Quadriga

“ Chr. Quadriga im Galopp n. 1., eine fliegende Nike den Wagenlenker bekränzend. Rv. Nymphenkopf n. r., die Haare oben auf dem Kopf zusammengebunden. Boehringer 604. 17,23 g. Schrötlingsfehler auf dem Avers. Sehr schön - vorzüglich. 3000.—
Aus Auktion Helbing Nachf., 22. und flg. März 1926, Nr. 44.
*100 Tetradrachme um 450-439 v. Chr. Quadriga im Schritt n. r., darüber n. r. fliegende Nike mit Kranz.
Rv. LYPAKOLION Nymphenkopf n. r., die Haare durch ein breites Band zusammengehalten. Ringsum vier Delphine. Boehringer 630. 17.15 g. Sehr schön. ”

“ On the other hand, a part remains of two groups (slab xxix.) ,XXXIV. of which there is no trace in Carrey's drawings. These, therefore, must probably be placed in a break in the sequence of slabs indicated by Carrey. Originally there must have been not fewer than ten chariot groups. In each the charioteer is accompanied by an armed warrior; but here the armed figure is not like the apobates of the northern frieze in the act of stepping out of the chariot in motion, but stands either in the quadriga or (if it is not in motion) by its side. ”

“ Buchanan, in discussing his Mechanical Theory, notes that, “while the viscera of the quadruped have the same general lateralised position as in man, there is a reason why this should be carried to a greater extent in man than in the quadruped, owing to the much greater lateral development of the chest and abdomen of the human figure, in order to adapt it to the erect posture, as contrasted with the great lateral flattening of the trunk in quadrupeds. The equipoise is therefore more disturbed in man than in the quadruped.” ”

“ Among other things, as became my elevation of mind, I had wondered many times why this singular quadruped—horse I will not call it—should bear such a remarkable name. It appeared to be the height of idiosyncrasy to bestow upon a four-footed beast a name which could only have been familiar to scholars. And so, to appease my curiosity and to change the unlucky tenor of our discourse, I said, “Wherefore, kind and gracious Sir Richard Pendragon, do you call your four-footed quadruped by the name of Melanto? Is not the name passing odd for a shaggy animal with a long tail?” ”

“ The curious former association of the Quagga with Ostriches and White-tailed Gnus (exactly paralleled by the mixed herds of Burchell Zebra and Brindled Gnu) was long ago observed and commented upon by Harris. We also know that the Quagga, though fleet, could be overtaken by a well-mounted rider; that wounded animals at bay would kick savagely and bite severely; that the flesh was oily and disgusting to Europeans, though relished by the natives; and that the northern limit of the range of this species was the Vaal River. ”

“ Let us now suppose that a man wishes to walk in the attitude of a quadruped. It will be necessary, in order that his upper limbs, being for the moment anterior ones, may act as members of support, to place the forearm in pronation, in order that, as is more normal, the hands may rest on the ground by their palmar surfaces. In this position the radius, being rotated on its own axis at its upper extremity and around the ulna in the rest of its extent, shall have its inferior extremity situated on the inner side of the corresponding extremity of the latter. ”

“ The great toe, as well as the thumb, is (except in a few species) fully opposable, so that in the majority of members of the Sub-order, the foot is as good a prehensile organ as the hand. From this circumstance comes the designation, Quadrumana, or "four-handed," so often applied to these animals. In a few species the thumb is rudimentary or absent, but the fore-finger, the absence of which characterised some of the Lemurs, is always present and well developed, and the corresponding digit in the foot (except in the Marmosets) has a flat nail instead of a claw. ”

“ The quagga and striped quagga, as you may see, have the ears of a horse, while the zebra has those of the ass. The true zebra hardly ever descends upon the plains, but lives altogether upon the mountainous regions; occasionally it may be found, it is true, and that is the reason why I came to see.”
“Are they good eating, these animals?”
“The quagga is very indifferent food, but the striped quagga is very passable; so if you intend to save any for our dinner, pray let it be some of the latter. Have you done hunting to-day?” ”

