172 M U 
a fine he-afs, only to be kept as a ftallion. They breed 
with this creature out of the fineft and largeft mares they 
have, giving the afs an advantage of height of ground, 
and putting the mare into a narrow pit, railed on each fide. 
If the afs defigned to be bred on is fuckled by a mare, 
or the mare fuckled by an afs, it makes them much more 
familiar than they would otherwife be ; and this may al¬ 
ways be done, by taking away the colt that belongs to the 
dam, and putting the other in its place, keeping them in 
the dark ten days or a fortnight. However, the fuccefs in 
breeding of thefe, as well as moil; other animals, depends 
in a great degree upon the manner of keeping them while 
young. In refpefil to the Ihe-aftes, theylhould be well fed, 
and be kept in good order, both before they drop their 
foals, and afterwards while they fuckle. And the foals, 
v'hen weaned, fhould be carefully fed, and defended front 
the cold in the winter feafon; iufticient exercife in the 
open air being allowed every day, when the weather is fine. 
It is well known, that in the Weft Indies much of the 
labour on the plantations is performed by thele animals. 
And Mr. Carpenter remarks, that mules ufed in agricul¬ 
ture on light foils, and particularly in fiome fituations, are. 
very ferviceable, though not very common in thefe parts. 
He knows but of two teams in which mules do all the 
work on the farms : the one belongs to Samuel Skey, efq. 
of Spring Grove ; the other Mr. Teverel’s, near Worcef- 
ter, con lifting of feven handfome mules, and bred by the 
former gentleman, who breeds and keeps a confiderable 
number, many of them fifteen or llxteen hands in height, 
and fome.of a milk-white colour. The moft beautiful of 
the white mules Mr. Skey referves for drawing his carriage, 
for which he has been offered a very high price. They 
are bred from grey or white mares, and a white and fpotted 
foreign afs, which curious animal he has had pofteftion of 
many years. Mr. Carpenter has very lately feen Mr. De¬ 
velops mules at work, and afterwards in the liable, where 
they are fed with good ftraw ; and he was allured that 
ftraw was their only food, it being then winter. Their 
hardinefs is certainly a valuable property; as thefe mules, 
though kept to hard work, looked remarkably lleek and 
well. Their longevity is alfo a very confiderable advan¬ 
tage. Mr. Skey remarked, that two working mules in 
Shroplhire had arrived to the age of feventy years each ; 
and lie has been informed, by a perfon who has taken 
much notice of this breed, that, though they will perform 
a deal of work when only two or three years of age, they 
do not arrive to perfection till about thirty. But, when 
three years old, mules are proper for life, or being em¬ 
ployed as llallions. And in the breeding of thefe animals, 
mares that are of a very large breed, and well made fhould 
be employed. They fliould be young, full of life, large 
barrelled, but fmall limbed, with a moderate-fized heady 
and a good forehead. It is found of advantage to have 
the foals, from the time of their being dropped, often 
handled, to make them gentle : it prevents their hurting 
themlelves by Ikittilhnels and fudden frights ; and they 
are much eafier broken at the proper age, and become do¬ 
cile and harmlefs, having nothing of that vicioufnefs 
which is lo commonly complained of in thefe animals. 
They may be broken at three years old, but fhould never 
be permitted to do much work till four; 3S they are 
thus lecured from being hurt by hard labour, till they 
have acquired ftrength enough to bear it without injury. 
It was found by an expert breeder of thefe animals, that 
by feeding them too well while young, though it made 
them very fat, it was far from being any advantage to 
them; as it was not only incurring a much larger expenle 
than was any ways necelfary, but alfo made them wonder¬ 
fully nice and delicate in their appetites ever after, and 
alfo, by increaftng their weight of fiefh, rendered them 
more fubjeCt to ftrains and hurts in their morning gam¬ 
bols. He therefore contented himfelf with giving them 
food enough to prevent their lofing fiefh, and to keep up 
their growth, without palling their appetites with delica¬ 
cies, or making them over fat. . He alio took care to de- 
L E. 
fend them from the injuries of the weather, by allowing 
them liable-room, and good litter to deep on, befides 
caufing them every day to be well rubbed down with a 
hard wifp of ftraw by an aCtive groom. This was fcarcely 
ever omitted, particularly in cold, raw, wet, weather, when 
they were leall inclined to exercife themfelves in a proper 
manner. 
