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HISTORY' OF QUADRUPEDS. 



THE MULE. 



THIS useful and hardy animal is the offspring 

 of the Horse and the Ass, and being generally 

 barren, furnishes an indisputable proof that the 

 two species are perfectly distinct. Nature has pro- 

 vidently stopped the further propagation of these 

 heterogeneous productions, to preserve, uncontam- 

 inated, the form of each animal; without which 

 regulation, the races would in a short time be 

 mixed with each other, and every creature, losing 

 its original perfection, would rapidly degenerate. 



Mules have not unfrequently been known to 

 bring forth young, especially in hot countries ; 

 and instances have not been wanting, though 

 they are rare, both in England and Scotland. 

 But it would require a succession of experiments 

 to prove that Mules will breed with each other, 

 and produce an offspring equally capable of con- 

 tinuing the race. 



The common Mule is very healthy, and will live 

 above thirty years. It is found very serviceable in 



