CHAPTER V.
PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE MULE.

I now propose to say something on the mule's limbs and feet. It will be observed that the mule has a jack's leg from the knee down, and in this part of the leg he is weak; and with these he frequently has to carry a horse's body. It stands to reason, then, that if you feed him until he gets two or three hundred pounds of extra flesh on him, as many persons do, he will break down for want of leg-strength. Indeed, the mule is weakest where the horse is strongest. His feet, too, are a singular formation, differing very materially from those of the horse. The mule's feet grow very slow, and the grain or pores of the hoof are much closer and harder than those of the horse. It is not so liable, however, to break or crumble. And yet they are not so well adapted for work on macadamized or stony roads, and the more flesh you put on his body, after a reasonable weight, the more you add to the means of his destruction.

Observe, for instance, a farmer's mule, or a poor man's mule working in the city. These persons, with rare exceptions, feed their mules very little grain, and they are generally in low flesh. And yet they last a very long time, notwithstanding the rough treatment they get. When you feed a mule, you must adjust the proportions of his body to the strength of his limbs and the kind of service he is required to perform. Experience has taught me, that the less you feed a mule below what he will eat clean, just that amount of value and life is kept out of him.

In relation to feeding animals. Some persons boast of having horses and mules that eat but little, and are therefore easily kept. Now, when I want to get a horse or a mule, these small eaters are the last ones I would think of purchasing. In nine cases out of ten, you will find such animals out of condition. When I find animals in the Government's possession, that cannot eat the amount necessary to sustain them and give them proper strength, I invariably throw them out, to be nursed until they will eat their rations. Animals, to be kept in good condition, and fit for proper service, should eat their ten and twelve quarts of grain per head per day, with hay in proportion--say, twelve pounds.

I wish here again to correct a popular error, that the mule does not eat, and requires much less food than the horse. My experience has been, that a mule, twelve hands high, and weighing eight hundred pounds, will eat and, indeed, requires just as much as a horse of similar dimensions. Give them similar work, keep then in a stable, or camp them out during the winter months, and the mule will eat more than the horse will or can. A mule, however, will eat almost any thing rather than starve. Straw, pine boards, the bark of trees, grain sacks, pieces of old leather, do not come amiss with him when he is hungry. There were many instances, during the late war, where a team of mules were found, of a morning, standing over the remains of what had, the evening before, been a Government wagon. When two or more have been kept tied to a wagon, they have been known to eat each other's tail off to the bone, And yet the animal, thus deprived of his caudal appendage, did not evince much pain.

In the South, many of the plantations are worked with mules, driven by negroes. The mule seems to understand and appreciate the negro; and the negro has a sort of fellow-feeling for the mule. Both are sluggish and stubborn, and yet they get along well together. The mule, too, is well suited to plantation labor, and will outlast a horse at it. The soil is also light and sandy, and better suited to the mule's feet. A negro has not much sympathy for a work-horse, and in a short time will ruin him with abuse, whereas he will share his corn with the mule. Nor does the working of the soil on southern plantations overtax the power of the mule.

The Value of Harnessing properly.--In working any animal, and more especially the mule, it is both humane and economical to have him harnessed properly, Unless he be, the animal cannot perform the labor he is capable of with ease and comfort, And you cannot watch too closely to see that every thing works in its right place. Begin with the bridle, and see that it does not chafe or cut him, The army blind-bridle, with the bit alteration attached, is the very best bridle that can be used on either horse or mule. Be careful, however, that the crown-piece is not attached too tight. Be careful, also, that it does not draw the sides of the animal's mouth up into wrinkles, for the bit, working against these, is sure to make the animal's mouth sore. The mule's mouth is a very difficult part to heal, and once it gets sore he becomes unfit for work. Your bridle should be fitted well to the mule's head before you attempt to work him in it. Leave your bearing-line slack, so as to allow the mule the privilege of learning to walk easy with harness on. It is too frequently the case, that the eyes of mules that are worked in the Government's service are injured by the blinds being allowed to work too close to the eyes. This is caused by the blind-stay being too tight, or perhaps not split far enough up between the eyes and ears. This stay should always be split high enough up to allow the blinds to stand at least one inch and a half from the eye.

