OF THE DEGENERATION OF ANIMALS.
WHEN man began to disperse himself from climate to climate, his nature underwent several alterations; in the temperate countries, which we suppose to be near where he was originally produced, these alterations were but slight; but they increased in proportion as the distance was greater; and after many centuries had passed away, after continents had beentraversed, and generations degenerated by the influence of different climates, he ventured to the extremes, and habituating himself to the scorching heats of the south, and the frozen regions of the north, the changes have become so great, that there is room to imagine the Negro, the Laplander, and the White, different species; were it not certain that there was but one man originally created, and, that the White, the Laplander, and the Negro, can unite and propagate the great family of the human kind. Thus their colours are not original, their dissimilitude being only external and superficial. It is the same being which is tinctured with black under the torrid zone, and rendered tawny, with contracted limbs, by the rigour of the cold under the polar circle. This fact is alone sufficient to demonstrate that there is more strength, extent, and flexibility, in man than in any other being; for vegetables, and almost every animal, are confined to particular soils and climates. This extension of our nature depends less on the properties of our bodies than those of our minds. By the last, man has been enabled to seek those things which are necessary for the delicacy of the body; by that he has found out the means of bearing theinclemencies of the weather, and of conquering the barrenness of the earth. He may be said to have subdued the elements: by a single ray of his intellect he produced the element of fire, which before did not exist on the surface of the earth: he has cloathed, sheltered, and lodged himself, thus providing against every external attack: he has compensated by his reason for every deficiency; and although not so strong, so large, nor so robust, as many animals, yet he has found means to conquer, subdue, enslave, and deprive them of those spaces which Nature seems to have resigned for their use.
The earth is divided into two great continents: and though this division is more ancient than all human structures and monuments, yet man is still older, for he is found the same in both. The Asiatic, the European, and the Negro, propagate alike with the American. Nothing proves more strongly that they have issued from one source than the facility with which they reunite with the common stock. The blood is different, but the germ is the same. The skin, the hair, the features, and the size, have varied, but the internal form has not changed. The type is general and common, and if it should everhappen, by some revolution not to be foreseen, but within the possibility of things, that man should be obliged to forsake those climates which he has possessed himself of, and return to his native country, he would in time resume his original features, his primitive size, and his natural colour. But the mixture of races would produce the same effect in a much shorter time. The conjunction of a white male with a black female, or a black male with a white female, equally produce a mulatto, whose colour is brown, that is, a mixture of black and white. The mulatto intermixing with a white, produces a second mulatto not so brown as the former; and if this second mulatto unites with a white, the third mulatto will have no more than a slight tincture of the brown, which will entirely disappear in succeeding generations. Thus, by this mixture with a white, one hundred and fifty, or two hundred years is sufficient to bleach the skin of the Negro; but it would, perhaps, require many centuries to produce this effect by the influence of climate alone. Since the Negroes were transported to America, which is about two hundred years, not the smallest shade of difference is perceivable in the colour of those families which have preserved themselves frommixture. It is true the climate of South America being hot enough to give the natives a brown tint, we ought not to be astonished that the Negroes retain their colour in that part of the world. Indeed, to make a proper experiment of the change of colour in the human species, some individuals of this black race should be transported from Senegal to Denmark, where the people have generally fair skins, golden locks, and blue eyes; and where the difference of blood, and opposition of colour, are the greatest. We must keep these Negroes with their females apart from the inhabitants, and scrupulously prevent all crossing of their breed. This is the only method of learning how much time it would require to change a Negro into a White, or a White into a Black, by the influence of climate.
This is the greatest alteration that the atmosphere has made on man, and yet this is only superficial. The colour of the skin, hair, and eyes, varies solely according to the influence of climate. The other changes, such as that of size, features, and the quality of the hair, do not seem to depend on this cause alone, for among the Negro race, the greatest part of whom have frizzled wool on their heads, a flat nose, and thick lips, we meet with wholenations with long and real hair, and regular features. Again, if we compare, among the white race, the Dane with the Calmuck Tartar, or only the Finlander with the Laplander, who are so near each other, we shall find as much difference between them, with respect to size and features, as there is among the Negroes; consequently we must subjoin some other cause to that of the climate to account for these alterations, which are stronger than the former. The most general and direct cause is the quality of the food, for it is principally through the aliments that man receives the influence of the soil which he inhabits, the air and atmosphere acting more superficially. While the latter alter the external surface by changing the colour of the skin, food acts upon the internal form by its properties, which are constantly relative to those of the earth by which it is produced. Even in the same country we find strong differences between men who occupy the high lands, and those who live in the low. The inhabitants of the mountains are always better made, more spirited, and handsomer than those of the valley: therefore, in countries far distant from the original climates, where herbage, fruit, grain, and the flesh of animals, differ both in quality andsubstance, the men who feed on them must undergo greater changes. These impressions are not suddenly made. Time is required for man to receive the tincture of the atmosphere, and still more for the earth to transmit its qualities to him. Ages, joined to a constant use of the same nutriment, is necessary to influence the form of the features, the size of the body, the substance of the hair, and to produce those internal alterations which, being afterwards perpetuated by generation, have become the general and constant characters, by which the races, and even the different nations, which compose the human race, are distinguished.
