indeed, asserted by Aristotle, that the mate 
mules were sometimes prolific ; but this as.- 
sertiori has never yet been confirmed by any 
positive testimony, though a period of nearly 
two thousand years has elapsed since it was 
first advanced* 
, Before the discovery of America, the AsiS 
seems to have been entirely unknown on that 
continent, though the climate is peculiarly fa- 
vourable to this race of animals ; and, where 
;they have been permitted to run wild, they 
multiply so quick, that in some places they 
-are become a nuisance. 
The Ass is naturally swift, fierce, and for- 
midable ; hut, when tamed, it presents a very 
different picture. The moment it's original 
liberty is lost, it seems to relinquish every 
claim to freedom, and assumes a meekness 
and submission even humbler than it's servile 
situation. It is now the most patient and 
gentle of all domesticated animals ; and suf- 
fers with constancy, and perhaps with cou- 
rage, all the ill treatment which cruelty anci 
caprice undeservedly inflidt. It is extremely 
temperate, 
