so 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
stripes extending from the back across the sides, with nar- 
rower and fainter ones intervening between each. Over 
the haunches and shoulders these stripes form a kind of 
bifurcation, between the divisions of which there are a few 
transverse lines of the same colour; but these suddenly and 
abruptly cease, and are not continued on the legs, which 
are perfectly white. Along the back there is a narrow 
longitudinal line, bordered on each side with white. The 
mane is throughout broadly and deeply tipped with black, 
and is marked by a continuation of the transverse bands of 
the neck. The lines of the face are narrow and beautifully 
regular; from the centre of the forehead they radiate down- 
wards over the eyes; along the front of the muzzle they are 
longitudinal, the outer ones having a curve outwards; and 
on the sides they form broader transverse bands. From 
the confluence of these bands on the extremity of the muz- 
zle, the nose, and the lower lip, those parts become of a 
nearly uniform blackish brown. The tail is white; there 
is no longitudinal ventral line: and a large black patch 
occupies the posterior part of the ear, near the tip. The 
hoofs are moderately large, deep in front, shallow behind, 
and much expanded at their margin.’ 
The Ass. 
If we consider this animal with some degree of atten- 
tion, he appears only to be a Horse degenerated. The 
perfect similitude in the conformation of the internal 
parts, and the great resemblance of the body, legs, feet, 
and the entire skeleton, is a sufficient foundation for this 
opinion; we may also attribute the slight differences which 
are found between these two animals, to the influence of 
the climate, food, and the fortuitous succession of many 
generations of small wild Horses, half degenerated, which, 
by little and little, have still continued degenerating, and 
have at last produced a new and fixed species; or rather a 
succession of individuals alike, all vitiated in the same 
manner, sufficiently differing from a Horse to be looked 
upon as another species. What appears to favour this no- 
tion is, that as Horses vary much more than Asses in the 
colour of their skin, they are consequently more anciently 
domestic, since all domestic animals vary much more in 
their colour than wild ones of the same species; that the 
greater number of wild Horses of which travellers speak, 
are small in their size, and have, like Asses, the coat gray, 
and the tail naked and frizzled at the end; and, that there 
are wild Horses, and even domestic ones, which have a 
black stripe on the back, and other marks, which nearly 
resemble both wild and domestic Asses. 
Again, if we consider the difference of the temperament, 
disposition, and manners; in a word, the organism of these 
two animals, and above all, the impossibility of mixing the 
breed to make one common species, or even an intermedi- 
ate species which may be renewed; it appears a better 
founded opinion, that these animals are of a species equally 
ancient, and originally as essentially different as they are 
at present; as the Ass differs materially from the Horse, in 
the smallness of the size, largeness of the head, length of 
the ears, hardness of the skin, nakedness of the tail, the 
form of the rump, and also in the voice, the appetite, 
manner of drinking, &c. Do the Horse and the Ass, then, 
come originally from the same stock? are they of the same 
family or not? and have they not always been different 
animals? 
Although we cannot demonstrate that the production of 
a species, by degeneration, is a thing impossible in na- 
ture, yet the number of probabilities to the contrary is so 
great, that even philosophically, we can no longer doubt 
of it; for if some species have been jiroduced by the dege- 
neration of others, if the species of the Ass comes from the 
species of the Horse, this can only have happened succes- 
sively, and by degrees there would have been, between the 
Horse and the Ass, a great number of intermediate animals, 
the first of which would have differed but slightly in its 
nature from the Horse, and the latter would have ap- 
proached by degrees to that of the Ass; and why do we 
not see the representatives, the descendants of these 
intermediate species? why do only the two extremes 
remain? 
The Ass is then an Ass, and not a Horse degenerated; 
the Ass has a naked tail; he is neither a stranger, an intru- 
der, nor a bastard ; he has, like all other animals, his family, 
his species, and his rank; his blood is pure; and although 
his nobility is less illustrious, yet it is equally good, equally 
ancient with that of the Horse. Why, then, have we so 
much contempt for this animal; so good, so patient, so 
steady, so useful? do men carry their contempt even to 
animals, those which serve them so well, and at so small 
an expense? We bestow education on the Horse, take 
care of him, instruct him, and exercise him, whilst the 
Ass is abandoned to the care of the lowest servant, or the 
tricks of children; so that, instead of improving, he must 
lose by his education; and if there were not a fund of 
good qualities, he would certainly lose them by the man- 
ner in which he is treated. He is the May-game of 
the rustics, who beat him with staffs, overload him, and 
make him work beyond his strength. We do not consi- 
der, that the Ass would be in himself, and with respect to 
us, the most beautiful, the best formed, and most distin- 
guished of animals, if there were no Horse in the world; 
he is the second, instead of being the first; and it is from 
that only, that he appears to be of no value: the compari- 