Another, and even more essential part of the harness is the collar. More mules are maimed and even ruined altogether by improperly fitting collars, than is generally believed by quartermasters. It requires more judgment to fit a collar properly on a mule than it does to fit any other part of the harness. Get your collar long enough to buckle the strap close up to the last hole. Then examine the bottom, and see that there be room enough between the mule's neck or wind-pipe to lay your open hand in easily. This will leave a space between the collar and the mule's neck of nearly two inches. Aside from the creased neck, mules' necks are nearly all alike in shape, They indeed vary as little in neck as they do in feet; and what I say on the collar will apply to them all, The teamster has always the means in his own hands of remedying a bad fitting collar. If the animal does not work easy in it, if it pinch him somewhere, let it remain in water over night, put it on the animal wet the next morning, and in a few minutes it will take the exact formation of the animal's neck. See that it is properly fitted above and below to the hames, then the impression which the collar takes in a natural form will be superior to the best mechanical skill of the best harness-maker.

There is another thing about collars, which, in my opinion, is very important. When you are pursuing a journey with teams of mules, where hay and grain are scarce, the animals will naturally become poor, and their necks get thin and small. If once the collar becomes too large, and you have no way of exchanging it for a smaller one, of course you must do the next best thing you can. Now, first take the collar off the animal, lay it on a level, and cut about one inch out of the centre. When you have done this, try it on the animal again; and if it still continues too large take a little more from each side of the centre until you get it right. In this way you can effect the remedy you need.

In performing a long journey, the animals will, if driven hard, soon show you where the collar ought to be cut, They generally get sore on the outer part of the shoulder, and this on account of the muscle wasting away. Teamsters on the plains and in the Western Territories cut all the collars when starting on a trip. It takes less time afterward to fit them to the teams, and to harness and unharness.

When you find out where the collar has injured the shoulder, cut it and take out enough of the stuffing to prevent the leather from touching the sore. In this way the animal will soon get sound-shouldered again. Let the part of the leather you cut hang loose, so that when you take the stuffing out you may put it back and prevent any more than is actually necessary from coming out.

See that your hames fit well, for they are a matter of great importance in a mule's drawing. Unless your hames fit your collar well, you are sure to have trouble with your harness, and your mule will work badly. Some persons think, because a mule can be accustomed to work with almost any thing for a harness, that money is saved in letting him do it. This is a great mistake. You serve the best economy when you harness him well and make his working comfortable. Indeed, a mule can do more work with a bad-fitting collar and harness than a man can walk with a bad-fitting boot. Try your hames on, and draw them tight enough at the top of the mule's neck, so that they will not work or roll round. They should be tight enough to fit well without pinching the neck or shoulder, and in fine, fit as neatly as a man's shirt-collar.

Do not get the bulge part of your collar down too low. If you do, you interfere with the machinery that propels the mule's fore legs. Again, if you raise it too high, you at once interfere with his wind. There is an exact place for the bulge of the collar, and it is on the point of the mule's shoulder. Some persons use a pad made of sheepskin on the toe of the collar. Take it off, for it does no good, and get a piece of thick leather, free from wrinkles, ten or twelve inches long and seven wide; slit it crosswise an inch or so from each end, leaving about an inch in the centre. Fit this in, in place of the pad of sheepskin, and you will have a cheaper, more durable, and cooler neck-gear for the animal. You cannot keep a mule's neck in good condition with heating and quilted pads. The same is true of padded saddles. I have perhaps ridden as much as any other man in the service, of my age, and yet I never could keep a horse's back in good condition with a padded saddle when I rode over twenty-five or thirty miles a day.

