The Asses and Zebras differ from the Horse in the characters mentioned under the description of Equus caballus. In addition to these may be pointed out a feature to which attention has been directed by Mr. Tegetmeier.[1] According to him the period of gestation in the Horse is only eleven months; in the others more than twelve.
Fig. 125.—Asiatic Wild Ass. Equus onager. × 1⁄20.
Opinions as to the number of species of Asses differ. On the most liberal estimate there are three Asiatic and two African species. The best known of the Asiatic Wild Asses is the Onager, E. onager. It is of a uniform yellowish, "desert" colour, with a dark stripe along the middle of the back, and is found in Persia, the Punjab, and the country of Cutch. The creature is of great swiftness; it has been stated to be untameable, but Mr. Tegetmeier makes the absolutely opposite statement that the Ass occasionally "becomes so tame as to be troublesome"! The Syrian Wild Ass, E. hemippus, hardly, if at all, differs from this.
The Kiang, E. hemionus, seems to have more claims to distinctness. In the first place it has a more limited and a
- ↑ Horses, Asses, and Zebras, London, 1895.
