ORDER GIVES PLACE TO CHAOS 
At the left is a perfect cell, showing the normal anaphase, half of the chromosomes going to 
each end. At the right is an abnormal division, due to the fact that the mule (a male, 
in this case) has not received the same number of chromosomes from each parent. 
Chaotic 
cell-division seems regularly to occur in adult male mules, so that all the germ-cells they 
produce are destroyed by internal causes. 
It is, therefore, doubtful whether a male mule 
can ever produce offspring. Camera lucida drawing, 3,000 times natural size, by J. F. 
Wodsedalek (Biol. Bull. XXX. pl. iv). 
once challenge the real hybrid nature of 
the dam. The “rat tail,” the sparsely 
developed mane, the slightly excessive 
length of ear, as well as some lineaments 
of face and body difficult to describe, 
all suggest ‘“‘mulishness”’ to be sure, but 
unprejudiced observers will pronounce 
her a very horse-like mule. To believers 
in telegony these cases offer little 
difficulty. Tegetmeier quotes Capt. 
ayes, a practical authority; as 
saying that “‘those animals which have 
been mistaken by superficial observers 
as fertile mules are really in most 
cases offspring of mares that have 
previously been bred to donkeys, and 
have given to their foals characteristics 
6£ their former lovers.” . Tegetmeier 
then proceeds to say in regard to the 
above female at the Acclimatization 
Gardens that “‘it is not a case of a fertile 
mule breeding, but that the animal is 
really an ordinary mare whose female 
parent was influenced by a first alliance 
with an ass.”’ 
Even though we do not now accept 
telegony as a fact, it is clear that here 
is a possible source of confusion in this 
debated field of fertility among mules, 
since belief in it by breeders of the past 
would tend to influence their accounts. 
Disbelievers may also call Mr. 
Bryant’s fertile “‘hinny’”’ into question 
on a similar count, but it is interesting 
(Fig. 9.) 
that this case hangs on the other horn 
of the dilemma. It is only with con- 
siderable circumspection that we can 
discover evidence in the appearance of 
this female which would enable her to 
establish a biological kinship with the 
nobler race. 
ADOPTED OFFSPRING 
(b) A second way in which supposed 
cases of fertile female mules may be 
accounted for is as follows: 
The female in question may be a true 
mule, but the foal which she suckles was 
not borne by her. This brings up for 
consideration the phenomenon of lacta- 
tion among female mules. Concerning 
this phase of the question there is little 
or no debate. Anyone long in a mule 
country will have seen cases of true 
lactation in mules. To be sure the 
mammary tissue is normally activated 
by conception, but on the other hand 
every dairy cattle breeder has seen 
lactation induced in young virgin heifers 
by constant suckling of a ‘“‘poorly 
weaned’”’ calf, and even males have 
been known to be stimulated to secrete 
milk. It is not difficult to suppose, for 
the few cases demanding it, a set of 
circumstances which would enable a 
female mule with maternal character- 
istics to develop active milk secretion 
at a time opportune for stealing and 
499 