In brute animals these effects are quicker and greater; for, partaking more of the nature of the soil than man, and their food being more uniform and unprepared, the quality is more decisive, and, consequently, its influence stronger; and because as the animals cannot clothe nor shelter themselves, nor make use of the element of fire, they remain constantly exposed to the impressions of the air, and inclemencies of the climate. For this reason every animal has chosen its zone and country according to its nature; for the same reason they remain there, and instead of extending or dispersing themselves, like the human race,they generally continue in those places which are most agreeable to their constitutions. When driven by man, or carried away, or forced by any revolution of the globe to forsake their native country, their nature undergoes such great and strong alterations, that they are no longer to be known, except by attentive inspection, experiment, and analogy. If to these natural causes of alteration in free animals we add that of the empire of man over those which he has reduced to slavery, we shall be surprised to see how far tyranny is able to degrade and disfigure Nature; we shall perceive on all the animals which are reduced to slavery, the stigmas of their captivity, and the impressions of their fetters; we shall find that those wounds are deeper, and more incurable, in proportion to their antiquity; and that in the state wherein we have reduced domestic animals it would perhaps be impossible to reinstate them in their primitive form, and to restore to them those other natural attributes of which we have deprived them.
Thus, the temperature of the climate, the quality of the food, and the evils arising from slavery, are the three causes of the changes and degeneration of animals. The effects of each deserve to be particularly considered,and their relations, when viewed in detail, will present a picture, in the foreground of which we shall see Nature such as she is at present, and in the distant perspective what she was before her degradation.
Let us compare our sheep with the muflon, from whom they spring. This last, large and swift as a stag, armed with defensive horns and hoofs, and covered with a rough hair, dreads neither the inclemency of the sky, nor the voracity of the wolf. He not only escapes his enemies by his swiftness, but can even stand against them by the strength of his body, and the solidity of the weapons with which his head and feet are furnished. What a difference from our sheep, who scarcely have any power to subsist in flocks, and who cannot defend themselves even by numbers; who are unable to withstand the rigors of our winters without shelter, and who would all perish if it were not for the care and protection of man? In the hottest climates of Africa and Asia, the muflon, who is the common father of all the races of sheep, seems to have suffered less degeneration than in any other country; for, though reduced to a domestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair, and has only suffered a loss in the size of his weapons. The sheep of Senegal and India arethe largest of all domestic sheep, and those whose nature has experienced the least degradation. The sheep of Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Armenia, &c. have undergone greater changes; they are, relatively speaking, with regard to the human species, improved in some respects, and vitiated in others; but improvement and degeneration are the same thing with regard to Nature, as they both imply an alteration from the original formation. Their coarse hair is changed into fine wool; their tail, loaded with a lump of fat, has become so large and inconvenient a bulk, that the animal drags it along with pain and difficulty; and while thus charged with superfluous matter, and adorned with a beautiful fleece, their strength, agility, and weapons are diminished; for these broad and long-tailed sheep are scarcely half the size of the muflon; they cannot fly from danger, nor make resistance against an enemy; and are in continual need of the care and assistance of man to preserve and multiply their species. The degeneration of the original species is still greater in our climates. Of all the qualities belonging to the muflon, our ewes and rams retain nothing but a small portion of vivacity, and even that yields to the voice of the shepherd. Timidity, weakness, resignation, and stupidity, are the only sorrowful remains of their degradednature. If we would restore their strength and size, our Flanders sheep should be united with the muflon, and be no longer suffered to propagate with the inferior species; and if we would devote this species to the more useful purposes of affording good meat and fine wool, we must imitate some of our neighbours in propagating the Barbary race of sheep, which, being transported into Spain and England, has been attended with such great success. Strength and magnitude are the masculine attributes; plumpness and beauty of the skin are feminine qualities. If we would have fine wool, therefore, our rams should be supplied with Barbary ewes: and if the restoration of size be the object, the muflon should be given to our sheep.
The same effect might be produced in our goats. We might change the nature of their hair, and render it as useful as the finest wool, by intermixing them with the goats of Angora. The goat species, although greatly degenerated, is less so in our climate, than that of the sheep; and in the warm countries of Africa and India, it appears to be still more degenerated. The smallest and weakest goats, are those of Guinea, Juda, &c. and yet in those countries we find the largest and strongest sheep.
