NON-FERTILITY AND LACTATION IN MULES. 83 



He was not an Indian, but a white, descended from 

 European parents/' Other authors have given examples of 

 the same nature. 



The late Mr. Francis Francis described in the Field for 

 Oct. 27, I860, a maiden bitch at the Vine Kennels, that 

 brought up two litters of puppies in succession, and he saw 

 the last when they were about six weeks old. This 

 communication called forth several letters giving other 

 examples of similar facts. Mr. Sprent, of Heading, writing, 

 stated that he had a terrier bitch that never had puppies, 

 but she took a kitten from its mother, and had a good 

 secretion of milk with which she nourished it, and 

 numerous examples of similar facts are on record. The 

 most important, as having a direct bearing on the subject, 

 was recorded in a letter printed by one of the authors of 

 this work, Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, in the Field of April 17, 

 1880, in which he says : — 



'^ The case, however, which I am about to put upon 

 record is, I think, unprecedented, inasmuch as it is that of 

 a sterile hybrid animal suckling another. The facts are as 

 follows : An aged brown female mule that formerly, when 

 in the possession of Messrs. Flower, of Stratford-on-Avon, 

 had taken prizes at the large shows as a heavy draught 

 mule, passed into the stables of Mr. Cole, of Church-street, 

 Chelsea, who is well known as one who has employed mule 

 labour with great advantage for many years. I 

 accompanied Mr. C. L. Sutherland to the stables of Mr. 

 Cole, where we saw the mule in question, and a young male 

 donkey nearly a year old. This donkey foal had been 

 bought, and allowed to run about the stable yard. It had 

 been noticed to follow the mule, and at night to go into 

 her stall at the further end of the stable, where he was 

 observed sucking the mule, whose udder, on examination, 



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