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 been traversed, 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
the inclemencies 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 ever happen, 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 from mixture. 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 whole nations 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
and substance, 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 are the 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 degraded nature. 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 name _bull-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 resembling
wool; 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 climate in 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 our amusement, 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, against which 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 flexibility of 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 to one 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 very large 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, and are only to be found in
numbers in the desarts of Tartary. The Daurian mule, called _czigithai_
by 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 of _Shagreen_.
[Footnote 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 the _czigithais_ or _onagres_ of 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 the
_czigithais_, 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 the
same, 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 the northern 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 horned hares, 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, and whence 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 that mules 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 call _bardeau_, to distinguish it from the other. The ancients
were acquainted with both, and distinguished them by two different
names; they called the first _mulus_, and the second _hinnus_. They
assert that the _mulus_ produced with the mare, an animal called
_ginnus_[AH], or _hinnus_; that the she-mule conceived very readily, but
seldom brought the foetus 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 happens more 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.
[Footnote AH: The word _ginnus_ is 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;
therefore _the 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 still a 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 would be 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. The _czigithai_, 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 Phoenician
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
the female 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. 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
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, are numerous, 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 French
_jumars_. 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 only one
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._