The species of the ox, of all domestic animals, seems to be that on which its food acts with the greatest influence. It attains a prodigious size in those countries where the pasture is rich and nourishing. The ancients called the oxen of Ethiopia and some provinces of Asia by the namebull-elephants, because in those countries they nearly approached the size of the elephant. The great plenty of herbage, and its succulent quality, produced this effect, proofs of which we have in our own climate. An ox fed on the tops of the verdant mountains of Savoy or Switzerland acquires twice the bulk of our oxen; though the oxen of Switzerland, like ours, are shut up in the stable during the greatest part of the year. The difference arises from their being admitted to free pasture as soon as the snow is melted; whereas in our provinces they are not permitted to enter the meadows till after the crop of grass reserved for the horses is carried off; they are, therefore, neither amply fed nor properly nourished, and it would prove extremely useful to the nation in general, if a regulation were made to abolish these useless pastures, and to encourage enclosures. Climate also has great influence on the nature of the ox. In the northern parts of both continents, it is covered with a long soft hair resemblingwool; and on its shoulders is a large hunch, which deformity is found in all the Oxen of Asia, Africa, and America. Those of Europe alone have no hunch. The last, are the primitive race to which the hunched race ascend by intermixture in the first or second generation. What still further proves this hunched race to be only a variety of the first, is its being subject to great degradations. There is an uncommon difference in their size. The little zebu of Arabia is not more than a tenth part the size of the bull-elephant.
In general, the influence of food is greater, and produces more sensible effects on those animals which feed on herbage and fruits. Those that live only upon flesh, vary less from that cause than from the influence of climate; because flesh is an aliment, already assimilated to the nature of the carnivorous animal that devours it; whereas grass being the first product of the earth, possesses all its properties, and immediately transmits the terrestrial qualities to the animal.
Thus the dog on which food seems to have but slight influence is, of all carnivorous animals, the most various species; it seems to follow exactly the difference of climatein its degradation; it is naked in the warmest climates; clothed with a thick and coarse hair in the northern regions, and adorned with a beautiful silken coat in Spain and Syria, where the mildness of the air changes the hair of most animals into a sort of silk. But independently of these external varieties, which are produced by the influence of climate alone, the dog is subjected to other alterations which proceed from its condition, its captivity, or its state of society with respect to man.
The augmentation, or diminution, of its size, is caused by the care taken to unite the great with the small individuals. The shortness of the ears and tail proceeds also from the hand of man. Dogs which have had their tails and ears cut for a few generations transmit those defects wholly, or partly, to their descendants. I have seen dogs whelped without tails, which I at first took for individual monsters; but I am since assured that this breed exists, and is perpetuated by generation. The long and hanging ear, which is the most general and certain mark of domestic slavery, is it not common to almost every dog? Among thirty different races of which the species is at present composed, only two or three have preserved their primitive ears; the shepherd’s dog, the wolf-dog,and the dog of the north, alone have erect ears. The voice of these animals has also undergone strange alterations. The dog seems to owe its vociferous nature to man, who, of all beings, uses his tongue the most. In a state of nature the dog is almost dumb, and seldom even howls, except when pressed with hunger; it acquired the faculty of barking by intercourse with men in polished societies, for when transported to extreme climates, where the people are uncultivated, as the Laplanders, or Negroes, he ceases to bark, assumes his natural howling, and often becomes absolutely dumb. Dogs with erect ears, particularly the shepherd’s dog, which is the least degenerated, is also that which makes the least use of his voice, passing a life of solitude in the country, and having no intercourse but with sheep and a few simple peasants, he is, like them, of a serious and silent disposition, though at the same time very active and sagacious: of all dogs this has the fewest acquired qualities, and the most natural talents; it is also the most useful to preserve good order, and to protect the sheep; and it would prove more advantageous to increase this breed than to extend that of other dogs, who are of no other service but for ouramusement, and whose numbers are so great, that there is not a town or village where a number of families might not be fed with the aliments consumed by these animals.
The domestic state has greatly contributed to vary the colour of animals, which was originally, in all, either brown or black. The dog, the ox, the goat, the sheep, and the horse, have imbibed all kinds of colours. The hog has changed from black to white; and pure white, without any spot, seems to mark the last degree of degeneration, and which is commonly accompanied with imperfections or essential defects. In the race of white men, those who are remarkably so, and whose hair beard, and eyebrows, are white, are often deaf, and also have red and weak eyes. In the black race, the fairest negroes are of a nature still more weak and defective. All those animals which are absolutely white have the defects of being hard of hearing and having red eyes. This kind of degeneration, though more common in domestic animals, is sometimes seen in the wild species; as in the elephant, stag, fallow-deer, monkies, moles, and mice, in all of which this colour is always accompanied with either a greater or a less weakness of body and dulness of sensation.
