surfaces seen on the
teeth of the modern horse. What his skin and hair were like can only
be conjectured. In the restoration which Mr. Knight has made, at the
suggestion of Professor Osborne, an interesting inference has been
drawn. That he was a creature of the forest is suggested by his
spreading toes, which would keep him from sinking in the soft soil. It
is consequently surmised that he was dappled with spots which allowed
him to rest unnoticed on the sun-flecked floor of the forest. Mane he
had none, and his tail was probably tufted slightly at the end with
hairs, which were increasingly short as they approached the top. He
had no forelock, and the hair along the ridge of his neck was a little
longer than the rest, and stood erect. Browsing about on the soft and
tender herbage of his woodland home, his teeth had as yet no tendency
to become specialized. The molars had mounds upon them, developing,
perhaps, more into the shape of the points of the hog's, but even
still quite generalized teeth. His main enemies, from whom, perhaps,
he could with little difficulty escape, were creatures related to the
hyenas of to-day. Perhaps, like their modern representatives, they
preferred eating their flesh tainted to exerting themselves enough to
capture and kill their prey. By the time we advance a little further
into the Tertiary, though still in its early portion, a remarkable
change has already come about. The fifth toe, which in the earliest
horse hung upon the side of the front foot, has completely
disappeared. The change in the hind foot has gone still further. The
hind leg in many animals evolves more rapidly than the front. The
heavy work of running is always done by the hind feet, while the front
feet serve rather as a prop to keep the animal from falling than as
the actual means of locomotion. Hence the hind feet and the muscles of
the hind quarters are almost always heavier than the front. Possibly
on the front foot the little fifth toe was less of an obstruction, and
persisted after the early horse had lost the corresponding toe on his
hind foot. This process has gone on still further in this second
stage, and the hind foot has but three toes, while the front still
has four. This is not the only advance. Already the middle toe of the
original set of five is becoming emphasized. The weight is thrown more
forcibly upon it, as with the human foot it is upon the inner or big
toe. The middle toe is growing larger and larg