The Ass. 
129 
and he never stopped till he ran his head kindly into 
my bosom." 
The ancients had a great regard for this animal. The 
Romans had a breed which they held in such high esti- 
mation, that Pliny mentions one of the males selling for 
a price greater than three thousand pounds of our money ; 
and he says that in Celtiberia, a province in Spain, a she 
Ass had colts that were bought for nearly the same sum. 
The Ass lives nearly to the same age as the horse. From 
the general resemblance between the Ass and the horse, 
it might naturally be supposed that they were closely 
allied, and that one had degenerated , they are, however, 
perfectly distinct. There is that inseparable barrier 
placed between them which nature provides for the 
protection and preservation of her productions ; their 
mutual offspring, the mule, being incapable of repro- 
ducing its kind. 
