A treasury of natural history; or, a popular dictionary of animated nature ... To which are added, a syllabus of practical taxidermy, etc / [Samuel Maunder].

Samuel Maunder

Date:: 1848

Credit: A treasury of natural history; or, a popular dictionary of animated nature ... To which are added, a syllabus of practical taxidermy, etc / [Samuel Maunder]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$of iJatural l^t^tory; in tlie state of degradation to which for so many ages successive generations have been doomed, the Ass has long since become pro- verbial for stolid indifference to suffering and for unconquerable obstinacy and stupidity. From the general resemblance between the Ass and the Horse, it might naturally enough be supposed that they were very closely allied, and that one had degenerated : they are, however, perfeetly distinct; there is that inseparable line drawn, that barrier between them, which Natiue pru\’ides for the perfection and preservation of her pro- ductions — their mutual offspring, the mule, being incapable of reproducing its kind— The best breed of Asses is that originally derived from the hot and dry regions of Asia ; at present, perhaps, the best breed in Eiuope is the Spanish ; and very valuable Asses are still to be had in the southern por- tion of the American continent, where dining the existence of the Spanish dominion the breed was very carefully attended to. In truth, wherever proper attention has been paid to improve the breed by crossing the finest specimens, he is rendered nearly if not quite equal to the horse for most purposes of labour ; while on hilly and precipitous roads he is decidedly better adapted from his general habits and formation. The most general colour of the Ass is a mouse-coloured grey, with a black or blackish stripe, extend- ing along the spine to the tail, and crossed by a similar stripe over the shoulders. The female goes with young eleven months, and seldom produces more than one foal at a time : the teeth follow the same order of appearance and renewal as those of the horse. Asses’ milk has long been celebrated for its sanative qualities : invalids suffering from debility of the digestive and assimi- lative functions make use of it with great advantage ; and to those also who are con- smnptive it is very generally recommended. The WILD ASS (_Equ,us hemionus), [or Koulait, as it is called by the Persians] stands much higher on its limbs than the ■Winn ASH.—(BOtrus HEMionna.] common Ass ; its legs are more slender, the forehead is more arched, and it is altogether more symmetrical. The mane is composed of a soft woolly dusky hair, about thrce^ or four inches long ; the colour of the body is a fine silvery grey j the upper part of Uie fane, the sides of the neck and body, being of a flaxen hue; and a broad brown stripe mn- I ning down the back, from tlie mane to the | tail, and crossing the shoulders, as in the common Ass. The Koulan inhabits parts of Central Asia, and migrates from north to south, according to the season. Its flesh is held in high esteem by the Tartars and Per- ; slans, who hunt it in preference to all kinds of game. We have alluded to the frequent ; mention of this animal by both sacred and ' profane writers of antiquity ; and we may ! properly conclude by quoting the book of i Job, xxxix. 6—8 : “ W’Tio hath sent out the | wild ass free ? or who hath loosed the bands : of the wild ass 1 Whose house I have made ' the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. He scometh the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every i green thing.” | ASSERADOE. (The Spanish word for , Sawyer.) The name applied in Columbia to a . remarkable Lamellicom beetle, which will be better understood by the accompanying wood-cut than by any description. The (asserador hewitsont.) female wants the singular horns on the head and thorax from which the species derives its local name of “ The Sawyer it being the belief of the country people that the in- sect saws off the small twigs of trees by means of the friction of the two. Mr. David Dyson informed us that he found it abun- dantly, and in clusters, on a species of bamboo. Mr. Empson of Bath first dis- covered tliis curious insect, and published a figure of it with the name of Asserador Ilewitsom, and presented his unique spe- cimen to the British Museum at a time when the insect was very rare. It has also been described by Mr. Hope as the Golctfa Porteri, and by Erichson as the ScaraboMs Petiverii; and we see the learned Berlin entomologist now fancies it may tie only a variety of the Fabrician species, S. a;gcon. We give this one example of what naturalists call the synonymes of a species, to show the utter impossibility of our attempting to give or to reconcile the different names applied to the same species by dift'ereut authors. ASTACUS. A genus of long-tailed Crus- taccous animals, whose distinguishing cha-$