But of all animals the camel seems to have the greatest and deepest impressions of slavery made upon him. He comes into the world with prominences on his back, and callosities on the breast and knees; these callosities are formed by the continual friction on those parts, as is plain from their being filled with pus and corrupted blood. As he never travels without being heavily loaded, the pressure of the burden has prevented the free extension and uniform growth of the muscular parts of the back, and produced a swelling in the surrounding flesh; the camel likewise being constrained at first to rest or sleep in a kneeling posture, in time it becomes habitual; and from supporting the whole weight of his body, for several hours in the day, on his breast and knees, the skin of those parts is rubbed off by pressing against the earth, and by degrees they become hard and callous. The lama, which passes his life, like the camel, under the pressure of heavy burdens, and likewise rests on his breast and knees, has similar callosities, which are perpetuated by generation. The baboons and monkies, which, whether sleeping or waking, are generally in a sitting posture, have also callosities on their posteriors. This callous skin is even adherent to the bones, againstwhich it is continually pressed by the weight of the body. But the callosities of the baboons and monkies are of a dry and healing nature, as they do not proceed from the oppression of any superabundant weight, but, on the contrary, are only the effects of natural habits, for these animals remain longer in a sitting than in any other posture. The callosities of the monkey are like the double skin on the sole of a man’s foot. This is a natural callosity, which our habit of walking or standing renders thicker and harder, according to the greater or lesser degree of friction we effect by exercise.
Wild animals not being immediately subject to the empire of man, are not liable to such great alterations as the domestic kinds. Their nature seems to vary according to different climates, though they are no where degraded. If they were at liberty to chuse their climate and food these alterations would be still less; but as they have at all times been hunted and exiled by man, or even by those quadrupeds which have greater strength, and are more ferocious, the greatest part of them have been obliged to quit their native country, and to live in climates less favourable to their constitutions. Those which had sufficient flexibilityof nature to accommodate themselves to their new situation have dispersed to great distances, whereas others have no resource but to confine themselves within the neighbouring desarts of their native country. There is no species of animal, except man, universally spread over the face of the terrestrial globe. Some, and indeed great numbers, are confined to the southern parts of the Old Continent, and others to the southern parts of the new; while others, though fewer in number, are confined to the cold regions of the north; and, instead of extending themselves towards the south, they have passed from one continent to the other by roads which have hitherto remained unknown to us. There are other species which inhabit particular mountains or valleys, and the alterations of their nature are so much the less apparent the more they are confined to a small space.
Climate and food having little influence on wild animals, and the empire of man still less, their principal varieties proceed from another cause. They are relative to the combination of their number in individuals, as well in those which produce as in those which are produced. In those species, like that of the roe-buck, where the male attaches himself toone female, and never changes, the young ones demonstrate the fidelity of their parents by their entire resemblance to them. In those species, on the contrary, where the females often change the male, as in the stag, for instance, there are a number of varieties; and as there is not in nature a single individual which perfectly resembles another, the number of varieties in animals is in proportion to the greater or less frequency of their produce. In species where the female produces five or six young ones, three or four times a year, the number of varieties must necessarily be greater than in those where the produce is annual, and a single one. The inferior species, therefore, which produce oftener, and in greater numbers than the larger, are subject to more varieties. Size of body, which seems only to be a relative quality, nevertheless possesses positive attributes in the laws of Nature. The large species is as fixed as the small is changeable. We shall be convinced of this fact by enumerating the varieties which take place in the large and small animals.
In Guinea the wild boar has very long ears, turned backwards. In China he has a large pendant belly, and very short legs. At Cape Verd, and in other places, his tusks are verylarge and crooked like the horns of an ox. In a domestic state, and in cold and temperate climates, his ears are somewhat pendent, and his bristles are white. I do not place the peccari, nor the babiroussa, among the varieties of the wild boar, because neither belong to that species, although they approach very near to it.
We find that the stag, in dry, hot, and mountainous countries, such as Corsica and Sardinia, has lost above half his original size; his hair has become brown, and his horns blackish. In cold and wet countries, as in Bohemia, and at the Ardennes, his size is greatly increased, his coat and horns are become almost black, and his hair is so greatly lengthened as to form a kind of beard on his chin. In North America the horns of the stag are extended and branched by crooked antlers. In a domestic state his coat changes from a yellow to a white; and when not at perfect liberty, or in large parks, his legs are deformed and crooked. I do not reckon the axis among the varieties of the stag; it approaches nearer that of the fallow-deer, and is, perhaps, only a variety of it.
It would be a difficult point to determine the original species of the fallow-deer. It is not in any part of the globe entirely domestic,nor absolutely wild. It varies indifferently from a yellowish brown to a pied, and from a pied to a white. His horns and tail, in different races, are longer or shorter, and his flesh is good or bad, according to the soil and climate. Like the stag he is found in both continents, and he seems to be larger in Virginia, and the other temperate provinces of America, than in Europe. It is the same with the roe-buck; he is of a larger size in the New than in the Old Continent; but in other respects, his varieties are confined to some differences in the colour of the hair, which changes from a yellow to a deep brown. The smallest roe-bucks are generally of a fallow colour, and the largest brown. The roe-buck and fallow-deer, are the only animals common to both continents, and which are larger and stronger in the New than in the Old.
