Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-08-01
HISTORY OF THE HORSE.
Older Than Mankind and No Bigger Than
a Poodle at First.

Tom Lyon in Piashurg Dtspdtch,
The ancestry of the horse can he traced
back before the time of England's mon
archs, beyond the Caesars or the Eternal
CITY, beyond the creation of man, and
even further than the very layer of earth
upon which we live, into the rocks and
petrifcatiOn of the next age below us,
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 shOwman's for
tune, This horse was very little larger
than sheep, and some not larger than q
terrier dog. These little horses, az Slr rs
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 hGOf on each leg,
as our modern horse has, this diminutive
pony was the possessor of four, making
sixteen hOofs in all. As the horse devel-
Oped, these hOOis, or, speaking more cor
rectly, these toes, all disappeared leaving
our modern horse to walk upon the end OF
one leg.
In order 10 clearly understand the man
ner of the gradual disappearance of these
toes little anatomy may be tolerated.
Starting with the hand of man rs a
standard, the thumb, which il really q
finger, is called the tirst finger, the index
is called the second, the next third, fourth
and fifth. II has been observed that when
this order is in any way interfered with
the firSt to disappear is the thumb or first
finger. This is noticed in dogs. The dew
claw" is the first finger or thumb.
So it was with the little horses. No re-
mains can be found possessing the first
finger. The earliest had the second, third
fourth and fifth toe present, all of which
reached the ground and were usahle. These
toes all disappeared until none was left
except the third, which is the toe upor
which the horses of the present day walk
The one Just preceding our modern hOrs'
had three tors, the second, third and fourth
but the outside ones did not reach the
ground and were accordingly not disable
They were up little distance on the leg
like the little hoOfs of deer, and Onl y re
main on our modern horse in what Is known
as splint bones. Is occasionally happens
that horses, as well as other animals, vii
breed back, and monstrOsity, as it ap
pears to Ms, 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 a. curiosity. 1t wa
a reference, or index, of what sort of fee
the species once had.
Just why they were at first in possession
of such feet is a matter of conjecture j
NAV have been because the ground wa
soft and marshy, and the extra feet CAV,
more surface for resistance, and as tn
earth grew firmer no necessity existed 70
SO many toes, so that by disuse they begaI
to disappear.
With the modification of the feet tn
horse increased in height and strength
! getting ready TO help man bear his bur
dens and progress in the. line OF ciyiliza
/ ton. As 1t increased IN size, through
mans interference and culture it also in
creased in mental capacity until one of tn
most intelligent, docilR useful creature
ever given by Supreme Being TO man j
+ the animal almost human-the horse.
! In very early days horses were not uset
By all nations, and by none as beasts o
burden. Asses and mules did the dTudg
cry. and horses we're only used as racers
warriors, hunters, OF TO carry their owner
upon journeys Of pleasure or business.
Seeing men on horseback, apparently
part and parcel of the beast, led some M
tives to think that the strange appearnc
was but one animal, hence the belief in tn
eentaur. or animal half animal and hal
man. In war they were source Of grea
terror to those unfamiliar with him, an,
aften the approach Of troop would strik
dismay into the hearts Of the enemy.
The gradual development from the littl
pocket pony into the full-gTOwn horse Ia
been a prominent factor In the advance
ment of the human race, and upon no 9th
er animal has the hand of human interfel
ence been so marked. This can be seen 4
the wonder yarity in the horse family
Shetland ponies, heavy draught horses, th
racer whose feet spurn the ground, an
the slow-plOdding but powerful h0rs
which draw our iron wagons, all are th
result of care In breeding and human i'm
pFoyement Of a species at one time We
nioh usale0s