616 
VERTEBRATA. 
practiced in some countries in respect to the horse. White asses are not uncommon, and appear 
anciently to have been selected for the use of persons of distinction. In Syria there are three or 
four distinct breeds of asses, of which the most valued is that of Arabia. Some are very large, 
and are used for carryiiig persons in sedan-chairs. 
Domesticated as the ass has been from the remotest antiquity, and valued as it has ever been 
in Western Asia, it was long before it was introduced into Western Europe, Aristotle states that 
in his time there were no asses in Pontus, Scythia, or in the country of the Celts — modern Ger- 
many and France; — and we know that even as late as the time of Queen Elizabeth the ass was 
extremely rare in England. At the present time it is common in France, Spain, Italy and Greece, 
especially in the large cities. It is astonishing to see the enormous burdens of fruits and vege- 
tables which these creatures carry to market. Often a man and his wife, with two paniers — one 
on each side, laden with manure, or greens, or beets, or potatoes, or perhaps all of these — may be 
seen trudging up hill and down from the house to the farm. The ass or donkey — in these coun- 
tries usually a very small beast — is the poor man's cart, coach, wheelbarrow, chaise, and buggy : 
it takes the family to church, the wife and daughters to the wedding, the baby to the christening, 
the cabbages, carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, to the market. The ass does all this and keeps 
himself; for he needs little care, and will feed on dry leaves, stalks, thistles, briers, chaff, and 
straw. The ass, with the goat, is a kind of gentle and gracious providence, which makes po^^- 
erty tolerable to millions of the inhabitants of Europe and Asia. In the United States it is little 
used, except at the south ; in Mexico it is more common.* 
* The following memoranda respecting the Ass of Mexico, furnished by E. E. Dunbar, Esq., to the author, will be 
found exceedingly interesting: 
" It is in Mexico that the '■Burros,^ as they are called — Jack, male, and Jenny, female — form a part of the household. 
They are the common porters from settlement to settlement, to the field, to the mill. They bring the wood and the 
water. They carry the produce to maifcet, f^lisport merchandise, food, and sometimes a part of the family, im- 
mense distances over arid deserts and stupendous mountain paths, never faltering, never tiring, where life of man 
or beast can be supported. Look at the, Jong, bony frame, stout legs, tapering to a small, neat foot, the long ears, 
uncoiith-shaped head, and shaggy coat. All go to make up the beast we call shipid, for ' stupid as an ass' is one of 
the most common sayings in the English language. But there is no greater libel on any animal that walks than 
this. Rather say 'knowing as an ass,' or as they have it in the Spanish language, ' M sabes muchd — He is very 
knowing.' It is true this beast is of a patient disposition, and fitted by nature to do drudgery and heavy work, but 
if a keen appreciation of all that renders animal life happy and comfortable, and a manifestation of the highest order 
of cunning and indomitable perseverance in gratifying these propensities is stupidity, then is the ass stupid. 
"Witness the pretty ' Burrito,' of shaggy coat and. dainty feet, as he is reared in the very domicil of the Mexican 
laborer. Soon as his little frame can bear a few pounds' weight, the pack is on his back, and he is made to pay. For 
its cheapness, no pleasanter or more amusing exhibition of domestic felicity can be seen than his donkeyship, stand- 
ing demure and contented, with his head just inside a Mexican shanty, and half a dozen dark-skinned, half-shirtless 
urchins hanging on his ears, mounting him from before and behind, tumbling off one side, crawling under his belly, 
between his legs, and scrambling up the other side. He usually stands at the door at the right time to secvire such 
odds and ends as may be thrown to him from the scanty meals of the occupants. When satisfied nothing more is to 
be obtained in this quarter, he walks off quietly to the common or suburbs to finish his meal by browsing ; and he 
generally manages to be out of the way when wanted. Hunting up the burros forms no inconsiderable part of the 
duty of Mexican youth. The said animal is usxially found in some sly corner where grass and shrubs grow greenest 
and tenderest. 
" When found, the finder movmts well on the rear, and with a moderate-sized baton, with which to guide the truant 
by gentle taps on the side of the head, brings him ambling to the point where duty calls. 
" They are the most inveterate thieves in existence, and Dickens's 'Artful Dodger' might take lessons of them to 
advantage. 
"Enter a Mexican puebla and take notice of half a dozen burros, apparently idling away their time on the shady 
side of a street, and looking demure and innocent, as though butter would not melt in their mouths. These artful 
dodgers make periodical excursions in the neighborhood, and good-bye to every thing in the shape of food in house or 
camp that is left unguarded. In high fruit season, especially in melon time, they manage — when not on duty — to 
occupy a position commanding a view of the avenues leading to the melon-shops, and if they see a stranger, or any 
one who looks as though he had sufficient change in his pocket to buy a melon, they take up their imconcerned, 
noiseless line of march to the door, and the hot sun scarcely kisses the juicy rinds thrown out ere they are appro- 
priated. 
" The most useful and remai'kable qualities of these animals are their great strength and power of endurance. The 
writer has known a train of donkeys to carry burdens of three hundred weight each, more than three-quarters their 
own weight, over a desert ninety miles in extent, without water, the thermometer ranging one hundred and ten de- 
grees during the day, and the trip occupying three days. 
" They have no means of defense from beasts of prey but their heels. They sometimes escape by their speed, which 
is great only when frightened, and sometimes they contend successfully by kicks, which are hard, incessant, and 
