The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-09-10

do know some facts. for his foan11 Il
mains have been found in rock 0fe1
known as the Lower Eocene, ~
Is supposed to date back o,00e.G
years. The little Eohippus deveIorG
remarkably, and 1t Is claimed a.
while he Is. of course, not ON e.
same mental plane as man. he isWe
highly specialized anatomically.
physique developed as his needs f&X
quired. He could not fight much,
had to run away; his speed developl
until today he Is seen to be AeG4@
footed, strong, both for bearing pac1
and pulling loads, and TO this end m
size. feet, teeth and other parts a.
veloped with his advance down fh&
ages. At his early age, when FL
was called Eohippus. the horse w.
a most insignificant creature ~ coan
pared to his contemporaries, til
great, hulking brutes called IT,
Uintatheres and Coryhodonts. -
strange az 1t may seem. his postsr3l
has outlived them ala fine exampn
OF the survival OF the flttest. In tn
exhibit the earliest known form, til
Eohippus comes first. AS the n1dE
advanced stage, we find the bones RI
somewhat larger animal OF the on
Foeene period, known as MesohippuG2
comp aratively about the size OF &
sheep, with three toes on all It's feGH5
the one on the front feet havfnN
proved superfiuous. nature saw 70 &
that 1t disappeared. Its teeth haNG
also advanced bit, to assist Il q
feeding, as may be seen in the exh1s
bition case. Next, IN the Miocene, I
little later period. there slived iiimees
Gus largo horses, called Moryshippu4T
Neohipparion. Protohipp11s, etc. IN
foot bones of these animals sh0Q
three toes on each foot, but with ~
middle toe much larger than III COZ
panions,. while the teeth are seen r.
he longer and deeper crowned n
fact, this type begins to fcok mot
like a regular horse, In the next st0m
the Pliocene. are seen still more sn19
cialized forms. Protohippus and FIN
hippus. the latter and some 9TH
species having but single toe e.
each foot, which soon developed
single hoof. their adjacent or auxi1la1
toes having disappeared and only t
spltnts or stump remain to be t.
on the fossil bones. vestiges OF whl1M
may also be seen in modern horop0
He seems to have grown little lArD0l
also. and more to the shape Of IT,
horse we know. He was still able f
feed. in spite Of his longer legn, ~
his neck and jaws had grown IN -
portion, and he could travel q
high rate OF speed on hard ground,Ta
True horses occurred in the P1ei1oo
Gene period. closely resembling IN
horse Of today. the average OF th4~
a little smaller IN stature. ModG4M
horses average fourteen hands htUM
or about four feet eight inches. shoS
, ing wonderful growth of devel0D
ment in height alone.
Sufficient finds Of petrified Sko1Qi
tons or fossils have been made q
this country and Aias<a to prove o.
the early .horsA, was. here ID .gro01
numbers In tho sF1eistocene tisns, -
as he was in Europe. but soon there
after he became. extinct here, e
nearly so. due 10 the great Ice sho1
OF the glacial age, which swept ~
northern part OF the New World clea1
of nearly all animal life. Son
scientists admit that the Pleistocel1
horse might have fingered In Tex
or some. soutbern part Of Mort
America uptil, tho coming OF the Wht1
| man. but there is no Proof OF II, ~
others hold that the early SpaniAx
brought the horse along and thus CT
established the horse on fts nat3l
heath.