Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/133

 QUAGGA QUAIL 125 were appointed by the' centuries, and at the passage of the Licinian laws their functions were transferred to the triumviri capitales, sediles, and tribunes. The qucestores classici had charge of the public money, registered and exacted fines, provided accommodations for foreign ambassadors and guests of the repub- lic, took charge of the funerals and monuments of illustrious men buried at public expense, and kept the books in which the copies of the sen- ate decrees were registered until the time of Augustus, when the originals were given into their hands. This office could only be held by patricians until 421 B. C., when the.number, which previously had been two, was doubled, and the choice was not confined to either or- der ; but it was not until ten years later that any plebeians were elected. Afterward the consuls in their campaigns were attended each by one quaestor, who originally took charge only of the sale of the spoils, but subsequently became the paymaster of the army. In 265 B. C. the number of quaestors was raised to eight, one of whom resided at Ostia and sup- plied Rome with corn. After this the number varied. By Sulla it was raised to 20, and by Julius Caesar to 40. In 49 B. C. the latter also transferred the administration of the public treasury to the sediles, subsequently to the praetors, and sometimes to the prefects of the treasury, and sometimes again to the quaestors. During the empire some qusestors were entitled candidati principis, and their duty was to read to the senate the communications of the em- peror. From the reign of Claudius it became the custom of quaestors on assuming their office to give gladiatorial spectacles to the people, so that none but wealthy men were eligible ; and the custom also prevailed in Constantinople after it became a capital of the empire. Every praetor or proconsul was attended in his prov- ince by a quaestor, who, besides being paymas- ter of the army, raised the revenue not farmed out to the publicani, and controlled the latter also. When the praetor was away, the quaestor took his place, in which case he was attended by lictors. During the reign of Constantine, the title of quaestor sacri palatii was given to an officer in the imperial court, whose func- tions were somewhat analogous to those of a modern chancellor. Any person who had held the office of quaestor was entitled to a seat in the senate, unless excluded by the next censors. QUAGGA, a species of zebra, belonging to the asinine division of the horse family, and to the genus asinm as defined by Gray, characterized by a tail furnished with long hair only at the tip, the absence of horny warts on the hind legs, and a short and upright mane. The quagga {A. quagga, Gray) is about 4 ft. high at the shoulders ; the neck and anterior parts of the body are dark brown, elegantly striped with broad black bands ; the rest of the body paler brown, belly and legs white ; a dark median line on the back extending to the tail. This beautiful species associates in large herds with the gnu and ostrich, but not with other zebras, on the plains of S. Africa, and is rare- ly found north of the Gariep or Orange river ; it is the most horse-like in structure of any of the group, having the form, light figure, and small head and ears of the horse, with the tail of the ass; Buffon regarded it as a hybrid Quagga (Asinus quagga) between a horse and a zebra. It is swift, and rather shy in its native state, strong, robust, and bold when attacked by hyaenas or dogs ; the voice resembles a barking neigh more than a bray, and has given to the animal the Hot- tentot name of quagga. It is the most easily domesticated of the zebras, and is docile, gen- erally good-natured, and obedient, but disposed to kick at the sight of a dog. Its fiesh, though coarse, is eaten by natives and hunters. QUAHAUG. See CLAM. QUAIL, the common name of several genera of the partridge division of gallinaceous birds. The American quails constitute the subfamily of odontophorince or ortygince, which have a short, high, and arched bill, compressed on the sides, with obtuse tip, the upper overhanging the lower mandible, and the latter with two teeth on each side concealed when the mandi- bles are closed ; the wings moderate, concave, and rounded ; tarsi generally slender; shorter than the middle toe, and covered with divided scales ; toes long, the inner shorter than the outer ; claws slightly curved and acute. In the genus ortyx (Steph.) the head is without crest, the bill broad, the third quill nearly as long as the fourth, fifth, and sixth, which are longest ; tail short, broad, and rounded ; toes slender, slightly united at the base by mem- brane ; hind toe moderate and slightly eleva- ted. There are about a dozen species, found in North and Central America and in the "West Indies ; they seek their food on the ground among the leaves, eating grains, seeds, berries, and insects, which they swallow with small pebbles or fine sand. The common quail, or Bob White (0. Virginianus, Bonap.), is about 10 in. long, with an alar extent of 15 in. ; the