Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-08-14
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HORSE.
From the Pony with sixteen IIoofs
to the Noble Animal of Mod
eru Times.

Although the mule. as Sunset Coz
said, lis without the pride Of ancestry.
it is quite a different thing with hi
relatives on one side of the house, il
whose outlines, bearing, size, and in
telligence may be seen very plainly hi
nobility and pure lineage.
The ancestry of the horse can bt
traced back before the time of Eng
land monarchs, beyond the Caesars OIL
the Eternal city. beyond the creation Of
man. and even further than the very
LAYER of earth on which we
live, into the rocks and petri.
faction of the age below us.
Ancient as is his family tree, the horse
species is not by any means entitled to
be classed among the first families, "
and yet his lineage is enough to put to
blush those foolish p"ople-fortunately,
few in our countrywide pride them
selves upon their descent, and feel
something which is thought to shed
luster upon his degcnerated. high-col-
Jared. sharp-toed descendants. Any
old cart horse on the street can show
an older and purer strain of descent.
Far back before the age of man there
lived upon the earth a species of the
horse family. long ago extinct, which
at the present day would make show
mans fortune. This horse was very
little larger than sheep, and some not
larger than a terrier dog. These little
horses. as far as we know from the
fossil remains, were the beginning of
the horse tribe.
They had every outline of horses, and
the anatomy also, with the exception
that the feet were most peculiar
Instead of having one hoof on each
leg, as our modern horse has, this di-
minutive pony was the pOssessor of
four, making sixteen hoofS in all. AS
the horse developed these hoofs, or.
speaking more correctly. these toes. all
but one disappeared. leaving our mod
crn horse to walk upon the end of one
toe to each leg. II they had all contin-
ucd to remain permanent the black
smiths would have rr;o'crd.
In order to clearly understand the
manner of the gradual disappearance
of these toes lite anatomy may be
tolerated
Starting with the hand of man as a
standard, the thumb, which is really a
finger. is called the first finger, the in.
dex is called second, the next third,
fourth, and fifth. Ii has been observed
that when this order is in any way in
terfered with the first TO disappear is
the thumb or first finger. This is no.
ticed in dogs. The .'dew claw" is the
first finger or thumb.
So it was with the little horses. No
remains can be- found possessing the
first finger. The earliest has the
second. third, fourth, and fifth toes
present, all of which reached the ground
and were disable. These toes all dis
appeared until none was left except the
third, which is the toe upon whose end
the horses of the present day walk.
The one just preceding our modern
morse had three toes, the second, third,
and fourth, but the outside ones did not
reach the ground, and were accordingly
not disable. They were up a little dis
lance on the leg, like the little hoof of
deer. and only remain on our modern
horse in what is known as splint bones.
1t occasionally happens that horses,
as well as other animals, will breed
back, and monstrosity, as it appears
to us, will be the result. In England
some time ago horse was born which
had two hoOfs on each foot, and was
carried about the country as a curiosity.
1t was reference, or index, of what
sort of feet the species once had.
just why they were at first in Dos
session of such feet is matter of con-
lecture. 1t may have been because the
ground was soft and marshy and the
extra feet gave more surface for resis-
lance. and as the, earth grew firner no
necessity existed for so many toes, so
that by disuse they began to disappear.
With the modification of the feet the
horse increased in height and strength,
getting ready to help men bear his bur-
dens and progress in the line of civil
cation, and it is true that if all the
horses in a city were to die, and there
were no means by which their places
could be filled, civilization would retro
grade, because men would have to bear |
their own burdens, and the physical |
man would increase at the expense of |
the intellectual, so that in time we
would all go back to semi-savages. as
tne students OF an athletic college do. |
The horse, as we have it now, is a vast
Improvement over the steed of ancient |
times. IL is dependent upon man for
It's very life, and man is dependent up-
on u. As 1t increased in size, through |
mans interference and culture. it also
increased IN mental capacity, until one
OF the most intelligent, dOcile, useful
creatures ever given by Supreme Be-
ing to man is the animal almost human
the horse.
In very early days horses were not
used by all nations, and by none as
beasts of burden. Asses and mules did
the drudgery, and horses were only
used as racers. warriors, hunters, or to
carry their owners upon journeys of
pleasure or business.
Seeing men on horseback, apparent.
ly part and parcel of the beast. led
some natives to think that the strange
appearance was but one animal; hence
the belief in the centaur, or animal half
horse and half man. In war thew were
source OF great terror to those who
were unfamiliar with them, and often
the approach of troop would strike
dismay to the hearts of the enemy.
Inc gradual development from the
little pocket pony into the full-grown
morse mas been a prominent factor in
the advancement of tho human race.
lnd upon no other animal has the hand
)f human Interference been an m.rkad |