M U 
mature, and well formed; that, from the appearance of 
its hair, head, and ears, it had a greater resemblance to 
the afs than common mules; that the paps of the mother 
■were fwelled, and full of milk ; that, when the ignorant 
negro perceived the feet ifluing from the vagina, he drew 
fo forcibly as to invert the uterus, and lacerate the parts, 
which occafioned the death of both mother and foal. 
To the above fafts we may add, from Mr. Smellie, an 
Jnftance of the prolific powers of a Ihe-mule in the north 
pf Scotland. Having heard that a mule, belonging to 
Mr. David Tullo, fanner in Auchtertyre, in the county 
of Forfar, had fome years ago brought forth a foal, he 
tranfmitted a few queries to be put to Mr. Tullo ; and 
requeued that his anfwers might be legally attefted before 
a magiftrate. This requeft was cheerfully complied with ; 
and the following is an exadl copy of the queries, anfwers, 
and atteftations: 
1. Had you ever a Ihe-mule ? At what period ? Is it 
true that the mule had a foal ? At what time was (he 
covered ; and when did (lie foal ?—Anfwered by Mr. 
Tullo: That he bought a (lie-mule about twenty years 
ago: that (he was constantly in fealbn for a horl'e ; that 
fome years thereafter he gave her a horl'e ; and that (he, 
thereafter, gave him a foal, about the ioth of June. The 
mule’s price was four pounds five (hillings (terling. 
2. What was the colour of the foal ? Was there any 
thing particular in its figure?—Anfwer: The foal was 
exactly the colour of its mother, inclined to black, with 
a very large head, big ears, and (mail tail; and, the de- 
clarent thinks, had its head been weighed when foaled, 
it would have weighed nearly as much as its body. 
3. How long was the animal allowed to live ?—Anfwer: 
The next day after the mule foaled, it was fent with its 
mother, to the Loch of Lundie, in order to let the foal 
die, as the declarent could not want the mule’s work, 
and the mother feemed not fond of the foal: that it was 
accordingly left; and next day came to Auchtertyre, 
about two miles diftance, over a hill, with the cattle of 
Auchtertyre, that had been grazing near to that place, 
and was drowned in a ditch the day following. 
4. Was its (kin preferved, or the head, or any other 
bones of the (keleton ? Could any part thereof be Hill 
found?—Anfwer: Neither the (kin nor any part of the 
ficeleton was preferved, nor can now be had ; though the 
declarent has often regretted the not preferving the foal, 
as its mother always performed any work that a horfe of 
fifteen pounds value could do. 
5. Is the mother Hill alive ? What is her age ?—Anfwer: 
The mother died, about eight years ago, of an epidemic 
cold that was raging among the horles in this country: 
the mule had little or no milk after foaling, and the foal 
got fome cow’s milk ; and this is all that he remembers 
of the matter. David Tullo. —Signed and attefted in 
the prefence of , 7 . Wat/on , J. P. 
But the word mule is extended alfo to deftgnate any 
animal, or even plant, produced by the mixture of two 
diftin6t. And this is a fubjedt which very particularly 
engaged the attention of that ingenious naturalift, M. de 
Buffon. 
