, aud by
spending part OF it he has got what he wanted.
When America was discovered it contained no
horses and no related animals, such as the quagga,
zebra, OF nss Tie Indian autiquitiea bore no pic
| ture Of horae, 10 sign Of its presence, from
the Northwest Passage to Cape Horn. At
| least nothing OF the sort has ever
! been found, unless, indeed, We consider
| that horse-bone picked up in one OF the ruined
cities OF America is Of equal age with the city
This absence OF all record WAS strong point
against the theory that horses lived Oh this Con-
tinent in prehistoric time. The ruins Of Asia
aud Africa abound With sculptured horses. In
Europe the homes Of the cave~dwellers con-
tained, when discovered, traces Of the presence
Of such animals. 4 reindeer-horn found in the
cavern Of La Madeleine, DordoGne, France. has
scratched upon it seven figures Of horses. But
no such nementoes have been found in Amorica
The Indians had no legends. even, about the
animal De soto'a horse Was marvel to the
Cherokeea. They instantly namod it ''the AMI
NAL with single finger nail that is, tho hoof.
Science has translated their name into Latin
aud used it.
The rocks have now borne testimony to the
truth that seemed so false. The horse did
exist in America before the spaniards land
ed. Prot. Marsh has found in the eocene drifts
animal about a. large az fox. with four toes on
it's front, and three on its hind feet, all OF which
touched the ground. Tho uiocene period has
yielded up the uiohippus and the ancitherium.
They wero the size OF 3 sheep. Each had three
toes on each foot, Ill OF which touched the
ground The side-toes OF ths 1ncitherium were
smaller than those Of the miohippus. The
plioceno era hid in its rocks. before the pick
dislodged them, the fossilized skeletons Of tho
hipparion aud the p1iohippus, both OF which
we're ~ large as an ass. The former
had three toes, but only one Of them
touched the ground Tho latter had but one.
Another one-toed species, the equus, Is large OF
larger than the present horse and very like it,
has also been disinterred from its stony graTe.
Our horses sometimes hare superAuous hoof
attached to the real one. This may be re-
appearance Of the ancient type. The many-toed
hoof was Of usc in crossing the great
covered Western America gradually dried.
The sing1e-toed hoof is the best form
for flight 4nd defense. Aa the marshes
disappeared, the horse Of many toes found it
sell unable to Tee from it's enemies or to defend
itself from thetn- The one Of fevest toes had
the best chance of life. Thus. the "surviyal Of
the tittest" resulted in the gradual development
OF the 'aninnI with q single dnger-nai-"
These facts. like most Of fthose Of science, have |
3 religious bearing. The inspiration OF the Book |
OF Mormon has often been denied, because it |
mentions horses and asses Is existing here in |
prehistoric time. The Mormons nre, therefore,
iubilant over MarAh'e discoveries. I
4 NEW SUGGESTION IN RAPID TRANSIT.
We have received the following Interesting
letter, which suggests new way Of solving the
rapid-transit problem
II th< Editor a. Chicago Tribune:
SIR have waded through m%ch nonsense 1atey
published elevated, underground, and hack-alley
railroads., expecting to End suggested tbs only Emras
practical plan which has occurred to me-
Not being civil engineer, 1t will require but lttls
spscs to present It to tho readers Of THE TRIBUNE
sho will appreciate It's advantages without elaborate
lrguraeut- !
It IL simply to run cars under CUT Sidewalks This
would require single track without swtches tunder
two side~ak+}, between two peEpendlculsT walls, |
apop which would rest the walk now, the walk be-
ing elaratad say II inches above e stretched, which
Ipace being open. would afford Light and ventilation.
No oxcavst1ug, archtng, expensive rnasonty would
% required except 1t streecrossinga- For economy
n space building .nd repairing durability capacity,
accessibility, safety, etc., etc., othe@ 1oad proposed
approaches this whi1e In my opinion to none can BE-
presented few objections. To provoke expression
thsss Il the object Of this article Respectfully
L. G. 5oHoE1ELp.
We have submitted this plan to TWO civil eng-
,eers, who concur in considering it perfoctly
practicable Ihs main objections to be- over
;oms are the numerous pockets OF quicksand In
he soil through which the soni-tunnel must be
tho difficulty OF ventilation, the jar
ing Of the foundations Of buildings near at
aand, and the interference with the savage syR-
EN-. The frat two objections apply to all un-
foreground plans. Engineering gkiu can over
oms the first benesth thu sidewalks, as 1t did
,eneath tho lake. There might, howo;er be
ome danger, when large qu;ckRapd p,cket Was
truck, that adjoining houses would cayo in This
would be especially true Of heasy business
,locka. Still the danger would be small The
'roposed tunnel would be better Of. as regards
'entitation than rnost tunnels are. The eide-
sa1k over 1t would be Il or ID inches In the cloar
bore the street. It would be supported, not By
curb-stone, but by long. low iron arches, which