ASS 



AST 



sects, and of the same habits and 

 family. They are found on the ole- 

 ander, rose, bay, cactus, and other 

 plants. 



ASPHODELE.E. The family of 

 plants to which the onion belongs. 



ASS. A well-known and useful do- 

 mestic animal, whose services might 

 be rendered even still more useful for 

 various purposes of husbandry if he 

 were properly trained and taken care 

 of 



He is extremely hardy, both with 

 regard to the quantity and quality of 

 his food, contenting himself with the 

 most harsh and disagreeable herbs, 

 which other animals will scarcely 

 touch. In the choice of water he is, 

 however, very nice, drinking only of 

 that which is perfectly clear, and at 

 brooks With which he is acquainted. 

 Animals of this sort require very 

 little looking after, and sustain labour, 

 hunger, and thirst beyond most nth 

 ers. They are seldom or never sick, 

 and endure longer than most other 

 kinds of animals. They may be made 

 useful in husbandry to plough light 

 lands, to carry burdens, to draw in 

 mills, to fetch water, cut chaff, or 

 any other similar purposes. They 

 are also very serviceable in many 

 cases for their milk, which is excel- 

 lent for those who have suffered from 

 acute diseases, and are much weak- 

 ened. They are used for the purpose 

 of breeding mules. 



The structural difference between 

 the horse and the ass is trifling: in 

 all essential points the organization 

 is the same ; and, with the exception 

 of the lengthened ears of the ass, 

 their form, size, and proportions in a 

 wild state, they differ but little ; con- 

 sequently, they possess conditions 

 more favourable to the multiplication 

 of species than those afforded by any 

 other nearly allied animals. The ass 

 is, properly speaking, a mountain ani- 

 mal : his hoofs are long, and furnish- 

 ed with extremely sharp rims, leav- 

 ing a hollow in the centre, by which 

 means he is enabled to tread with 

 more security on the slippery and 

 precipitous sides of hills and precipi- 

 ces. The hoof of the horse, on the 

 48 



contrary, is round, and nearly flat 

 underneath, and we accordingly lind 

 that he is most serviceable in level 

 countries ; and, indeed, experience 

 has taught us that he is altogether 

 unfitted for crossing rocky and steep 

 mountains. As, however, the more 

 diminutive size of the ass rendered 

 him comparatively less important as 

 a beast of burden, the ingenuity of 

 mankind early devised a means of 

 remedying this defect, by crossing 

 the horse and ass, and thus procu- 

 ring an intermediate animal, uniting 

 the size and strength of the one with 

 the patience, intelligence, and sure- 

 footedness of the other. 



The varieties of the ass, in coun- 

 tries favourable to their development, 

 are great. In Guinea the asses are 

 large, and in shape even excel the 

 native horses. The asses of Arabia 

 (says Chardin) are perhaps the hand- 

 somest animals in the world. Their 

 coat is smooth and clean ; they carry 

 the head elevated, and have fine and 

 well-formed legs, which they throw 

 out gracefully in walking or gallop- 

 ing. In Persia, also, they are finely 

 formed, scmie being even stately, and 

 much used in draught and carrying 

 burdens, while others are more light- 

 ly proportioned, and used for the sad- 

 dle by persons of quality, frequently 

 fetching the large sum of 400 livres, 

 and, being taught a kind of easy, am- 

 bling pace, are richly caparisoned, 

 and used only by the rich and luxu- 

 rious nobles. With us, on the con- 

 trary, the ass, unfortunately, e.xhibits 

 a stunted growth, and appears rather 

 to vegetate as a sickly exotic than to 

 riot in the luxuriant enjoyment of life 

 like the horse. 



The diseases of the ass, as far as 

 they are known, bear a general re- 

 semblance to those of the horse. As 

 he is more exposed, however, and left 

 to live in a state more approaching to 

 that which nature intended, he has 

 few diseases — (Jokrisou.) 



ASTRINGENT. In farriery, a 

 term applied to such remedies as 

 have the property of constringing, or 

 binding the parts, as oak bark, sugar 

 of lead, &c. 



