The Ass. 



129 



and he never stopped till lie ran his head kindly into 

 nay bosom." 



The ancients had a great regard for this animal. The 

 Eomans had a breed which they held in such high esti- 

 mation, that Pliny mentions one of the males selling for 

 a price greater than three thousand pounds of our money ; 

 and he says that in Celtiberia, a province in Spain, a she 

 Ass had colts that were bought for nearly the same sum. 

 The Ass lives nearly to the same age as the horse. . From 

 the general resemblance between the Ass and the horse, 

 it might naturally be supposed that they were closely 

 allied, and that one had degenerated, they are, however, 

 perfectly distinct. There is that inseparable barrier 

 placed between them which nature provides for the 

 protection and preservation of her productions ; their 

 mutual offspring, the mule, being incapable of repro- 

 ducing its kind. 



