BOOK VI. XXXVII. 7-9 



colouring, although the stallion was most carefully- 

 examined to see if it was present, is often a cause of 

 disappointment to the owner. For sometimes also 

 a stallion shapes mules very different from himself in 

 respects other than the signs mentioned above. This, 

 I think, occurs for no other reason than that the colour 

 of the grandsire is transmitted to the second genera- 

 tion mixed with the elements which form the seed. 



As soon as the foal of the ass, such as I have de- 8 

 scribed, is brought to birth, it should be taken away 

 from its mother and put under a mare who has no 

 knowledge of it. This deception is best carried out in 

 dark conditions ; for if her offspring has been taken 

 away from her in a dark place and the aforesaid foal is 

 put under her it is nourished by her as if it were her 

 own offspring ; and then, when she has become accus- 

 tomed to it for ten days, she henceforward always 

 gives it her dugs whenever it wants to feed. The 

 future stallion fed in this manner learns to have an 

 affection for mares. Sometimes also, although it has 

 been reared on its own mother's milk, if it has lived 

 familiarly amongst mares from its tender years, it 

 may well seek their company. It must not, how- 9 

 ever, be allowed to cover them when it is less than 

 three years old, and when it is permitted to do so, it 

 will be well that intercourse should take place in the 

 spring, since it will have to be fortified with chopped 

 green fodder and an abundance of barley and some- 

 times also given a drench. It ought not, however, 

 to be put to a young mare ; for unless she has already 

 had experience of a male, she repulses the donkey 

 with her hoofs when he leaps upon her, and the affront 

 which he has received inspires him furthermore with 

 an aversion for all other mares. To prevent this, a 



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