The shoulder stripe on the ass is sometimes double, and Mr. Blyth has seen even three or four parallel stripes.[48] I have observed in ten cases shoulder-stripes abruptly truncated at the lower end, with the anterior angle produced into a tapering point, precisely as in the above dun Devonshire pony. I have seen three cases of the terminal portion abruptly and angularly bent; and have seen and heard of four cases of a distinct though slight forking of the stripe. In Syria, Dr. Hooker and his party observed for me no less than five similar instances of the shoulder-stripe plainly bifurcating over the fore leg. In the common mule it likewise sometimes bifurcates. When I first noticed the forking and angular bending of the shoulder-stripe, I had seen enough of the stripes in the various equine species to feel convinced that even a character so unimportant as this had a distinct meaning, and was thus led to attend to the subject. I now find that in the _E. burchellii_ and _quagga,_ the stripe which corresponds with the shoulder-stripe of the ass, as well as some of the stripes on the neck, bifurcate, and that some of those near the shoulder have their extremities bent angularly backwards. The bifurcation and angular bending of the stripes on the shoulders apparently are connected with the nearly upright stripes on the sides of the body and neck changing their direction and becoming transverse on the legs. Finally, we see that the presence of shoulder, leg, and spinal stripes in the horse,— their occasional absence in the ass,—the occurrence of double and triple shoulder-stripes in both animals, and the similar manner in which these stripes terminate downwards,—are all cases of analogous variation in the horse and ass. These cases are probably not due to similar conditions acting on similar constitutions, but to a partial reversion in colour to the common progenitor of the genus. We shall hereafter return to this subject, and discuss it more fully. REFERENCES [1] Rütimeyer ‘Fauna der Pfahlbauten,’ 1861, s. 122. [2] _See_ ‘Youatt on the Horse’: J. Lawrence on the Horse, 1829; W. C. L. Martin, ‘History of the Horse,’ 1845: Col. H. Smith, in ‘Nat. Library, Horses,’ 1841, vol. xii.: Prof. Veith, ‘Die naturgesch. Haussäugethiere,’ 1856. [3] Crawfurd, ‘Descript. Dict. of Indian Islands,’ 1856, p. 153. “There are many different breeds, every island having at least one peculiar to it.” Thus in Sumatra there are at least two breeds; in Achin and Batubara one; in Java several breeds; one in Bali, Lomboc, Sumbawa (one of the best breeds), Tambora, Bima, Gunung-api, Celebes, Sumba, and Philippines. Other breeds are specified by Zollinger in the ‘Journal of the Indian Archipelago,’ vol. v, p. 343, etc. [4] ‘The Horse,’ etc. by John Lawrence, 1829, p. 14. [5] ‘The Veterinary,’ London, vol. v, p. 543.