“ Now, as we have pointed out in the section on osteology (see p. 34) , the forearm in quadrupeds is always in the position of pronation. Should we, then, in order to maintain the symmetry with human anatomy, first study the forearm in the position of supination? Evidently not. Besides the fact that this would in some cases be impossible since—as in the horse, for example—the radius and ulna [175] are fused together, we should not gain any advantage; this position being never completely realizable even in those quadrupeds which have the radius relatively movable—as, for example, in the cat. ”

“ On the same evening, what was called a quadroon ball took place. A quadroon is the child of a mestize mother and a white father, as a mestize is the child of a mulatto mother and a white father. The quadroons are almost entirely white: from their skin no one would detect their origin; nay many of them have as fair a complexion as many of the haughty creole females. Such of them as frequent these balls are free. Formerly they were known by their black hair and eyes, but at present there are completely fair quadroon males and females. ”

“ The quadrupeds, on the contrary, existing in a medium state, equally below the airy heights, as above the deep abyss of the waters—sharing with man the possession and sovereignty of the earth—seem to hold the middle place between two extremes. They have neither the ardor nor petulance of the bird, the lower sensibility of the fish, nor the apathy of the reptile; but, living as they do on a dry and firm soil, their nature has received more consistency, and their frame more solidity. The locomotion of the quadruped has not the rapidity of flight, nor the nimbleness of swimming ”

“ It is in equatorial Africa that the most powerful of all the Quadrumana live, far exceeding the Oran Outang, and even the Pongo of Borneo. Mr. Bowdich and myself were the first to revive and confirm a long forgotten, and vague report of the existence of such a creature, and many thought, as we ourselves had not seen it, that we had been deceived by the natives. They assured us that these huge creatures walk constantly on their hind feet, and never yet were taken alive; that they watch the actions of men, and imitate them as nearly as possible. ”

“ In the second place, we must remember that nearly all the other and more important differences between man and the Quadrumana are manifestly adaptive in their nature, and relate chiefly to the erect position of man; such as the structure of his hand, foot, and pelvis, the curvature of his spine, and the position of his head. The family of Seals offers a good illustration of the small importance of adaptive characters for classification. These animals differ from all other Carnivora in the form of their bodies and in the structure of their limbs, far more than does man from the higher apes ”

“ A Quagga was formerly exhibited alive at the Berlin Zoological Gardens; its skin and skeleton are now in the Museum für Naturkunde.
(9, 10, 11?) "Several" Quaggas were obtained about 1870 by the Belgian consul at Port Elizabeth, and sent to the Antwerp Zoological Gardens.
No Quagga foals have ever been born in captivity. After careful inquiry, I learn that this species, has never been exhibited in the Zoological Gardens of Bristol, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfort-on-Main, Hamburg, Hanover, Lisbon, Marseilles, or Rotterdam. ”

“ Again and again one reads that "the rare animal the Quagga" has again turned up, but when the Sea-serpent has been captured one may believe in Quagga stories also; for all these cases, when investigated by competent persons, turn out to refer to Zebras. The true Quagga is gone for ever. Requiescat in pace!
When an animal becomes extinct, Science mournfully treasures up the records of its existence, and enumerates with dismal care the poor remnants of skin and bone (literally, skin and bone) that may exist, a poor exchange for the life of a fine species. ”

“ After this, the secret of the Medium’s power is the flexibility of her lower limbs. Her legs must do the work of arms, and her feet must be educated to act like hands. Any one who doubts this potentiality of the human frame knows nothing of its relation to the Quadrumana, or of the feats of the Indian jugglers. The Indian jugglers, as is known to the initiated, produce their most extraordinary effects by this very capacity. And therefore, we say, it is no use to contemplate coming out as a Medium unless you are provided with flexible legs and manipulative feet and toes. ”

“ The powerful tendon of the quadriceps extensor muscle, in which the patella is developed as a sesamoid bone, protects and strengthens the front of the joint and functionates as the anterior ligament of the joint. In the attitude of complete extension in which the joint is locked, no demand is made on the quadriceps apparatus; with the commencement of flexion, the stability of the joint, and the weight-bearing capacity of the limb as a whole, depend largely on the controlling influence of the quadriceps muscle ”

