S2 OF MULES. 



riod, the moufe and Guiney pig produce thirty 

 or forty. Hence the fecundity of thefe fmall 

 animals is thirty or forty times greater ; and, if 

 .1 fcale were formed of the diflerent degrees of 

 fertility, the fmall animals above enumerated 

 would occupy thehighefl; points, while the horfe 

 and afs would be found nearly in the loweft ; 

 for the elephant alone is lefs fertile. 



In raixr fpecies, there are alfo different de- 

 grees of fecundity ; for animals proceeding 

 from two fpecies partake of two natures, and 

 are, in general, lefs fertile ; and this want of 

 fertility increafes in proportion to the infecun- 

 dity of the parents. Hence, if the horfe and afs, 

 two animals naturally not very fertile, mix, the 

 original infecundity, inftead of diminillung in 

 the mongrel race, muft be augmented. The mule 

 •will not only be lefs fertile than its parents, but, 

 perhaps, the moft unfertile of all mongrels, be- 

 caufe all the other mules which produce, fuch as 

 thofe proceeding from the he-goat and ewe, 

 from the goldlinch and Canary bird, Sec. are much 

 more fruitful than thofe produced by the afs and 

 horfe. It is to this original and particular caufe, 

 that the infecundity of the mule and bardeau 

 fhould be referred. A fecond caufe, ilill more 

 particular, renders the laft animal lefs prolilic 

 than the iirft. The mule proceeding from the 

 afs and mare retains the ardent temperament of 

 the father, and, of courfe, pofiefles a high de- 

 gree of prolific power ; while the bardeau prc- 



ceedinir 



I 