The ass has undergone but few changes, even though subjected to the most rigid servitude, for his nature is so stubborn, that it equally resists ill treatment, and the inconveniences of a foreign climate and coarse food. Though he is a native of hot countries, he can live and even multiply without any assistance from man in temperate climates. Formerly there were onagres, or wild asses, in the desarts of Asia Minor, but at present there are very few, andare only to be found in numbers in the desarts of Tartary. The Daurian mule, calledczigithaiby the Mongol Tartars, is, probably, the same animal as the onagre of the Asiatic provinces; as the former differs only from the latter by the length and colour of the hair, which, according to Mr. Bell, seems to be undulated with brown and white.[AG]These czigithais are found in the forests of Tartary, even to the 51st, and 52d degree of latitude. They must not be confounded with the zebra, whose colours are more bright, and quite otherwise disposed; besides the zebra forms a particular species, as different from that of the ass, as from the horse. The only remarkable degradation of the ass is that the skin, in a domestic state has become more pliant and lost those small tubercles which are found scattered over the onagre, and of which the people of the Levant make what is known here by the name ofShagreen.
[AG]Perhaps Mr. Bell, who says he only saw the skins of these animals, may have seen the skins of the zebra instead. For other travellers do not mention that theczigithaisoronagresof Dauria are streaked with brown and white like the zebra; besides, there are in the cabinet at St. Petersburg, skins of the zebra and skins of theczigithais, both of which are shewn to travellers.
[AG]Perhaps Mr. Bell, who says he only saw the skins of these animals, may have seen the skins of the zebra instead. For other travellers do not mention that theczigithaisoronagresof Dauria are streaked with brown and white like the zebra; besides, there are in the cabinet at St. Petersburg, skins of the zebra and skins of theczigithais, both of which are shewn to travellers.
The hare is of a flexible, yet firm nature, for though dispersed over almost every climate of the Old Continent, yet it continues nearly thesame, its skin only becoming rather whiter during the winter in very cold climates, but it resumes its natural colour in summer, which only varies from a fallow to a reddish hue. The qualities of the flesh vary also, for the red hares are always the best eating. But the rabbit, though not of so flexible a nature as the hare, being less diffused, and seemingly confined to particular countries, is, nevertheless, subject to more variations; because the hare is in every part of the world wild, whereas the rabbit is almost every where half domesticated. The wild rabbits have varied in their colours, from fallow to white or black; they have also varied in size, and in the quantity and quality of their fur. This animal, which is originally a native of Spain, has acquired a long tail in Tartary, and a thick bushy coat in Syria. Black hares are often found in cold countries. It is asserted also that in Norway, and some other northern regions, there are hares with horns. Klein has given figures of two of these horned hares. It is easily seen, from an inspection of these figures, that the horns resemble those of the roe-buck. This variety, if it exists, is only individual, and probably appears in those places alone where the hare cannot meet with grass, and is obliged to feed on the bark, buds, and leaves of trees.
The elk, whose species is confined to thenorthern part of the two continents, is only less in America than in Europe, and we see by the enormous horns found under the ground in Canada, Russia, Siberia, &c. that these animals were formerly much larger than they are at present. This difference of size proceeded perhaps from the perfect tranquillity which they enjoyed in the forests; and, not being disturbed by the human species, which had not at that time penetrated into those climates, they were at liberty to chuse their residence in those spots where the air, soil, and water agreed best with their constitutions. The rein-deer, which the Laplanders have rendered domestic, is, on this account, more changed than the elk, which has not yet been reduced to slavery. The wild rein-deer are larger, stronger, and their hair is blacker than the domestic kind: the last have varied in the colour of their hair, and also in the size of their horns. The lichen, or the rein-deer liverwort, constitutes the principal food of these animals, and seems, by its quality, to contribute greatly to the nutritive growth of the horns, which are proportionally larger in the rein-deer than in any other species; and it is, perhaps, this same nutriment which in this climate produces horns on the head of the hare, in the same manner as it does upon that of the female rein-deer; for in every other climate, there are no hornedhares, nor any female animal that is furnished with horns like the male.
