Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857-1935 (curator, American Museum of Natural History, New York)

Osborn introduces himself and Ewart and describes their research in Mexico on the common breeds of horses which are the offspring or descendants of the horses originally introduced by the Spaniards. He states that they wish to gather as much information as possible about the behaviour and character of the horses, as they can only stay ten days in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Osborn writes that he will be arriving in Mexico later than planned but that he will contact Ewart on arrival. He hopes they will have time for a trip to Metta and to the west before they head north to Chihuahua. He recommends that Ewart learn some horse terminology in Spanish and confirms details of their planned journey.

Osborn writes that he is sending Ewart the slides he selected in return for those Ewart sent him. He is writing an article on the peculiarities of the Arab skeleton which he will publish in Science. He is also publishing a brief description of their observations on horses in Mexico.

Osborn writes that the Museum hopes to purchase the 'Celtic' pony later that year. They wish to have him in his winter coat so that the skin could be mounted separately from the skeleton, and he asks advice on what time of the year to purchase him. He compliments Ewart on the progress he is making with the breeding of domesticated animals.

Osborn writes that he is delighted that the Celtic pony is to be added to the type collection in the American Museum of Natural History. He believes it will be advantageous to have the pony exposed to the winter climate to bring out its distinctive coat characteristics. He is glad to hear from Ewart about the progress being made with the zoological park. At present he is busy completing the Titanothere volume, but he will appreciate Ewart's researches when he comes to the horse volume.

Osborn writes that he will shortly send Ewart a revision of the Equidae, which he calls 'a dry, exhausting piece of work, which is, however, absolutely essential for the more interesting monograph which I trust will follow one day.' He reports that the Celtic pony is now in full coat and is not typical. As it lacks many of the specific characters on which Ewart established the subspecies, he requests again the skeleton and skin of the type.

Osborn writes that he is still working on developing the horse collection at the Museum and preparing his memoir on the Evolution of the Horse. He hears from Director Hornaday that the Scandinavian and Celtic ponies will have to be disposed of as they are eating too much. He once again requests the skeleton and skin of the original Celtic pony to be sent to him.