82 HOW TO BREED MULES 



strange to say, few persons, comparatively speaking, know 

 precisely, if indeed at all, what is or is not a mule — mucli 

 less that there are two distinct animals, both the offspring 

 of the horse and ass, one of which is, and the other is not 

 a mule ; much less, again, what are the distinctions be- 

 tween the two. 



The offspring of the male ass and the female horse — 

 mare — is truly the mule — in Latin, hemionus^ or half ass. 

 The offspring of the male horse — stallion — and the female 

 ass is the hinny — in Latin, hinnus ; a word which con- 

 veys, as does the former word hemionus^ a distinct sense, 

 lost in the corresponding English synonyms, for Mnnus is 

 a derivative of the verb hinnire^ to neigh ; and in fact the 

 hinny neighs, while the mule brays. Nor is this all : for 

 while the mule has the greater external resemblance to 

 the ass, so has the hinny the greater external resemblance 

 to the horse ; and a more minute examination carries us 

 yet farther, and shows us that the mule, not only in out- 

 ward form but in temper and characteristics, has more of 

 the ass in his nature — the hinny more of the horse. It is 

 in a considerable degree by the knowledge of these facts, 

 which are positive, that the breeder is led, when he 

 insists that, in order to produce the greatest advantage on 

 the offspring, the excess of blood and vital energy must 

 be on the side of the sire, and not on that of the dam ; 

 since he finds invariably that from the jackass and the 

 mare, whether the latter be the merest dunghill or as 

 thorough-bred as Spiletta, the mother of Eclipse, springs 

 the mule of the ass type. 



The mule has long ears, slightly modified and shortened 

 by the intermixture of the horse; the, comparatively, 

 hairless tail ; the narrow quarters and thin thighs ; the 

 erect mane, the elongated head, the slender legs and nar- 

 row, erect hoofs, and the voiqe of the ass. The hinny has 



