Equus

“ A good case by which to exhibit further our conception of a species is that afforded by the species which are united in the genus Equus—the horse-genus. There are living at the present day several wild kinds of Equus—namely, the wild horse, or Tarpan, of the Gobi desert of Mongolia, called after the Russian explorer Przewalski; two kinds of Asiatic wild ass, called the Kiang and the Onegar; the African wild ass, and two or three kinds of zebra. There are, besides, many kinds of domesticated horses, ranging from the Shetland pony to the Flemish dray horse, and from the Shire horse to the Arab. ”

“ Gaudry places the Quagga nearest of all living Equidae to the Hipparion gracile of Pikermi.
Fossil Equidae.—The existing Equidae all belong to the genus Equus, though there are some who would (quite unnecessarily) divide off the Zebras as a genus Hippotigris. The genus Equus itself goes back in time to the Pliocene, during which epoch there lived in India E. sivalensis, the same species according to some with the E. stenonis of Europe. None of these species, Old World or New, are easily to be separated from E. caballus. ”

“ If Equus really existed in the Upper Miocene, it was antecedent to some of its supposed ancestors. Again in the series of equine forms, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Desmathippus, Protohippus, which are generally regarded as coming into the direct line of equine descent, Scott [333] points out that each genus is, in some respect or other, less modified than its predecessor. In other words, it would appear that in this succession of North American forms the earlier genera show, in some points, closer resemblance to the modern Equus than to their immediate successors. ”

“ Aspamithras, horse’s friend, Aspachava, rich in horses, Vishtaspa, and many more, commemorate the animal; and in Greece, Hippolytus, Hippodamos, Hippomedon, Hipparchus, and many more, showed that riding was the glory of the Hellenes. Rome has no representative of her equus, except in Equitius, a doubtful name, more likely to be named in honour of the equestrian order, than direct from the animal. ”

“ Now, as to the living forms or form-kinds of the genus Equus—which are we to regard as true species, and which are only varieties and races of lower significance than species? The answer is clear enough in regard to several of them. The wild Mongolian horse and all the domesticated horses are varieties, races, or breeds of one species, judged not only by such marks as the possession of callosities on both the hind and the fore legs, but also by the test of breeding. They breed together and produce persisting races. ”

“ There was a great wealth of horses, though the modern genus Equus was not among them; all the genera are now extinct and all were three-toed. Several distinct phyla were represented, some progressive and advancing toward the modern forms, others conservative and stationary. Browsing horses with low-crowned teeth, grazing horses with prismatic, cement-covered teeth, heavier and lighter, larger and smaller, must have covered the plains and thronged the woods. Ancestral tapirs were present, though far less common. ”

“ Till recent years the Equus hemionus was the only truly wild horse known, but in the winter of 1879-80 the Russian traveler Przhevalsky brought back from Central Asia a much more horse-like animal, called by the Tartars kertag, and by the Mongols statur. It is a clumsy, thick-set, whitish-gray creature with strong legs and a large, heavy, reddish-colored head; its legs have a red tint down to the knees, beyond which they are blackish down to the hoofs. But the ears are small, and it has the broad hoofs of the true horse, and warts on the hind legs, which no animal of the ass tribe has. ”

“ During the Pliocene period, in the genus Pliohippus and also in Hipparion, the feet were far advanced in structure, with most of the species single-toed, the side digits having reached the splint stage. Pleistocene horses of the genus Equus, like living species of that genus, were strictly one-toed animals, ranging over grassy areas and highly specialized for a life in that kind of environment.
Specialization is to be noted partly in the foot and leg structures where the modifications have contributed to greater speed and travelling ability. ”

“ The process by which the Anchitherium has been converted into Equus is one of specialisation, or of more and more complete deviation from what might be called the average form of an ungulate mammal. In the Horses, the reduction of some parts of the limbs, together with the special modification of those which are left, is carried to a greater extent than in any other hoofed mammals. The reduction is less and the specialisation is less in the Hipparion, and still less in the Anchitherium ”

