THE DOMESTIC ASS. 445 



from its youth j and no one gives it that fair unprejudiced 

 trial, which every British subject, be he man or ass, is 

 fairly entitled to. The songs of the people have often more 

 influence on the moral conduct than all the laws j and it is to 

 be hoped that the advice taught in a modern popular song will 

 not be entirely lost upon the costermonger and the tinker. The 

 " hay" and " gee-wo," may accomplish nearly all one might 

 require of a donkey, where every brutal blow may gain nothing 

 but a kick well merited. A wretched maltreated horse is 

 often as dull and obstinate as an ass. Indeed, if the size of the 

 brain in comparison to that of the body can prove the intel- 

 lectual superiority of an animal, then the ass would make a 

 wiser consul than Caligula's horse. In the ass there is one part 

 brain for every two hundred and fifty four parts of the grosser 

 materials ; while in the horse there is only one part of the 

 former to every four hundred, or, in some cases, to every seven 

 hundred parts of the other elements. Let phrenologists, there- 

 fore, bring asses into fashion, and elect them to the highest 

 appointments, and let the horses be kept longer at the riding- 

 school, until their cerebrums and cerebellums attain a larger 

 and more respectable development. 



The ass differs much in size and abilities according to the 

 climate it inhabits. In Syria, a fine ass is sometimes more 

 valuable than a couple of horses. Mr. Fraser says, that in 

 Bagdad, " most of the learned and holy professions prefer the 

 ass, and so do all the ladies. These asses are, I believe, of a 

 particular breed, and from forty to fifty pounds sterling is no 

 uncommon sum for one of great size, good blood, and fine 

 paces. The favourite colour is spotless white $ they are mag- 

 nificently caparisoned, and have their nostrils slit, which is 

 said to make them long winded. Heaven knows their wind 

 is long enough when they begin to bray." 



The bray of the ass is not generally admired $ but the author 

 of a scarce tract on The Nobleness of the Ass (1595), after giving 

 us all its sweet notes, concludes by declaring that the continual 

 braying of five or six asses forms a melodious kind of music 



