Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-12-02
AN EQUINE MYSTERY.
What Recnme ue the Ancient HorKps
0f This Conttaent.

What Recnme oe the Ancient HorEps
0f This Continent.
Though vastly more is known OF the
,Ec!e1, history OF the horse than OF our
'Ta origin and descent, thcre is one
mystery connected with equine annals
tina bids fair nerer 10 be solved. II
aas 10 do With the cause of the total
disappearance OF the duadruped from
America = few thousand years ago,
where previously it had roamed in
countless nl.nhers not only over the
Whole Of The tnited States, but all the
WAY from Patagonia TO Alaska.
When Columbus landed he found no
nor;eS. The earliest Spanish conquer
9rS when they came sew none In fact,
the Indians regarded with alright the
horses which the Spanl2rGs brought.
Not Only had they never hchel5 such
5ru;cs. but thcir traditions gave no ac-
count Of anything In the leass resSm.
bling them. All OF the horses ~ Amer
leu today have been bred from fSu-o-
pean stuck
What became Of the ancient AmeiI.
cen horses whose bones urc dug uD Va
great quantities in various parts OF
shc United states. especially In cen
tral oregon and along tie banks OF the
Nidhrara liver In Nebraska: TO what
cause did obey owe their extinction?
Nobody can even offer plausible
Gucs;. They were too numerous and
too swift 10 I've ex,ermnntcd by say.
Ago hunters. Tic glacial epoch could
hardly have frozen them out, for the
great lee sheet extended only as far
south as Philadelphia and ST. Louis.
Nevertheless they vanished utterly,
leaving behind them, however, Il VOL
deriu!ly complete record OF their FAM
i!y history. In the lad Lands OF the
west. in the Niobrara rocks and else
where their skeletons. scattered through
strata representing successive epochs,
tel The story Of the development OF the
Morse from an animal no bigger than
u cat to Il creature mitch like the mod
ern cuu!ne Quudrupcd. 1t is an object
lesson IN evolution. gingularly COM
plete, the fossil remains thus far dis
:cvared illustrating no fewer than
tWe,v. stages IN the life progress OF
mans four footed friend and helper.
The evidence thus obtained shows
that the horse lad its beginning about
3,NtD,00o years ago, which implies, Of
course, that it is q far more ancient
an!mc! than man. About the size of Il
cat. with tech like monkeys, four
toes on each forefoot and three Oh each
hind foot. it dwelt in the dense forests
which covered all OF this part of the
World In that epoch when The gulf of
Mexico stretched far up The valley of
the Mississippi and the climate of North
Am.r!ca was moist and tropical
Then. rs IFS successor, came q horse
with three toes OH each foot, followed,
after Il great lapse of time, by the one
toed horses. which i'll the ice age were
contemporary with man. IT. is prob
nblc thar these later horses which were
much like the modern, We're striped:
bur, whether this be true or not, it Is
certain that they spread over all parts
of The world except Australia. In Eu.
rope. Asia and Africa they survived.
to become the ancestors of the horses
OF today, but in America they disap
pcared altogether. The reason VIII,
will probably never be explained. 1t Il
a puzzle that is likely to remain un
solved 70 the end OF time.-.Ncw York
Herald.