The record-union., 1899-06-19
THE ZEBRA.

THE ZEBRA.
His Origin and Relation to the
For some time past Professor ]. Cos
sar Ewart, Regius Professor of Natural
History in Edinburgh University, has
been engaged in carrying on a series of
Investigations with view to the elucl-
dation of certain questions which have
long vexed breeders and naturalists. At
Penycuick, not far from Edinburgh,
the Professor has established a kind or
experimental station. and here he has
bred several zebra hybrids, for up to the
present Professor Ewart has confined
his attention chiefly to zebras and
horses. Messrs. A. and c. Black have
just published. under the title, The
Penycuick Experiments an account.
written by Professor Ewart, of his work
SO far as it has gone at present.
At the Royal Institution Professor
Ewart has delivered a course of three
lectures on "Zebras and Zebra Hybrids. >
At the first of these he began by re-
ferring to the earliest records we pos
sessed of the existence of zebras in his
toric times, and mentioned that the
first zebra did not reach Europe till the
year 116O. The curious appearance of
the zebra, and it's peculiarly striped
body, naturally awakened curiosity, and
many absurd statements We're advanced
by credulous writer's as to their origin
By means of diagrams Professor Ewart
traced the genealogical distribution of
the fossil Equidae, which comprised
orli oct
ancestor of the horse was a creature
named Phenacolus, and in the United
States National Museum specimen of
this might be seen. 1t had five toes to
each foot, and very small brain. The
next in process of evolution was the
hyracotherium This possessed but
three toes. Then came epihippus, a
creature which began to have some re,
semblance to the horse as we know him
at the present day. Next came meso-
hippus, next merychippus, next hippar-
ion, and then protohippus (the real an
cestor of the equidae), and lastly equus.
In his second lecture Professor
Ewart confined his remarks almost en-
tirely to the stripes of the zebra, dwell
ing on their origin and probable uses.
There could be little doubt that the
stripping of the zebra was of great ben
eft to the animal in ena bling it to avoiA
detection. He had tried many expert
ments on his own zebras. and he was
astonished to find how difficult it was to
recognize them even when quite close
up to them. Even at a distance of five
yards he had failed to distinguish the
animals under certain circumstances.
At ten yards the stripes would COM
pletely disappear On one occasion he
actually ran into a zebra because not
only did the stripes prevent the animal
from being observed, but it stood 81
still. and breathed so quietly, that it
completely eluded observation ANY
animal which had a uniform color was
much more likely to be seen than one
with stripings or spots on its coat He
had made some experiments with a bay
pony, and he found that when he put
on the animal an arrangement of rio
Dons, to initiate the stripe of the zebra,
1t was much less easily distinguished
than in the ordinary natural condition
The subject of protective coloration was
very large one, and he could only
touch on few special points He once
let loose some forty to fifty tame rab-
bits in field where there were a great
many wild ones of brown color. In
short time the white ones had disap-
peared, owing, no doubt to their tame
ness, and their conspicuous coloration
There We're, Of course, white wild rab-
bits in England. but nature, as if TO
compensate for their color, had endowed
them with special powers of self-pres-
ervation. Many instances were on rec
ord in which hunters have been de-
ceived by natural objects, and have
fired at these under the impression that
they were animals. The lecturer pro-
ceeded to discuss the question as to
why horses have lost their stripes. AZ
one time horses were banded, and as
the zebras had retained their stripes it
was interesting to know why horses
had lost them. 1t was all a question
of adaptation to surroundings, and as
stripes became of no use to the horse
they rapidly disappeared
Professor Ewart brought to a close
his course of lectures on zebras and
zebra hybrids by giving an account of
the experiments that have been con-
Quoted both by himself and by others
on the breeding of zebra hybrids
These hybrids were divided into two
N-NASeS. W AeUTd-dSS HyDr1QS ami
% zebra-horse hybrids At Penycuick
Professor Ewart had mated various
kinds of zebra with various horses and
ponies, and the crossings thus obtained
threw much light on the complicated
questions of reversion, variation, tele-
gony, etc. The sire was in all cases a.
zebra and the dam horse or a pony.
and the general rule was that the hy-
br1d had more of the characteristics of
the father than of the mother. In cases
where zebra sire was mated with a
thoroughbred horse the offspring was
a considerable Improvement on the
father. The markings on the zebra hy-
brids offered many points of interest TO
the student of breeding, and the pic
lures thrown on the screen enabled the
audience to see the character of the
offspring and to note whether they took
more after one Of their parents than
the other.
Dealing with the possible use of ze-
bras and zebra hybrids from prac-
teal point of view, Professor Ewart did
not hold out much hope of their proving
Of much value to mankind. 1t was i'm
possible to eradicate from the zebra
nature that fear of it's natural enemy,
the lion, which was so imbued in its
system. Some of Professor Ewart's ze-
bras and zebra hybrids were ordinarily
of the most docile nature, but at times
sudden fear would overcome them,
r,w.1 n L. L