JACKS, JBNNETS AND MULES 103 



their start, and for all these years the constant and 

 unabated care of their breeders has been to maintain 

 their distinctive characteristics, the purity of their 

 blood, and to augment their merits. Only think of 

 what may be accomplished by man in the course of 

 a few centuries with the proper effort! 



In 1866 Mr. Eugene Ayrault, of Niort, France, 

 published a volume on the Poitou jack. I am sorry 

 that it has never been translated. It is a book of 

 high order of merit, and was awarded a gold medal 

 by the Society of Agriculture in France. I would 

 prefer giving his to my own description of these 

 jacks, because he is the best obtainable authority on 

 this subject. He says: 



"His head is enormous in size, and is very much 

 larger than that of any other race in existence. His 

 mouth is smaller than that of the horse; teeth small, 

 but the enamel exceedingly hard. The opening of 

 the nostril is narrow, the ear very long, and adorned 

 with long, curly hair, called cadanette, which is much 

 esteemed by breeders. 



"It is said that animals with the longest bodies pro- 

 duce the best mules, and this is greatly looked to. 

 The tail is rather short, and furnished with long hair 

 at its extremity only. The chest is very broad, and 

 the belly voluminous. The shoulders are short; the 

 muscles of the forearm long, but not very thick. 

 The knees are exceedingly large, as are all the joints. 

 The chestnuts, or homy places near the knees, are 

 large and well developed. The abundance of hair 

 which covers the jack constitutes one of the most 

 sought-for qualities. The animals are called well- 

 taloned and well-moustached when they have these 

 qualities in a high degree. 