“ In India a nearly allied species (E. sivalensis) , occurs in the Lower Pliocene, and may have been the ancestor of the Arab stock, which shows traces of the depression in front of the orbit characteristic of the earlier forms. In North America species of Equus occur in the Pleistocene and from that continent others reached South America during the same epoch. In the latter country occurs Hippidium, in which the cheek-teeth are shorter and simpler, and the nasal bones very long and slender, with elongated slits at the side. ”

“ Taken alone these fragmentary specimens might never tell more than a very short story, but the wonderful Pleistocene collection obtained at Rancho La Brea just across the range to the west will ultimately furnish comparative material adequate to make possible a definite determination of the animal represented by every bone found in the Manix beds.
The Manix fauna is entirely distinct from that of the Ricardo. The horses are of the latest and most advanced genus, that is the modern Equus, which includes most of the living representatives of the horse group. ”

“ In South America the story of the horses was a brief one, for they were among the immigrants from the north and did not reach the southern continent till the Pliocene, probably late in that epoch, for none of the three-toed genera have been found in South America. So far as known, these southern equines were small and medium sized animals, with large heads, relatively short feet and somewhat ass-like proportions. There were two well-defined groups of these animals: (1) species of the genus Equus, which thus, at one time or another, inhabited every one of the continents, Australia excepted ”

“ Quintus looked down in silence.
“You speak of God,” he said at last. “Which God do you mean, Eurymachus? Jupiter, whom our forefathers worshipped, is to you a mere idol. What name then do you give to the Divinity, who commands your love? And what proof have you, that he too is not a false God?”
“My lord,” said Eurymachus, “our God has no name by which he is known. A name is used for distinction, and to mark a difference from others of the same, kind; but He is one alone and eternal from the beginning. ”

“ The boar made in upon his bold enemy, and, as the nearest point for death, he fiercely struck at the upper part of the groins with his two tusks Ancaeus fell; his entrails poured out amid streams of blood and the ground was soaked with gore Then Ixion's son, Pirithoüs, advanced against the foe, brandishing a hunting-spear in his strong right hand. To him Theseus cried out in alarm: Keep away, O dearer to me than my own self, my soul's other half; it is no shame for brave men to fight at long range. ”

“ This person they recognised in Oxylus the Ætolian, who either sat upon a horse, himself having one eye, or rode upon a one-eyed mule. Difficult as it is to rest satisfied with this interpretation of the oracle, so casual a circumstance having no connexion with the general course of events, yet it appears impossible to discover the true meaning of the word τριόφθαλμος.227 In all probability this expression for the whole Ætolian race was only delivered in a mythical shape, and the sorry explanation was not invented until a late period.228 The family of Oxylus is stated to have come from Calydon ”

“ It is to no mortal, but to the gods alone that you have to confess your crime. Humility before the gods is no dishonor....”
“Your gods are not mine,” cried Quintus vehemently. “A confessor of the true God can never sacrifice to Jupiter Capitolinus.”
“Who is the true God, but he whose care and rule we see, wherever we turn our eyes, and feel in our souls? Are you so utterly degenerate, that you have learnt to confound the great universal spirit—whom our fathers worshipped as Jupiter, the Father of Light—with a mortal—with a Jewish revolutionary, whom the imperial governor silenced by death?” ”

“ I confess myself guilty. The God of the Nazarenes is the only true God. Your Jupiter is a foolish, ridiculous image.”
The governor shook his head in bewilderment.
“Follow me then,” he said doubtfully; “I will inform the city-prefect.”
“Quintus—farewell!” cried Cornelia, with a triumphant glance at her lover. “Think better of it, Quintus! or else we meet again face to face with the beasts in the arena!” ”

“ The priest sadly shook his head.
“So long as our Quintus lies pining in a dungeon, I cannot have an hour’s rest. What I must do, how and where to set to work—I have no idea. But I must try everything—everything. And alas! Rome is a wide world, and the roads are endless, dear Octavia—if only one of them might lead to the goal. Yes, one does—that I know full well—but it is a bloody and thorny path....”
“I do not understand you.”
“No?” said the priest with a strange smile. “Well, if the law demands a victim, it might be possible to effect an exchange. ”

