CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 10. SOLIDINGULA. 



615 



our opinions not from himself, but comparatively with the horse ; we forget that he is an ass, that 

 he has all the good qualities of his nature, all the gifts attached to his species, and at the same 

 time we only think of the figure and qualities of the horse, which are wanting in him, and which 

 he ought not to have. 



"He is naturally as humble, patient, and quiet, as the horse is proud, ardent, and impetuous; he 

 suffers with constancy, and perhaps with courage, chastisement and blows ; he is moderate both 

 as to the quantity and quality of his food ; he is contented with the hardest and most disagree- 

 able herbs, which the horse and other animals will leave with disdain ; he is very delicate with 

 respect to his water, for he will drink none but the clearest, and from rivulets which he is ac- 

 quainted with ; he drinks as moderately as he eats, and does not put his nose in the water — 

 through fear, as some say, of the shadow of his ears. As care is not taken to curry him, he 

 frequently rolls himself on the grass, thistles, and in the dust, and, without regarding his load, he 

 lays himself down to roll about as often as he can, and by this seems to reproach his master for 

 the little care he takes of him ; for he does not paddle about in the mud and in the water ; he 

 even fears to wet his feet, and will turn out of his road to avoid the mud; his legs are also drier 

 aud cleaner than the horse ; he is susceptible of education, and some have been sufficiently dis- 

 ciplined to become public shows." 



It may be added that the ass is almost never sick ; its milk is light, and is recommended in 

 various diseases ; hence it is common in Paris, Madrid, Naples, and other European cities, to see 

 a number of these creatures driven every morning to the door of sick persons, there to be milked 

 for their use. The skin of the ass is hard and elastic, and is used for making drum-heads, parch- 

 ment, and shagreen. It attains its full growth in four or five years, and lives to the age of about 

 five-and-twenty. 



THE WHITE ASS. 



It would appear, from various evidence, that the ass was domesticated at an earlier period than 

 the horse, and at a still later date, when the horse was introduced and used almost exclusively 

 for war in chariots, the ass was the beast of civil life, and used alike for the saddle and for carry- 

 ing burdens. In the East it is treated with care and attention, and there its appearance is very 

 different from that of the serviceable but neglected and undervalued beast of Western Europe. 

 According to Chardin, the asses of Arabia are among the finest in the world ; their coat is smooth 

 and clean ; they carry their head elevated, and have fine, well-formed legs, which they throw out 

 gracefully in walking or galloping. These are used only for the saddle, and are imported in great 

 numbers into Persia, where they are frequently sold for a hundred dollars, and being taught a kind 

 of easy, ambling pace, are handsomely caparisoned, and used only by the rich and luxurious nobles. 

 It is common to slit their nostrils, under the idea of giving them more room for breathing, as is 



