Fa. It is not so easy, however, as you imagine; the eye readily distinguishes them by the air and general appearance, but naturalists have been rather puzzled to fix upon any specific difference, which may serve the purpose of a definition. Some have, therefore, fixed upon the ears, others on the mane and tail. What kind of ears has an ass?
Ch. Oh, very long clumsy ears! Asses’ ears are always laughed at.
Fa. And the horse?
Ch. The horse has small ears, nicely turned and upright.
Fa. And the mane, is there no difference there?
Ch. The horse has a fine long flowing mane; the ass has hardly any.
Fa. And the tail: is it not fuller of hair in the horse than in the ass?
Ch. Yes; the ass has only a few long hairs at the end of the tail; but the horse has a long bushy tail when it is not cut.
Fa. Which, by the way, it is a pity it ever should. Now, then, observe what particulars we have got. A horse is an animal of the quadruped kind, whole-hoofed, with short erect ears, a flowing mane, and a tail covered in every part with long hairs. Now is there any other animal, think you, in the world, that answers these particulars?
Ch. I do not know; this does not tell us a great deal about him.