“ Quintus, who was likewise armed, grasped his sword-hilt convulsively. He glanced round at the little congregation; the fight would be too unequal, simply ridiculous, but he felt he must attempt it. His sword flashed from its sheath; but at that instant Antinous sprang upon him from one side and, with the strength of desperation, clutched his right arm. Before Quintus could shake him off he was surrounded by soldiers, his weapon was wrenched from him, and six or eight sinewy hands held his arms and shoulders with the grip of a vice. The centurion came up to him with his sword point downwards. ”

“ Quintus sat staring into the darkness for some little time. Then he felt his way round the wall to the bed, lay down on the mildewed worsted blanket and covered himself with his lacerna. After once more dedicating himself to God and his conscience, even unto death, he repeated the short prayer that the congregation had used on the occasion of his reception under the covenant. He had heard the words but once, but they were graven on his soul—those simple child-like words: “Our Father”—and then he fell asleep, as soundly and quietly as if he were lying on the soft cushions of his own cubiculum. ”

“ There is not a man in all the legion that is his match in skill and strength; not one that can beat him in running or in lance-throwing. But speak, my lord; you look so grave, so sad! What is it? Oh, for God’s sake, in Christ’s name—it is impossible! My son, my Philippus!—but he could stand against twenty—speak, my lord, or you will kill me....”
“Poor old man,” said Quintus much moved, “what good will it do to conceal the truth from you? Your son is dead. ”

“ Yet Echion's son, Pentheus, the scoffer at gods, alone of all men flouted the seer, laughed at the old man's words of prophecy, and taunted him with his darkness and loss of sight. But he, shaking his hoary head in warning, said: "How fortunate wouldst thou be if this light were dark to thee also, so that thou mightst not behold the rites of Bacchus! For the day will come-nay, I foresee 'tis near-when the new god shall come hither, Liber, son of Semele. ”

“ He sent me a message; otherwise very likely Eurymachus might have died in his misery, without my knowing it. But I hope, I hope the charm may save him.”
“Listen, child,” said Quintus after a pause: “You shall see, that I know how to value courage, even in the person of a slave. Here, take this gold and spend it for the benefit of the sufferer, and by and bye, when he is well again, write to me in Rome; then we will see what can be done next.”
“Oh, my lord!” cried the flute-player vehemently, “you are like the gods for graciousness and kindness. ”

“ The only man who appeared altogether calm and indifferent was Stephanus, haggard and diplomatically reserved. He was sitting apart, not far from the spot where the avenue by which Quintus returned, opened on to the terrace. A man of athletic build was lying on the ground, bleeding from numerous wounds; in his right hand he held the hilt of a broken sword and his left was pressed in speechless anguish to his breast, where the enemy’s blade had pierced him. ”

“ The great temple of Isis lay flooded with gold; a procession of priests, [201] bearing the image of the goddess, came marching down the street.
“Get on!” cried Quintus. “I am tired to death. It was a folly, Blepyrus, to dismiss the litters.”
“It was wisdom, my lord!” said the slave. “If I still am honored with your confidence, I would again repeat....”
“Ah well!” Quintus interrupted. “Very likely you are right—you leeches are always right. [202] If only you attain a proportionate result! But if exercise were everything, I should be the lightest-hearted man in Europe. ”

“ Among them there were a few faces that beamed with the transport of sacred ecstasy, and Quintus and Calenus were perhaps the only two, who betrayed no sign in their faces of what was passing in their minds. Before it was possible even to think of flight, the old centurion was standing in the door-way, his drawn sword gleaming ominously: behind him shone the helmets of his men-at-arms.
A loud cry rose from the congregation; Thrax Barbatus flung off his cloak, and drew the dagger he had concealed under it.
“Whoever tries to escape is a dead man!” shouted the soldier, giving a sign to his men. ”