MAMMALIA—ASS. 319 
The ass is three or four years ia growing, and lives twenty-five ot th rty 
years. They sleep less than the horse, and do not lie down to sleep unless 
when quite tired. 
There are among asses different races, as among horses; but they are 
much less known, because they have not been taken the same care of, or fol- 
lowed with the same attention; but we cannot doubt that they came all ori- 
ginally from warm climates. Aristotle assures us, that there were none in his 
time in Scythia, nor in the other neighboring countries of Scythia, nor even 
i Gaul, which, he says, is a cold climate; and he adds, that a cold climate 
either prevents them from*procreating their species, or causes them to de- 
generate ; and that this last circumstance is the reason that they are small 
and weak in Illyria, Thrace, and Epirus. They appear to have come origi- 
nally from Arabia, and to have passed from Arabia into Egypt, from Egypt 
into Greece, from Greece into Italy, from Italy into France, and afterwards 
into Germany, England, and lastly into Sweden, &c.; for they are, in fact, 
weak and small in proportion to the coldness of the climate. They are 
said to have been introduced into England subsequently to the reign of 
Elizabeth. Of all the various breeds of asses, the Spanish breed is by far 
the finest. They are often found of the height of fifteen hands, and the 
value of a hundred guineas. In the northern parts of the United States, 
the ass is little used; in the middle and southern States they are common ; 
in the West Indies, Mexico, and South America, they are the chief beasts 
of burden. In travelling over the Andes they are of the utmost utility. 
The ass is, perhaps, with respect to himself, the animal which can carry 
the greatest weight; and as it costs but little to feed him, and he scarcely 
requires any care, he is of great use in the country, at the mill, &c.; he 
also serves to ride on, as all his paces are gentle, and he stumbles less than 
the horse ; he is frequently put to the plough, in countries where the earth 
is light, and his dung is an excellent manure to enrich hard moist lands. 
Nothing is more common in Europe than to see men in humble circum- 
stances riding on asses and mules. In New England aman would almost 
as soon be seen mounted on a cow, as on one of these creatures, 
The ass, like some other animals, and some birds, possesses in great per- 
fection the power of finding his way home, when lost at a great distance. 
An instance of this is recorded by Kirby and Spence, in their excellent Intro- 
duction to Entomology. In March, 1816, an ass, the property of Captain 
Dundas, R.« N. then at Malta, was shipped on board the Ister frigate, 
Captain Forrest, bound from Gibraltar for that island. The vessel having 
struck on some sands off the Point de Gat, at some distance from the snore, 
the ass was thrown overboard, to give it a chance of swimming to land,— 
a poor one, for the sea was running so high, that a boat which left the 
ship was lost. A few days afterwards, however, when the gates of Gibral- 
tar were opened in the morning, the ass presented himself for admittance, 
and proceeded to the stable of Mr Weeks, a merchant, which he had former- 
