94 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



of time ; but the difference in their condition, and in the 

 place which they hold in civilization, is very great. As we 

 have seen, the horse has been made to vary in a singular 

 measure, its form and other qualities changing to meet the 

 need or fancy of its master. Its humbler kinsman has 

 remained almost unchanged. Except small differences in 

 size, the donkeys in different parts of the world are singularly 

 alike. In part this lack of change may be explained by the 

 relative neglect with which this species has been treated. 

 From the point of view of the breeder it has perhaps been 

 the least cared for of any of our completely domesticated 

 animals. In some parts of the world, as for instance in 

 Spain, where a long-continued effort has been made to 

 develop the animal for interbreeding with the horse, the 

 result shows that the form is relatively inelastic. It is doubt- 

 ful if any conceivable amount of care would develop such 

 variations as the horse now exhibits. 



The principal hinderances to the general acceptation of 

 the donkey as a help-meet to man are found in its small 

 size and slow motion. These qualities make the creature 

 unserviceable in active war or in agriculture, and they seem 

 to be so fixed in the blood that they are not to any extent 

 corrigible. So long as pack animals were in general use, and 

 in those parts of the world where the conditions of culture 

 cause this method of transportation to be retained, the 

 qualities of the donkey have proved and are still found of 

 value. The animal can carry a relatively heavy burden, 

 beine in such tasks, for its weio^ht, more efificient than the 

 horse. It is less liable to stampedes. It learns a round 

 of duty much more effectively than that creature, and can 

 subsist by browsing on coarse herbage, where a horse 



