Omaha daily bee., 1915-06-25

the horse we're gradually changed into
"hoof while the animal grew larger.
stronger. swifter and more graceful, IL
a. fascinating as fairy tale and at the
same time as authentic and uncontra-
dictsble as a Roman monument. IL IL.
perhaps, the completest and most con
vincing chapter in the book OF evolution.
Moreover. II Ia distinctlvely an American
contribution to evolutionary history, for
the "eohippus." the four-toed ancestor
Of the horse. as we'll as the "protorohip-
pus." the "mesohippus' and the protohip
pus" Call OF which had several toes. and
an increasing tendency to merge them
into one). have all been found In the rock
strata OF the great west.
II our five toes. or fingers. should by
process OF evolution be merged into q
single one. the nails at the same time
blending into a uniform horny covering
or hoof, the result would he what hap
pened to the horse as he changed from
his early ancestral forms. Looking al
this evolution, in its successive steps.
shown IN the American museum one IL
irresistibly impressed with feeling that
some guiding purpose controlled It. and
one can understand the thought that this
purpose arose like a soaring ambition In
the mind OF the little eohippus. az poet
ically expressed by Mrs. Stetson Quoted
by Mr., Frederic A. Lucas in his Ami
mails OF the PsstO
said the little eohippus
/ am going to he q horse.
And on my middle finger nails
To runs my earthly course
OF course, the changes undergone in
the structure of the feet were not the
only ones that the progenitors of the
horse experienced. There were many
others, conspicuous among which was
] the evolution OF the teeth. fitting the
4 animal TO live on the grassy plains,
where it's further development was to
/ occur and where the speed insured by
the form OF the hoof was essential to the
| preservation OF this brave but inoffenslve
animal
| When the eohippus began his asplrins
course there were no men, the coming
friends. companions and teachers OF his
descendants, yet in existence. But our
rrogenitors. too had made their appear
ance upon the planet, although not In 9
shape externally recognizable as human
and the two genealogical linesa 80, widely
different and yet destined to be 20 in
timately associated. ran their separate
| courses upward toward their invisible
/ meeting point. At last when the pos
terity of the eohppus mad become true
horses, swift, strong, teachable. faithful
companionable. diligent and tireless. the,
were encountered. on the fields OF thii
world. by the big-brainod brood Of tina
still unrecognized brute ancestor OF man
who caught the cleaning spark of rlenta
fire. which flickered. inefficient. in thu
bony skull OF some huge ape-like crea
ture, and blow It into flame tina. wa
to light the world.
To this predestined encounter the as
! piration OF the little eohippus had LEI
his race. His highly organized and high
spirited descendants quilted their wilt
life az the call Of still nobler. NOR
masterful, intelligence than theirs. an
became the willing subjects of man, con
tent TO be subordinate in the empire o
brain-power. and never seeking to cs
cape from IT, but on the contrary gath
, ing, through their submission, an adde
Roceleration to their evolution, for III
nobler forms that the horse has take
, under human care and training he coul
never have attained by the simple opera
ton OF natures tendencies. The hors
as he is today lie partly the product o
human intelligence guiding the blin
forces OF life.