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. However the 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 kept until 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