POINTS OF THE ASS. 31^ 



Points of the Ass. — The law which I put forward In 

 Chapters I. and XV., with respect to the influence of compara- 

 tive length of limb on speed and strength, holds as good in 

 the case of the ass, as it does in that of the horse. From it 

 we may justly infer that the onager is the speediest of its class. 

 From personal deductions, which I cannot support by any 

 precise data, I would think that the onager is faster for its size, 

 and under equal conditions, than any kind of wild horse, or, 

 perhaps, than any horse which has not some English racing 

 blood in its veins. As it is not at all probable that this ass 

 will be bred for racing purposes, I need form no conjectures 

 respecting its future on the turf. On page 305, I have alluded 

 to the fact of the ass being higher over the croup than at the 

 withers, supposing, of course, that it were to stand "at 

 attention" {see Fig. 35). In the domestic ass, the gaskins 

 and fore-arms are, as a rule, very poor ; but they are not so, 

 at least to anything like the same extent, in the wild ass. 

 Probably, on account of the ass having fewer loin vertebrae 

 {see p. 304) than the horse, it has less tendency to be " slack 

 in the loins." Compared to the horse, the ass has a very 

 weak tail, and is consequently unable to " carry its flag " in 

 the style usually aflected by a spirited horse during movement. 



