244 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



There is a substratum of truth in these statements 

 that, at the first glance, gives a plausibility to the 

 argument in favor of this theory which, however, 

 disappears when all the facts are presented in their 

 true relations. 



Without noticing the fallacies in the statement 

 in regard to the resemblance of the mule to its " sire, 

 the ass," it may be admitted that the ass is prepotent 

 in the transmission of its characters when bred with 

 the mare, and that the mule consequently presents a 

 stronger resemblance to its sire than to its dam. 



According to M. Colin, who is one of the highest 

 authorities on the comparative anatomy and physiol- 

 ogy of domestic animals, the hinny resembles the ass 

 more closely than it does the horse. It has a finer 

 head than the mule, and in the mane and tail more 

 nearly resembles the horse ; but, in general form and 

 size, in peculiarities of the nostril, the withers, the 

 back, the legs and feet, and other minor peculiarities, 

 it presents a stronger resemblance to the dam than to 

 the sire. " On the whole," says M. Colin, " in the 

 produce of the two species, the ass and the horse, it is 

 undoubtedly the influence of the ass that predomi- 

 nates in the transmission of the external form, the 

 constitution, and the disposition." 1 



After noticing the results of the cross of the zebra 

 and the horse, the ass and the zebra, and the hemione 

 and the ass, M. Colin concludes as follows : " In ex- 

 amining the mules of solipeds, we see that if the 

 mule, properly so called, resembles the ass, its father, 



1 " Physiologic compare des Animaux domestiques," tome ii., p. 

 637. 



