The Washington bee., 1906-12-29

WILL BREED zEBR0IDS
NEW YORKER TO EXPERIMENT
ON A LARGE SCALE.
Financier Claims Cross Between Horse
and Zebra Greatly SaPsrior to AMI
nal New in Domestic Use
Ills Purpose Explained.

Ills Purpose Explained.
New To-k.-TrOm zebTas wlich he
has imported al great expense Warner
VI. Van Nortel, rresideI- Of the Van
Norden Trust company Ci this city,
entertains great hCres that the ze-
broid las the hybrid offspring OF the
horse and zebra IS called, viii come 20
be generally ald iayorably known in
this country.
The ze1r0.d." explained Mr.. Van
Norden the other day. makes an eX-
eeVent all around animal for dOmes-
tic use aad I hope to Introduce it in
this country 1t is already used in
South Africa, where IL has given sat
isfaction. I cannot say Just how
speedy the zebr0iI VIII be but those
I shall raise VIII be from the finest
stock, especially suited for driving
purposes. These animals are much
more strong and vigorous than the
horse and live about twice as long,
They will rank with any of the horses
in general use to-day and n value viii
range from $500 to $1,000. They viii
be very tough and aSle to endure
twice the hardship the average horse
can stand"
The parents, perhaps, of genera
tions of American zebrOids yet un-
born are now COuJentedly munchinS
hay in the barn at Mr.. Van NOrGen.s
country place at Rye, y. Y. all IN
conscious Of the weight Of the re-
spousibiIity resting upon their carer
fully grO0med backs.
In temporary quarters in one barn
are three zebras. said 10 be among
the finest Or their species ever brought
to this country One of them is de
clared TO be a genuine Greyy's zebra
from Abyssinia and this animal alone
is valued by Mr. Van N0den St $4,000.
The other two zebras beloag TO what
is known as the BOhimii class. Two
more, equally as valuable as those
now in Rye, have been captured Tor
Mr.. Van Norden and will be shipped
to this country early next spring.
These animals are about six years Olf
and, jnasmuch as the life Of the aver
age zebra is about so years, they are
as yet mere babies and are full of
more life and tricks than young colts.
So much for the zebra parents Of
the zebrOids Their parents on the
other side viii range from a full
bloOded Arabian mare down 10 little
.burrO jennies. throuSh a list Of horse
a4,esh including piebald. hackney and
mustang.
{, The zebroids will owe their appear
ance in this country, however, not so
much to Mr. Van Norden's desire 70
raise them for themselves alone as to
his determination to solve the problem
Of telegony.
He is determined to demonstrate
whether it is real, as breeders Of
blood stock assert, or whether it is
vagary of the breeders mind as
scientists declare. Explaining the OBJ
ject of his undertaking, Mr. Van
NOrden said:
"All breeders believe in telegony.
It has always been their claim that
if a female animal is bred to one Of
a different species but Of the same
family and is afterward bred to one Of
fher own species the second offspring
will show resemblance to the first
sire. Opposed to the claim of the
breeders is that Of the scientists. who
say there is no such thing as teleg0ny
and that the breeders are mistaken
in their diagnosis.
a man who stands near the head
of the scientists in their contention
that there is nothing in the breeders
fear of teIegony is Prof. ". Ewart, of
Edinburgh university, and for years
he has conducted experiments to sup
port the correctness of his theories.
Prof. Ewart is now experimenting
with pigeons and rabbits. He asserts
that no one has ever gone into the
subject of telegOny in such a manner
as clearly to demonstrate the truth
or falsity of the many claims made
concerning il. The experiments OF
Prof. Ewart and others have thrown
some light on the subject, but there
is still much to be learned"