THE FOSSIL HORSE OF BISHOP'S STORTFORD. 133
which distinguishes Hipparion from ordinary horses of more
recent date; and, further, Pliocene beds are not known in the
near neighbourhood of Bishop's Stortford. As Dr. Irving was
satisfied that this "fossil horse" was of considerable antiquity,
he came to the conclusion that it was either of Neolithic or of
Bronze age, but acknowledged that the age was dubious. It has
not been found possible even now to settle this question as to the
age of the deposit in which these remains were found. Some
other animal bones and two shells, Dr. Irving tells us, were
found; but these have given no clue to the age, and we have to
depend entirely upon the characters presented by the skeleton
itself, and these unfortunately appear by no means satisfactory.
The skull, teeth, and limb-bones of this skeleton have been
examined by Prof. J, C. Ewart, F.R.S., who has made, as is well
known, a very special study of the various races of horses and
their allies; and his conclusions are briefly given in Nature for
19th August 1909. No one is better acquainted with the
characters of modern horses than Prof. Ewart, and anything he
has to say about these Bishop's Stortford remains is sure to be of
great interest and to deserve the closest attention. His conclu-
sions will be better understood, however, if we know something
of the work which he has been doing, in the hope of solving the
exceedingly difficult problem of the origin of the Common Horse.
To this task, he has devoted much time and energy for some years
past, and his numerous papers show that his labour has not been
in vain.
He has been led to the conclusion that the modern horse, as
we know it, has been derived from several distinct races (or,
perhaps, species); and he has recognised three distinct types of
horses living at the present day in Europe and Asia. Only one
of these three types is found in a perfectly wild state, namely,
Prejvalsky's Horse, which is now living in the Gobi Desert.
The other two races are living under domestication, and are
more or less mixed breeds, although some of them are thought
by Prof. Ewart to be nearly pure and to give the distinctive
characters of races formerly existing in a wild state in this
country and N.W. Europe.
It is interesting and important to notice some of the
characters by which Prof. Ewart distinguishes these three
types:—