“ We were to advance to the edge of the verandah, peep through the windows until we could discover the apartment of Aurore; then do our best to communicate with her, and get her out. Our success depended greatly upon accident or good fortune.
Before we could make a move forward, fortune seemed as though she was going to favour us. In one of the windows, directly before our face, a figure appeared. A glance told us it was the Quadroon! ”

“ It can therefore be easily shown that a sphere is a quadric which touches the fundamental quadric along its intersection with the polar plane of the centre of the sphere.
In discussing the general case of the displacement of a rigid system it will simplify matters to suppose that the fundamental quadric has real rectilinear generators. It must, however, be understood that the results are not on that account less general. A displacement must not alter the quadric, and must not deform a straight line. ”

“ For man bends his legs convexly, a bird has his bent concavely; again, man bends his arms and legs in opposite directions, for he has his arms bent convexly, but his legs concavely. And a viviparous quadruped bends his limbs in opposite directions to a man's, and in opposite directions to one another; for he has his forelegs bent convexly, his hind legs concavely. Again, quadrupeds which are not viviparous but oviparous have a peculiar curvature of the limbs laterally away from the body. Again, why do quadrupeds move their legs criss-cross? ”

“ In valley drift we meet commonly with the bones of quadrupeds which graze on plains bordering rivers. Carnivorous beasts, attracted to the same ground in search of their prey, sometimes leave their remains in the same deposits, but more rarely. The whole assemblage of fossil quadrupeds at present obtained from the alluvium of Picardy is obviously a mere fraction of the entire fauna which flourished contemporaneously with the primitive people by whom the flint hatchets were made. ”

“ The offspring of a white man and a mulatto woman, or of a Negro and a mulatto woman, is termed a quadroon, who, as regards colour, is a mixture of three-quarters white with one-quarter black, or three-quarters black with one-quarter white. In the first case the complexion is fairer; in the second, darker than that of a mulatto. 3. A white man and a fair quadroon, or a Negro and a dark quadroon produce an octoroon, seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, or seven-eighths black and one-eighth white. ”

“ Who could he be? Some young spark of the town? Some clerk in one of the stores? a young planter? who? Maybe—and with this thought came that bitter pang—one of her own proscribed race—a young man of “colour”—a mulatto—a quadroon—a slave! Ha! to be rivalled by a slave!—worse than rivalled.—Infamous coquette! Why had I yielded to her fascinations? Why had I mistaken her craft for naïvété?—her falsehood for truth?
Who could he be? I should search the boat till I found him. Unfortunately I had taken no marks, either of his face or his dress. My eyes had remained fixed upon her after their parting. ”

“ It is made from the skin of some large animal, such as an ox or a zebra, and is rather more than two feet in length, and one in width. It is formed from a tough piece of hide, which is cut to the proper shape, and then turned over and sewed, the seams being particularly firm and strong. The hide of the quagga is said to be the best, as it gives to the milk a peculiar flavor, which is admired by the natives. The skin is taken from the back of the animal, that being the strongest part. It is first stretched on the ground with wooden pegs, and the hair scraped off with an adze. ”

“ The reason that they bend forward is the same as in the case of man, for in this respect they are like mankind. And so quadrupeds as well as men bend these legs forward in the manner described. Moreover, if the flexion is like this, they are enabled to lift their feet high; if they bent them in the opposite way they would only lift them a little way from the ground, because the whole thigh and the joint from which the shin-bone springs would lie under the belly as the beast moved forward. ”

“ For quadrupeds must of necessity bend their anterior limbs inwards that they may serve in locomotion, for they use them as feet. Not but what even among quadrupeds there is at any rate a tendency for such as are polydactylous to use their forefeet not only for locomotion but as hands. And they are in fact so used, as any one may see. For these animals seize hold of objects, and also repel assailants with their anterior limbs; whereas quadrupeds with solid hoofs use their hind legs for this latter purpose. For their fore limbs are not analogous to the arms and hands of man. ”