TKAMWAY MULES. 181 



been hitherto unacquainted with them, seem to con- 

 sider this as correct action. This forced and un- 

 natural amount of play upon the articulations can 

 but cause serious injury, especially to the tendons 

 and synovially lubricated surfaces generally. In fact, 

 it is undue wear and tear all round, even on the 

 muscles, which carry us up to the heart, and on the 

 nerves, which carry us up to the brain. 



What chance, then, have these poor animals of 

 showing what they may be worth ? They are only 

 an experiment as yet, and are all young ; and, 

 through a very unfair treatment, it will be presently 

 discovered that they have not answered expectations. 

 This will not be the fault of the mules, but their 

 misfortune. They are already a partial failure, as 

 may be seen from the fact that in many cases three 

 of them are employed on a two-horse car, and two 

 of them on a one-horse car ; but a good deal of this 

 is to be accounted for from the fact that people of 

 the gobe-mouche fraternity fancy that a mule con- 

 sumes less provender than a horse. It is true that 

 a mule can, upon an emergency and for a short time, 

 make a shift upon shorter and lower quality rations 

 than a horse can ; but, take him all the year round, 

 he not only cannot do so, but requires more than 

 the horse. On this account mules are useful in 

 foreign countries where privations may be expected 

 on journeys; but, put them to regular work and 

 regular feed, and then the writer has always found 

 them, during a very extensive experience, to require 

 more sustenance than a horse doing the same work. 



