. Our domestic animals, their habits, intelligence and usefulness; tr. from the French of Gos. De Voogt, by Katharine P. Wormeley;. Domestic animals. IV THE ASS AND THE MULE The ass is closely related to the horse, as it is eas)' to see by comparing their skeletons, between which there is no essential difference. Their dental s\'stem is also precisely the same. Between the li\'ing animals, as they appear to our eyes, the differences are very Thk Ass although they can scarcely be very deep in view of the fact that fruitful mating is possible between horse and ass. The most sa
. Our domestic animals, their habits, intelligence and usefulness; tr. from the French of Gos. De Voogt, by Katharine P. Wormeley;. Domestic animals. IV THE ASS AND THE MULE The ass is closely related to the horse, as it is eas)' to see by comparing their skeletons, between which there is no essential difference. Their dental s\'stem is also precisely the same. Between the li\'ing animals, as they appear to our eyes, the differences are very Thk Ass although they can scarcely be very deep in view of the fact that fruitful mating is possible between horse and ass. The most salient differences are in the size of the body, the length of the ears, the hairs of the tail and mane, the situation of the horny excrescences on the fore and hind legs (probably the rudimentary remains of sabots, with which they may have some relation, the ancestors of the ecjuine race not having always been solipedous), and finally the voice. Asses are generally much smaller than horses. The head is heavy, the lips thick, the ears long, the tail, which is usually not covered with long hair, has a tuft at the end like that of cattle ; the hair of the body has a more or less marked tendency to be striped, and the bray is easily distinguished from the neigh of the horse. I. The Wild Ass The wild ass must be re- garded as the ancestor of the domestic ass of Europe. He inhabits, in great droves, cen- tral Asia, Tartary, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Bokhara, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Phrygia, and the deserts of northern Africa and Barbary. These animals live in herds, each under the lead of a male ass, which migrate north and east of Lake Aral in sum- mer, but never beyond 48° north latitude, while in winter they come down by hundreds and thousands into Persia and sometimes as far as the East Indies. The ass is recorded as being in those countries in \-ery ancient times, as we learn from the oldest books in the Bible. He is cited by Job for his love of freedom : " Who hath sent out
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