346 THE HINNY. 



of Volterra is in highest estimation for bulk and 

 good qualities, and therefore it is eagerly bought up 

 to draw the carriages of cardinals and Roman 

 church dignitaries. It is in Italy alone, as before 

 remarked, that we find a mule in complete panoply 

 is mounted by a knight in armour. It is observed 

 of hybrids in general, that males are much more 

 abundant than females, and the fact is equally true 

 in the mules between ass and mare, where the males 

 are in the proportion of two or three to one female : 

 another observation proves that the offspring always 

 partake more of the character of the male parent 

 than of the female ; thus, in the common mule, we 

 perceive the ears to be long, the head, croup, and 

 tail asinine ; while in the hinny, or progeny of a 

 stallion and female ass, the head, ears, body, and 

 tail resemble the same organs in a horse ; but the 

 mule in bulk and stature takes after the mare, and 

 the hinny in like manner is low like the she-ass. 



THE HINNY. 



PLATE XXX. 



This animal, though rather more docile than the 

 common mule, is of inferior utility, because less 

 hardy and somewhat disproportioned in the bulk of 

 the carcase in comparison with the legs, and there- 

 fore more easily fatigued. Hinnies are now extremely 

 rare in Europe, and even so uncommon in Barbary, 

 that few have seen them, and when they occur are 



