Cliap. 69.] MULES, ETC. 325 



duced in the thirteen th month, an animal remarkable for its 

 strength in laborious work. We are told that, for this purpose, 

 the mare ought not to be less than four years old, nor more 

 than ten. It is said also that these two species will repulse 

 each other, unless the male has been brought up, in its infancy, 

 upon the milk of the other species ; for which reason they 

 take the foals away from the mare, in the dark, and substitute 

 for them the male colts of the ass. A mule may also be pro- 

 duced from a horse and a female ass ; but it can never be pro- 

 perly broken in, and is incorrigibly sluggish, 72 being in all 

 respects as slow as an old animal. If a mare has conceived 

 by a horse, and is afterwards covered by an ass, the first con- 

 ception is abortive ; but this is not the case when the horse 

 comes after the ass. It has been observed, that the female is 

 in the best state for receiving the male in the seventh day 

 after parturition, and that the males are best adapted for the 

 purpose when they are fatigued. 73 A female ass, which has 

 not conceived before shedding what are called the milk-teeth, 

 is considered to be barren ; which is also looked upon as the 

 case when a she- ass does not become pregnant after the first 

 covering. The male which is produced from a horse and a 

 female ass, was called by the ancients " hinnulus," and that 

 from an ass and a mare " mulus." 74 It has been observed 

 that the animal which is thus produced by the union of the 

 two species is of a third species, and does not resemble either 

 of the parents ; and that all animals produced in this way, of 

 whatever kind they may be, are incapable of reproduction ; 

 she-mules are therefore barren. It is said, indeed, in our 

 Annals, that they have frequently brought forth ; 73 but such 

 cases must be looked upon only as prodigies. 76 Theophrastus 



72 It is expressly stated by Columella, ubi supra, that the mules " pro- 

 duced from a horse and a female ass, are in all respects most like the mo- 

 ther/* 



73 This is explained by Columella, ubi supra, "who remarks, that when a 

 stallion is admitted to a female in the full heat of its passion, it often causes 

 mischief ; which is not the case when its ardour has been a little subdued 

 by having been worked for some time. B. 



74 Varro, ubi supra, says : " The produce of a mare and a male ass is a 

 mule, of a horse and a female ass a hinnus" 



7 5 Varro, B. ii, c. 1, alludes to this occurrence ; Liyy mentions two in- 

 stances, B. xxvi. c. 23, and B. xxxvii. c. 3 ; these prodigies were said both 

 to have occurred at Reate. B. 



76 Herodotus relates two cases, which were regarded as presaging some 



