PACHYDEKMATA. 169 



was going to have his oats, he always took up the cat gently 

 by the skin of her neck and dropped her into the next stall, that 

 she might not be in his way while he was feeding. At all other 

 times he seemed pleased to have her near him.&quot; 



Two Hanoverian horses had long served together during the 

 Peninsular war, in the German brigade of artillery. They had 

 assisted in drawing the same gun and had been inseparable com- 

 panions in many battles. One of them was at last killed, and 

 after the engagement the survivor was picqueted as usual and 

 his food brought to him. He refused, however, to eat, and was 

 constantly turning round his head to look for his companion, 

 sometimes neighing as if to call him. All the care that was 

 bestowed on him was of no avail. He was surrounded by other 

 horses, but he did not notice them ; and he shortly afterwards 

 died, not having once tasted food from the time his former associate 

 was killed. A gentleman who witnessed the circumstance as 

 sured me that nothing could be more affecting than the whole 

 demeanor of this poor horse.&quot;* 



Of the age to which the horse would naturally arrive, it is 

 difficult to speak with certainty. The animal sometimes exceeds 

 thirty or forty years, and it has even exceeded fifty years in age, 

 but from ill usage and over exertion the majority come to their 

 end before they have seen nine or ten years. The horse is now 

 spread over every part of the Western Continent. The natives 

 of Terra del Fuego are well stocked with horses, each man hav 

 ing six or seven, and all the women and even the children have 

 Iheir own horses. With the horses are found herds of wild oxen. 

 The number of mustangs or wild horses found in South Amer 

 ica may be judged of from the fact that from 1838 to 1842, 

 90,000,000 ID S, of oxen and horses hides, and 9,500,000 Ibs. of 

 horse hair were obtained within the limits of Monte Video and 

 Buenos Ayres. In his &quot; Fauna Boreali Americana,&quot; Sir John 

 Richardson says that the horse is found amongst the wandering 

 Indians who frequent the. prairies of Saskatchewan and the Mis 

 souri, and who use it for chasing the Buffalo as well as a beast 

 ol burden. Among the Indians as well as the Guachos, the 

 horse is eaten. It is also eaten by the Calmuck Tartars ; and in 

 many parts of Asia, mare s milk is taken as an article of diet. 

 It is converted into butter and cheese, and a favorite beverage 

 amongst the Tartars is made by fermenting it. 



Equus Asinus, (Lat. Ass.) THE Ass. 



The ass was anciently employed by the Orientals for common 



* &quot; Gleanings in Nat. Hist.&quot; 