The elephant is the only quadruped on which a domestic state has never had any influence, because in that state it will not propagate, and consequently cannot transmit to its species those defects which its servile condition might occasion. The varieties in the elephant are only slight, and almost individual: its natural colour is black; some of them, however, are red, and others white, but those are very few in number. The size of the elephant also varies, according to the longitude rather than the latitude of the climate. Under the torrid zone, where it is, as we may say, shut up, and under the same line, in the eastern parts of Africa, it attains fifteen feet in height; whereas in the western parts of the same country it only arrives to the height of ten or eleven feet, which proves, that though great heat is necessary to the full expansion of its body, yet excessive heat reduces it to less dimensions. The rhinoceros seems to be of a more uniform and less variable size, and only differs in its own breed by that singular character which distinguishes it from every other animal, namely, the great horn on its nose. This horn is single in the Asiatic rhinoceros, and double in the African.
I shall not speak here of the varieties which are found in every species of carnivorous animals, as they are extremely slight; because all animals which feed on flesh are the least dependent on man; and besides, this nutriment being already prepared by Nature, they receive scarcely any of the qualities of the soil they inhabit; besides, being endowed with strength and weapons, they have the power of chusing their own climate: consequently the three causes of change, alteration, and degeneration, of which we have spoken, can have but very slight and trivial effect on them.
After this glance at the variations peculiar to each species, a more important consideration presents itself, that of the change of the species themselves; that ancient and immemorial degeneration made in each family, or in every genus, under which we may comprehend the proximating species. Among all terrestrial animals there are only a few detached species, which, like the human, at once compose both species and genus. The elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, and the giraffe, form genera, or simple species, which propagate only in a direct line, and have no collateral branches; every other appears to form families, in which one principal trunk is generally to be recognized, andwhence issues several different branches, so much the more or less numerous as the individuals in each species are barren or prolific.
Under this point of view, the horse, the zebra, and the ass, are all of the same family. If the horse is the source, or principal trunk, the zebra and the ass will be collateral branches. The number of their resemblances being infinitely greater than that of their differences, we may look on them as constituting only one genus, the principal characters of which are clearly announced, and common to all three. They are the only animals which have solid hoofs without any appearance of toes or nails. Though they form three very distinct species they are not absolutely separated, since the male-ass will produce with the mare, and the horse with the she-ass; and it is probable that if we were to tame the zebra, and mollify his savage nature, it would likewise produce with the horse and the ass.
This mule, therefore, which has hitherto been regarded as a vitiated production, as a monster composed of two different natures, and consequently incapable of reproduction, is not so base as might be imagined from the above prejudice, since it is not really unprolific, and its sterility depends on certain external and peculiar circumstances. It is well known thatmules produce in warm countries, and we have some examples of their producing even in our temperate climates. But we do not know whether this generation ever proceeded from the union of a male with a female mule, or whether the production were not effected by the junction of a male with a mare, or a male-ass with a mule. There are two kinds of males, the first is the great mule, which proceeds from the junction of a male-ass with a mare, and the small mule, proceeding from the horse and the she-ass, which we shall callbardeau, to distinguish it from the other. The ancients were acquainted with both, and distinguished them by two different names; they called the firstmulus, and the secondhinnus. They assert that themulusproduced with the mare, an animal calledginnus[AH], orhinnus; that the she-mule conceived very readily, but seldom brought the fœtus to perfection: and that, though they have had frequent examples of mules bringing forth, yet such productions were looked on as prodigies. But what is a prodigy of nature, except an event which happensmore rarely than some others? The he-mule, therefore, can engender, and the female conceive, and bring forth, in certain circumstances: hence it is only required to know what these circumstances are, and to acquire further information concerning degeneration by a mixture of species, and consequently on the unity and diversity of each genus. To succeed in these enquiries, the he-mule must be joined with a she-mule, a mare, and a she-ass; the same should be done with the bardeau, and then the result of these six copulations ought to be carefully marked. The females of the ass, mule, and bardeau, should also be paired with a horse.
[AH]The wordginnusis used by Aristotle in two senses: the first to denote in general an imperfect animal, an abortion, a dwarf animal, proceeding sometimes from the horse and the ass; and the second to signify the particular produce of the mule and the mare.
[AH]The wordginnusis used by Aristotle in two senses: the first to denote in general an imperfect animal, an abortion, a dwarf animal, proceeding sometimes from the horse and the ass; and the second to signify the particular produce of the mule and the mare.
These experiments, however simple, have never yet been tried with a view to explain the nature of generation. I regret that it has not been in my power to try them, as I am persuaded consequences would result from them, which at present we only conjecture, and speak of as presumptions. I imagine, for example, that of all the above copulations, that of the great mule with the female bardeau, (the animal produced by the horse and ass) and that of the male-bardeau and she-mule might possibly not succeed: that the junction of the he and she-mule, and that of the male and female-bardeau,might sometimes be attended with success, though not often. That the he-mule would produce with the mare with greater certainty than with the she-ass, and the male-bardeau with more certainty with the she-ass than with the mare; and that the horse and he-ass might possibly produce with both the she-mules, but that the ass would be more successful than the horse. These experiments should be made in a country at least as warm as the south of France; and the age of the mules should be seven, the horses five, and the asses four years, because those different periods are necessary before those three animals acquire their full vigour.