In the years 1751 and 1752, (fays he,) I made two lie- 
goats copulate with feveral ewes; and I obtained nine 
mules, feven males and two females. Struck with this 
difference between the number of males and females, 
I endeavoured to difeover whether the number of male 
mules, produced by the afs and the mare, predominated 
in the fame proportion. The information I received did 
not afeertairi this point; but I learned that the number 
of male mules always exceeded that of the females. The 
marquis de Spontin-Beaufort made a dog intermix with 
a (lie-wolf, and produced four mules, three of which were 
males. In fine, having made inquiries concerning mules 
•which were more eafijy obtained, I learned, that the num¬ 
ber of males greatly exceeded that of the females. In 
canary-birds I remarked, that, of nine young produced 
between a goldfinch and a canary-bird, there were only 
Vol. XVI. No. 1102 
L E, 173 
three females. Thefe arc the only certain faffs I could 
obtain on this fubjeff, which merits more attention than, 
it has yet received; for the myfteries of generation by tne 
concourfe of different fpecies, and the afeertaining of the 
proportional effeflive powers of males and females in 
every kind of reproduction, can alone be developed by 
an aftemblage of fimilar faffs. What is related by dif¬ 
ferent authors, concerning the jumars, appears to be 
very fufpicious. Leger, in his Hiftory of the Vaudois, 
tells us, “ That, in the valleys of Piedmont, there are 
mongrel animals, called jumars; that, when engendered 
by a bull and a mare, they are denominated baf or bitf, 
and, when produced by a bull and a (lie-als, they receive 
the appellation of bif; that thefe-jumars have no horns, 
and are of the (ize of mules; that they are very fwift; 
that he mounted one of them, and performed, in a fingie 
day, a journey of eighteen leagues, or fifty-four Italian 
miles ; and that they were Hirer and more eaiy than a 
horfe.” 
Of the nine mules produced by the lie-goat and tha 
ewes, the firlf was brought forth on the 15th day of April. 
When examined three days after birth, and compared 
with lambs of the fame age, it differed from them in the 
following particulars: the ears, upper part of the head, 
as well as the diftance between the eyes, were larger. It 
had befidcs a band of whitifli-grey hair from the nape of 
the neck to the extremity of the tail. The four legs, 
the fuperior part of the neck, bread, and belly, were 
covered with the fame white coarfe hair. There was a 
fmall quantity of wool upon the flanks only; and even 
this (liort curled wool was mixed with a great deal of 
hair. The legs of this mule were alfo an inch and a half 
longer than thofe of a lamb of the fame age. When 
examined eighteen days after birth, the white hairs were 
partly fallen off, and replaced by brown hairs, fimilar in 
colour to thofe in the he-goat, and nearly as coarfe. The 
limbs continued to be more than an inch and a half 
longer than thofe of the lamb; and, on account of this 
length of limbs, it did not walk fo well as the lamb. This 
lamb was killed by an accident; and I took no farther 
notice of the mule till four months afterwards, when I 
compared it with a (beep of the lame age. In the mule, 
from the (pace between the eyes to the extremity of the 
muzzle, the diftance was at lead an inch (horter than in 
the (beep ; and the head of the mule was more than half an 
inch broader at the broadeft part. Hence the head of this 
mule was thicker and (horter than that of a fheep of equal 
age. The curvature of the upper jaw, taken from the 
corner of the mouth, was near half an inch longer in the 
mule than in the lheep. The head of the mule was not 
covered with wool, but with long buftiy hair. The tail 
was two inches (horter than that of the (heep. 
In the beginning of the year 1752, continues M. Buffon, 
I obtained, from the union of a he-goat with ewes, eight 
other mules; fix of which were males, and two females. 
Two of them, a male and a female, had four teats, two on 
each fide, like thole of the goats. In general, thele mules 
had long hair on the belly, and particularly about the 
penis, as in the he-goat, and alfo on the feet, and par¬ 
ticularly thofe behind. Mod of them had the chanfrin 
lefs arched than is common to lambs, the diftance between 
the hoofs larger, and the tail (horter. 
Ariftotle remarks, that, “ though animals of different 
fpecies feldom intermix, yet it certainly happens among 
dogs, foxes, and wolves.” The marquis de Spontin- 
Beaufort Cucceeded in the junction of a dog and a wolf, 
I was informed of this fa6l, (ays M. Buft’on, by M. Surirey 
de Boilfy, in a letter which he wrote me in the following 
terms: “ The marquis de Spontin reared a very young 
(lie-wolf, to whom he gave, as a companion, a dog of 
nearly the fame age. They were left at full liberty, and 
came into the apartments, the kitchen, the liable. See, 
The dog is a kind of mongrel maftiff', and full of vigour. 
During the firft fix months, the wolf was fed with milk, 
and afterwards with raw flefh, which it preferred to what 
Y y wrs 
