The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-15

The Zebras, Deer and wild Sheep.
Among the disappointments of modern
discovery is the failure OF Prejvaltski the
Russian explorer, to prove that he had
found, as he thought, the original or the
wild horse He was right in claiming to
have found the wild camel in the deserts
of Dsungaria- 1t may be seen stuf1ed' an
ugly woolly beast, at South kensin8ton.
But the horses were only a variety Oh the
Kiang, the swift but ungainly wild ass OF
these same inhospitable wastes. The chler
difference is that it has the base OF the tall
set in rather higher than in the wild ass.
The question is whether our own horse
ever had a. wild horse, such as We see them
TODAY. as an ancestor at all, or whether
he &c not a creature made by man, by I'M
nroving on these wild asses in domestica-
'i0" A PERFECT COLLECTION.
For the first time in the history Of this
country, so eminent for it's skill In breed
ing every kind of domesticated animal TO
the limit of perfection. there are now as
sembIed at the Zoo all the possible living
data. by which this question could be an
suyered There are at the Zoo examples
of all the wild equine animals still le1t on
the face of the earth. and these not sing
ly, but in pairs. male and female so that
the breeds may be crossed or perpetualeu'
The zebras are much larger than the other
kinds. more brightly marked, win JET
black on pure white, and the stripes are
narrower and closer together Ihey pear
the same proportion to the other zepras ss
a carriage horse does to cob. Ihelr ears
are not long and narrow like donKeys' Out
are much longer than those OF the other
zebras. and wide and rounded at the TOP
They are called "Grevy's zebra, ana come
from the country south of Abyssinia
Another question Of the hour asked ABOUT
Tho zehras and wild asses is how far
soua1e animal tends to reproduce the type
g Tho male with which 1t was first mated
professor Ewart crossed zebras and mares
"a cot foals some striped and some not.
The result Of subsequent breeding was that
sooIs ware often born with zebra stripes.
Rut. and this is the most curious result
% tbes. trials-the stripes in the throw
hack were not a mere repetition or the
marking OF the zebra USED IN the
h,,+ of another. namely, this Identical
Crews zebra. The latter Is peleNeo -
be of a more primitive type thah lhe
Burchells zebra. 1t seems then thaI 'he
offspring of female animals when crosseu
tend to revert to the type of some ancient
ancestor of the first sire. Ihls souiiuS
rather dry and scientific. but If true IL may
lead to interesting discoveries
ORIGINAL OF THE MALE HOhSE'
Meantime let us go through one stud OF
natures horses, and see how far any Oh
them can claim to be the original or the
male horses of domestication. Two polhls
will be looked for. One is the shape Oh
the horse, and the other the absence OIL
str;nes which no modern horses have. The
result Is that by actual inspection we can
Gee that the zebras have most or the
horses shape, but are violently unlike III
color. In the asses the stripes are progress
sively lost, but the shape deterlorales'
Looking over the whole set Of zeoras' we
have q pair of the very rare mountain
zebra with arched necks and heads very
like the old Greek horses on the Parthenon
frieze.
Rurchelrs zebras, with less marked
stripes. are also much like small horses.
Crews zebra has mule-like shape ana
most uncompromising stripes Whlch 90 not
look as If they could be bred out In a
thousand generations. Still, except as re-
CARDS the tall we have most of the ele-
ments OF the horses shape in the ZEBRA
The loss of their stripes in the wild asses
IS shown in striking manner in the series
from different parts OF the world now
brought together at the Zoo.
The wild ass of Abyssinia has oarh
stripe. clearly marked. down its spine, and
a similar stripe, making a cross with the
first over its shoulders. In the wild ass OF
India, from the Ran of Clutch. the cross
stripe has disappeared But that down the
spine looks as if put on with paint brush.
and is very broad towards the tail. The
Kiang, or wild ass of the cold deserts, has
the same single stripe down the back. Its
coat is rough and woolly, like a cheap
cocoa-nut mat, but not much rougher than
that of a Shetland pony when left out on
the hills 1t is the worst shaped of the
whole tribe. narrow in the chest, weak
necked. big-headed. and with every bad
point imaginable. But this is partly ac-
counted for by the bad food and bad eli
mate of its native land. Lastly comes the
wild ass OF Somaliland, a neighbor both of
the Abyssinian wild ass and Of the Somali
zebra. This is quite a beautiful animal
The male at the Zoo has an exquisite coat
which would be lavender color were IL not
that the tint is rather pink than mauve.
Its muzzle is like the finest satin, close
and glistening is the velvet hair. Now, this