These then are the analogical reasons on which the above presumptions are founded. In the common course of nature, it is not the males but the females which constitute the unity of species. We know from the example of the sheep, which propagate alike with the ram, or the goat, that the female has much more influence than the male, on the specific qualities of the production, since the only issue from these two different males are lambs, that is, individuals which have a specific resemblance to the mother. Thus the mule resembles the mare more than she does the ass,and the bardeau more the she-ass than the horse; thereforethe mule ought to produce more certainly with the mare than with the she-ass, and the bardeau still more so with the she-ass than with the mare, so the horse and he-ass might possibly produce with both the she-mules; because being females, though somewhat vitiated, each retains more specific qualities than the male-mules;but the he-ass should produce with them more certainly than the horse; because it is observed, that the he-ass possesses stronger prolific powers than the horse, even with the mare, for the first corrupts and totally destroys the generation of the latter. We may be convinced of this fact by first taking a stallion to a mare, and the next morning, or even some days after, serving her with a male-ass, and her production will always be mules, and not horses. This fact, of which every circumstance deserves attention, seems to indicate, that the ass and not the horse, is the stock, or principal root of the family, since the first predominates by its prolific powers over the latter even with its own female, especially as, if the ass is first given to the mare and the horse afterwards, the latter does not destroy the generation of the former, for even then the production is stilla mule. On the other hand, the like effect does not happen when the he-ass precedes the horse, with the she-ass, for the latter never destroys the operation of the former. With respect to the copulation of mules among themselves, I have presumed it to be sterile, for we can expect nothing else from two natures already debased by generation, and which by their union cannot fail of being still more debased, than a production entirely vitiated, or absolutely none at all.
By the mixture of the mule with the mare, of the bardeau with the she-ass, and the horse and he-ass with she mules, we should obtain individuals which would ascend towards the original species; they would be only half mules, and, like their parents, would not only have power to engender with their primitive species, but perhaps have the faculty of propagating among themselves; for being but half debased, their production would not be more vitiated than the first mules; and if the union of these half mules were sterile, or their productions rare, it appears almost certain, that by bringing them a degree still nearer their original species, the individuals which would result from such a union, and which would be no more than a fourth part debased, would produce among themselves and form a new stem, which wouldbe precisely neither that of the horse nor the ass. Now as every thing possible has been accomplished in time, and either does exist, or has existed in Nature, I am inclined to think that the prolific mule spoken of by the ancients, and which in the days of Aristotle existed in Syria, beyond Phoenicia, might be a race of these half or quarter mules, which have been produced by the commixtures here spoken of: for Aristotle expressly says, that these prolific mules perfectly resembled the barren mules. He also very clearly distinguishes them from the onagres, or wild asses, which he mentions in the same chapter: consequently we can only refer these animals to mules which were but little vitiated, and preserved their reproductive faculties. Theczigithai, or prolific mule of Tartary, of which we have before spoken, may also possibly not be the onagre, or the wild ass, but only this Phœnician mule, the race of which perhaps still remains. The first traveller who is able to compare them, will confirm or destroy this conjecture. The zebra itself, which even bears a greater resemblance to the horse than the ass, might probably have the same origin; the constrained regularity of his colours, alternately disposed in black and white stripes, seems to indicate that they proceed from two different species,which in their mixture have separated as much as possible; for Nature, in none of her works, is so abrupt, or so little shaded as on the coat of the zebra, where it suddenly and alternately changes from white to black, and from black to white, without any intermediate shade throughout the whole extent of the animal’s body.
But however that may be, it is certain from what we have said, that mules in general, which have always been accused of sterility, are nevertheless neither really nor universally so; and that this sterility is only manifested in that particular kind of mule proceeding from the connection of the ass and the horse; for the mule produced by the he-goat and the ewe, is as prolific as its parents, and most mules which proceed from different species of birds, are not barren; therefore it is only in the particular nature of the horse and ass, that we must seek for the causes of the infecundity of the mules produced by them; and instead of supposing barrenness a general and necessary defect in every mule, it, on the contrary, should be limited to that mule alone which proceeds from the ass and the horse, and this limitation should be further restricted, as these mules prove prolific in certain circumstances,especially when brought a degree nearer their original species.
