CHAP. 69. (44.)—THE NATURE OF MULES, [1] AND OF OTHER BEASTS OF BURDEN.
From the union of the male ass and the mare a mule is pro-
duced in the thirteenth month, an animal remarkable for its
strength in laborious work. We are told that, for this purpose,
the mare ought not to be less than four years old, nor more
than ten. It is said also that these two species will repulse
each other, unless the male has been brought up, in its infancy,
upon the milk of the other species; for which reason they
take the foals away from the mare, in the dark, and substitute
for them the male colts of the ass. A mule may also be produced from a horse and a female ass; but it can never be properly broken in, and is incorrigibly sluggish,[2] being in all
respects as slow as an old animal. If a mare has conceived
by a horse, and is afterwards covered by an ass, the first conception is abortive; but this is not the case when the horse
comes after the ass. It has been observed, that the female is
in the best state for receiving the male in the seventh day
after parturition, and that the males are best adapted for the
purpose when they are fatigued.[3] A female ass, which has
not conceived before shedding what are called the milk-teeth,
is considered to be barren; which is also looked upon as the
case when a she-ass does not become pregnant after the first
covering. The male which is produced from a horse and a
female ass, was called by the ancients "hinnulus," and that
from an ass and a mare "mulus."[4] It has been observed
that the animal which is thus produced by the union of the
two species is of a third species, and does not resemble either
of the parents; and that all animals produced in this way, of
whatever kind they may be, are incapable of reproduction;
she-mules are therefore barren. It is said, indeed, in our
Annals, that they have frequently brought forth;[5] but such
cases must be looked upon only as prodigies.[6] Theophrastus
says that they commonly bring forth in Cappadocia; but that
the animal of that country is of a peculiar species.[7] The
mule is prevented from kicking by frequently giving it wine
to drink.[8] It is said in the works of many of the Greek
writers, that from the union of a mule with a mare, the dwarf
mule is produced, which they call "ginnus." From the union
of the mare and the wild ass, when it has been domesticated, a
mule is produced which is remarkably swift in running, and has
extremely hard feet, and a thin body, while it has a spirit that
is quite indomitable. The very best stallion of all, however,
for this purpose, is one produced from a union of the wild ass
and the female domesticated ass. The best wild asses are
those of Phrygia and Lycaonia. Africa glories in the wild
foals which she produces, as excelling all others in flavour;
these are called "lalisiones."[9] It appears from some Athenian
records, that a mule once lived to the age of eighty years. The
people were greatly delighted with this animal, because on
one occasion, when, on the building of a temple in the citadel,[10] it had been left behind on account of its age, it persisted
in promoting the work by accompanying and assisting them;
in consequence of which a decree was passed, that the dealers
in corn were not to drive it away from their sieves.[11]
1. Most of the circumstances here mentioned appear to have been taken
from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. vi. c. 24 and 36; Varro, B. ii. c. 8; and
Columella, B. vi. c. 37.—B.
2. It is expressly stated by Columella, ubi supra, that the mules '"produced from a horse and a female ass, are in all respects most like the mother."
3. This is explained by Columella, ubi supra, who remarks, that when a
stallion is admitted to a female in the full heat of its passion, it often causes
mischief; which is not the case when its ardour has been a little subdued
by having been worked for some time.—B.
4. Varro, ubi supra, says: "The produce of a mare and a male ass is a
mule, of a horse and a female ass a hinnus."
5. Varro, B. ii. c. 1, alludes to this occurrence; Livy mentions two instances, B. xxvi. c. 23, and B. xxxvii. c. 3; these prodigies were said both
to have occurred at Reatc.—B.
6. Herodotus relates two cases, which were regarded as presaging some extraordinary event, B. iii. c. 153, and B. vii. c. 57. Juvenal, Sat. xiii.
1. 66, and Suetonius, Life of Galba, c. 4, speak of a pregnant mule as a
most extraordinary circumstance; it seems to have given rise to a proverbial
expression among the Romans.—B.
7. Cuvier remarks, that there is, in the deserts of Asia, a peculiar animal,
with undivided hoofs, the Equus hemionus of naturalists, and the Dgiggetai
of the Tartars, which bears a resemblance to our mules, but is not the produce of the horse and the ass; he refers us to Professor Pallas's account of
it in Acad. Petrop. Nov. Cor. vol. xix. p. 394; Ajasson, vol. vi. p. 461;
Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 505.—B.
8. Pliny repeats this advice in B. xxx. c. 53; it is, of course, entirely
without foundation.—B.
9. The epigram of Martial previously referred to bears this title.—B.
See N. 69, p. 324.
10. This temple was the Parthenon. This anecdote is mentioned by
Arist. Hist Anim. B. vi. c. 24; Ælian, Anim. Nat. B. vi. c. 49.—B.
11. In which they probably exposed their samples for sale, as our farmers
do in small bags. The phrase is a)po\ tw=n thliw=n, in Aristotle, Hist. Anim.
B. vi. c. 24, from whom Pliny takes the story.