Mules have been reckoned a kind of monfters; and it 
has been generally thought that-they do not propagate 
their breed. And yet the ancients mention a fort of 
mules that were prolific in Phrygia, Syria, Cappadocia, 
and Africa. Witnefs Ariflotle, Hill. Animal, lib. vi. 
cap. 36. Varro de Re Ruftica, lib. ii. cap. 1. Cojumella, 
lib. vii. cap. 36. Theophrailus, and, after him, Pliny, 
lib. viii. cap. 44. Steno, examining the tefticles of a 
mule, found ova therein, with a fort of placenta about 
them ; which perfuaded him, that mules might engender 
without any miracle. But the obfervation has been 
thought fanciful, and the conclufion teemed unworthy 
of fo able a naturalift. 
Ariftotle (already cited) fays, that the mule engen¬ 
ders with the mare, and that the junction produces an 
animal which the Greeks call hinnus, or gmnus. He alfo 
remarks, that the mule eafiiy conceives, but feldom brings 
the foetus to perfection. Of thefe two facts, fays M. Button, 
the fecond is more rare than the firft; and both happen 
only in warm climates. In fuch climates, however, fa&s 
juftify the aftertion, that the female is not only capable 
of conception, but of bringing the foetus to full maturity. 
Such cafes occur in Spain and Italy, but much more fre¬ 
quently in the Weft Indies. Upon the whole it mull be 
admitted as an eftablithed faCt, that the lie-mule can ge¬ 
nerate, and the Ihe-mule produce. Like other animals, 
they have a feminal liquor, and all the organs necelfary 
to generation. But mongrel animals are always lefs fer¬ 
tile, tho’ more hardy, than thofe of a pure fpecies. Befides, 
mules have never produced in cold climates, feldom in 
warm regions, and ftill more leldom in temperate coun¬ 
tries. Hence their barrennefs, without being abfolute, 
may be regarded aspofitive; lince their productions are 
fo rare, that few examples only can be collected. 
M. de Bory, of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and 
formerly governor of the American illands, communi¬ 
cated to B.ufFon a faCt of this kind, in a letter dated 
May 7, 1770, of which the following is an extraCl: “You 
will perhaps recoiled, fir, that M. d’Alembert read, laft 
year, in the Academy of Sciences, a letter, which in¬ 
formed him, that a Ihe-mule in the illand of St. Domingo 
had brought forth a foal. I was ddired to write tor 
proper vouchers of the fad ; and I have now' the honour 
of fending you the certificate which I received. My cor- 
refpondent is worthy of the higheft credit. He adds, 
that he has feen mules cover, indifcriminately, Ihe-mules 
and mares ; and like wile lhe-mules covered by llallions 
and he-mules.” This certificate is judicially attelled, 
and ligned by w’itnelfes of unqueftionable veracity. The 
fubftance of it is, that on the 14th of May, 1769, M. de 
Nort, knight of St. Louis, and late major of the Royal 
Legion of St. Domingo, had a Ihe-mule brought to him, 
which was laid to be lick ; that her belly was remarkably 
large, and a membrane protruded through the vagina. 
M. de Nort, believing the animal to be inflated, fent for 
a negro farrier, w ; ho had been accuitomed to take care of 
difeafed animals; that this negro, u'ho arrived in the 
ablence of M. de Nort, had thrown down the mule, in 
order to give her a draught; that, the moment after the 
fall, fire brought forth a young mule, perfectly formed, 
and covered with long and very black hair ; that the 
young mule lived an hour; but that, having been both 
hurt by the fall, the foal died foon after birth, and the 
mother ten hours after; and, in fine, that the young 
mule wars Ikinned, and the Ikin fent to Dr. Matty, who 
depofited it in the Muleum of the Royal Society in Lon¬ 
don. Other eye-w'itnelfes, and particularly M. Cazavant, 
furgeon, add, that the young mule leaned to have been 
a mature, 