The mule, produced by the horse and the ass, has its organs of generation as complete as other animals; nothing seems wanting either in the male or female. The males have a great plenty of seminal liquor; and being never suffered to copulate, they are often so pressed for a discharge, that they frequently rest upon their bellies for that purpose. These animals are, therefore, provided with every thing necessary for the purpose of generation: they are even very ardent, and consequently, very indifferent in their choice. The males have nearly an equal vehement desire for the female mule, the she-ass, and the mare. There is, therefore, no difficulty in procuring the copulation, though it requires particular attention and care to render it prolific. A too strong ardour is often attended with sterility; and the female mule is at least as ardent as the she-ass. Now it is known that the latter rejects the seminal liquor of the male, and that to make her retain it, blows must be given, or cold water thrown over her crupper, to calm the convulsive emotions of desire which subsist after copulation, and which occasion this rejection. The she-ass, and thefemale mule, therefore, incline to sterility by their over-heat. The asses incline to it from another cause; for as they are originally natives of hot climates, cold opposes their generation, and this is the reason they are allowed to couple in summer only. If their union is permitted at any other time, and particularly in winter, it is seldom attended with impregnation. The season necessary to the success of their generation is as much so for the preservation of their production. If the young ass is not brought forth in warm weather it either languishes or dies; and as the time of the gestation with the ass is only once a year, she produces at the season she conceives: this sufficiently proves how necessary warmth is, not only for the fecundity but also for the life of these animals. This strong ardour of the female is the occasion of the male being given her almost immediately after she has brought forth, for she is seldom suffered to rest above seven or eight days between her delivery and copulation; weakened by the birth she is then less ardent, and from there not having been a sufficient interval allowed to strengthen the parts, the conception is more certain than when she is in full vigour. It is pretended, that in this species, as in that of the cat, the temperament of the female is more ardent than that of the male. Howeverthe he-ass is a great example of vigour, for he can cover females several times each day successively. He has been known to indulge his passions to so great an excess, as to die on the spot, after eleven or twelve reiterated efforts, almost without interval, and without refreshment, except a few draughts of water. This heat, which consumes the animal, is too strong to be lasting; the he-ass soon becomes unfit for service, and this, probably, is the reason of its being said the female is stronger and longer-lived than the male. It is certain, that with the proper care and management we have laid down, she will live thirty years, and bring forth every year of her life; whereas the male, when not kept from the females, abuses his strength to so great a degree as to lose the total power of engendering in a very few years.
The he and she-ass, therefore, both incline to sterility by common and also by different qualities. The horse and the mare have the same tendency. The mare may receive a stallion nine or ten days after she has brought forth, and she will produce five or six years successively, but after that time she becomes barren. To preserve her fecundity an interval of a year should be allowed between each birth, and instead of giving her the stallion immediately after she has foaled, she should be keptuntil she shews some external signs of heat. The mare seldom proves prolific after she is twenty years old; while the horse sometimes preserves the power of engendering until the age of thirty. The seminal liquor is less abundant, and less stimulating in the horse than in the ass; for the former often copulates without emitting, especially if the mare be presented to him before he seeks her. Besides, his most vigorous efforts are not always successful; for there are some mares naturally barren, and others whose fecundity is but trifling. There are also stallions which, though vigorous to all appearance, have but little power. To these particular reasons we can add a more evident and general proof of the small degree of fecundity there is in the horse and ass. Of all domestic animals, although they are the most carefully attended to, they are the least in number. In the ox, the sheep, the goat, and particularly the hog, dog, and cat, the individuals are ten, and, probably, a hundred times more numerous than those of the horse and ass. Thus their want of fecundity is proved by facts, and we must attribute the sterility of the mules to all the above causes, as they proceed from a mixture of these naturally unprolific species. In those species, on the contrary, which, like the sheep and goat, arenumerous, and, consequently prolific, the mules proceeding from their intermixture, are not barren but ascend to the original species in the first generation, whereas, two, three, or perhaps four generations, are required to reinstate the mule produced by the horse and the ass, to the same degree and perfection of nature.
It has been asserted, that another kind of mule is produced from the copulation of the bull with the mare. Columella is, I think, the first who has spoken of it. Gesner quotes the words of Columella, and adds, that he found these mules in Grenoble, and which are called in Frenchjumars. One of these jumars I had brought to me from Dauphiny, and another from the Pyrenees. By the inspection of the external parts, as well as by the dissection of the internal, I discovered that they were only bardeaus, or mules produced between the horse and the she-ass. I think myself, therefore, authorized from this experiment, and from analogy, to suppose this kind of mule does not exist, and that the word jumar is only a chimerical name without any real object. The nature of the bull is too distant from that of the mare, to admit of their engendering together, the one having four stomachs, horns, cloven feet, &c. and the other being whole-hoofed, with no horns, and onlyone stomach. The organs of generation are likewise so very different, there is not the least reason to suppose they can copulate with any degree of pleasure or success. If the bull were to produce with any species besides his own, it would be with the buffalo, which resembles him in conformation and natural habits; yet we have never heard of any mules being produced by the junction of these two animals. What is related of the copulation and production of the stag and cow, is nearly as suspicious as the story of the jumars, though the stag is much less distant, in its conformation, from the nature of the cow, than the bull is from that of the mare.
END OF THE NINTH VOLUME.