16*0 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE ASS. 



IF we consider this animal with attention, he ap* 

 pears only to be a horse degenerated. The perfect 

 similitude in the conformation of the brain, the lungs, 

 the stomach, the intestinal conduit, the heart, the li- 

 ver, and other viscera, and the great resemblance of 

 the body, legs, feet, and the entire skeleton, is a suf- 

 ficient foundation for this opinion. We may even at- 

 tribute these slight differences which are found be- 

 tween these two animals, to the influence of the cli- 

 Inate, food, and the fortuitous succession of many ge- 

 nerations of small wild horses, half degenerated, which 

 by little, have still continued to degenerate so far as 

 at last to produce a new and fixed species ; or rather, 

 a succession of individuals, all vitiated in the same 

 manner. What appears to favour this notion is, that 

 as horses vary much more than asse^ in the colour of 

 their skin, they are consequently more anciently domes- 

 tic, since all domestic animals vary* much more in their 

 colour than wild ones of the same species. Besides, 

 the greater number of wild horses, of which travellers 



