374. OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



burden placed on it ought not to exceed moderate 

 limits. What a useful servant would one not have 

 in an animal having the qualities of the donkey and 

 the vigorous development of the horse! Such a 

 creature does not exist in the natural order, but man 

 has obtained it by the intervention of his art. 



"The species of the horse and that of the ass are 

 unmistakably distinct from each other and never 

 cross in the wild state. Nevertheless, since they are 

 very nearly related, as their close resemblance in 

 form proves, cross-breeding between them is pos- 

 sible with careful management. From this unnat- 

 ural union comes the mule, of which the father is the 

 ass and the mother the mare. The mule then is not 

 a separate species of animal having its own inde- 

 pendent existence ; it is not an ass nor a horse, but a 

 bastard creature intermediate between the two. To 

 its father, the ass, it owes its large head, long ears, 

 narrow and hard hoofs, thick skin, rough coat, gen- 

 erally dark in color and sometimes ornamented with 

 the two black stripes in the form of a cross on the 

 back. To the ass it also owes its temperate habits, 

 its tenacity in work, its robust constitution, and the 

 sureness of foot so necessary in mountainous coun- 

 tries. From its mother, the mare, it gets its pow- 

 erful equine frame, its quick gait, its freedom of 

 limb. Its rude strength, moderation in supplying 

 its animal wants, power of enduring the utmost fa- 

 tigue, indifference to extreme heat, make it one of 

 the most useful animals, especially in hot climates 

 where there are long spells of drought. " 



