THE ASS. 199 
MAN has so long held the Domestic Ass under his control, that its 
original progenitors have entirely disappeared from the face of the earth. 
There are, as it is well known, abundant examples of wild Asses found in 
various lands, but it seems that these animals are either the descendants of 
domesticated Asses which have escaped from captivity, or the offspring of 
wild and domesticated animals. In size and general appearance the Ass 
varies greatly, according to the country which it inhabits and the treatment 
to which it is subjected. The Spanish kind, for example, is double the size 
of the ordinary English Ass, and even the latter animal is extremely variable 
in stature and general dimensions. 
As a rule, the Ass is large and sleek- 
haired in warm countries, and small 
and woolly-haired in the colder parts 
of the globe. 
Strong, sure-footed, hardy, and 
easily maintained, the Ass is of in- 
finite use to the poorer classes of the 
community, who need the services of 
a beast of burden and cannot afford 
to purchase or keep so expensive an 
animal as a horse. 
It is a very great mistake to em- 
ploy the name of Ass or donkey as 
a metaphor for stupidity, for the Ass 
is truly one of the cleverest of our 
domesticated animals, and will lose ASS.—(Asinus vulgaris.) 
no opportunity of displaying his 
capability whenever his intelligence is allowed to expand by being freed 
from the crushing toil and constant pain that are too often the concomi- 
tants of a donkey’s life. 
Everyone who has petted a 
favourite donkey will remem- 
ber many traits of its mental 
capacities ; for, as in the case 
of the domestic fool of the 
olden days, there is far more 
knavery than folly about the ~-4 \ 
creature. u “yy \ A 
In the East, the Assis used & yf \\ i 
even more extensively than 3 ; ZOPANN | NNN 
in Europe, and is generally 5 aN 
employed for carrying bur- 
dens or for the saddle, the 
horse being used more for 
ostentation or for warfare 
than for the mere convey- 
. = ~ a 
ance of human beings from = LS OS 
one spot to another. DZIGGETAI, OR KOULAN.—(Asinus Onager.) 
The colour of the Ass is 
a uniform grey, a dark streak passing along the spine, and another stripe 
being drawn transversely across the shoulders. In the quagga and zebra 
these stripes are much more extended. 
THE Wild Asses are all celebrated for their extreme fleetness and sureness 
of foot, and among them the DzIGGETAI, KHUR, or KOULAN, deserves 
especial mention. 