There is another evil which ought to be remedied. I refer now to the throat-latch. Hundreds of mules are in a measure ruined by allowing the throat-latch to be worked too tight. A tight throat-latch invariably makes his head sore. Besides, it interferes with a part which, if it were not for, you would not have the mule--his wind. I have frequently known mules' heads so injured by the throat-latch that they would not allow you to bridle them, or indeed touch their heads. And to bridle a mule with a sore head requires a little more patience than nature generally supplies man with.

Let a mule's ears alone. It is very common with teamsters and others, when they want to harness mules, to catch them by the ears, put twitches on their ears. Even blacksmiths, who certainly ought to know better, are in the habit of putting tongs and twitches in their ears when they shoe them. Now, against all these barbarous and inhuman practices, I here, in the name of humanity, enter my protest. The animal becomes almost worthless by the injuries caused by such practices. There are extreme cases in which the twitch may be resorted to, but it should in all cases be applied to the nose, and only then when all milder means have failed.

But there is another, and much better, method of handling and overcoming the vices of refractory mules. I refer to the lariat. Throw the noose over the head of the unruly mule, then draw him carefully up to a wagon, as if for the purpose of bridling him. In case he is extremely hard to bridle, or vicious, throw an additional lariat or rope over his head, fixing it precisely as represented in the drawing. By this method you can hold any mule. But even this method had better be avoided unless where it is absolutely necessary.

It is now August, 1866. We are working five hundred and fifty-eight animals, from six o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock at night, and out of this number we have not got ten sore or galled animals. The reason is, because we do not use a single padded saddle or collar. Also, that the part of the harness that the heaviest strain comes on is kept as smooth and pliable as it is possible for it to be. Look well to your drawing-chains, too, and see that they are kept of an even length. If your collar gets gummy or dirty, don't scrape it with a knife; wash it, and preserve the smooth surface. Your breeching, or wheel harness, is also another very important part; see that it does not cut and chafe the animal so as to wear the hair off, or injure the skin. If you get this too tight, it is impossible for the animal to stretch out and walk free. Besides obstructing the animal's gait, however, the straps will hold the collar and hames so tight to his shoulder as to make him sore on the top of his neck. These straps should always be slack enough to allow the mule perfect freedom when at his best walk.

And now I have a few words to say on Government wagons. Government wagons, as now made, can be used for other purposes besides the army. The large-sized Government wagon is, it has been proved, too heavy for four horses. The smaller sized one is nearer right; but whenever you take an ordinary load on it (the smaller one) and have a rough country to move through, it will give out. It is too heavy for two horses and a light load, and yet not heavy enough to carry twenty-five hundred or three thousand pounds, a four-horse load, when the roads are in any way bad. They do tolerably well about cities, established posts, and indeed anywhere where the roads are good, and they are not subject to much strain. Improvements on the Government wagon have been attempted, but the result has been failure. The more simple you can get such wagons, the better, and this is why the original yet stands as the best. There is, however, great difference in the material used, and some makers make better wagons than others. The six and eight-mule wagon, the largest size used for road and field purposes, is, in my humble opinion, the very best adapted to the uses of our American army.

During the rebellion there were a great many wagons used that were not of the army pattern. One of these, I remember, was called the Wheeling wagon, and used to a great extent for light work, and did well. On this account many persons recommended them. I could not, and for this reason: they are too complicated, and they are much too light to carry the ordinary load of a six-mule team. At the end of the war it was shown that the army pattern wagon had been worked more, had been repaired less, and was in better condition than any other wagon used. I refer now to those made in Philadelphia, by Wilson & Childs, or Wilson, Childs & Co. They are known in the army as the Wilson wagon. The very best place to test the durability of a wagon is on the plains. Run it there, one summer, when there is but little wet weather, where there are all kinds of roads to travel on and loads to carry, and if it stands that it will stand any thing. The wagon-brake, instead of the lock-chain, is a great and very valuable improvement made during the War. Having a brake on the wagon saves the time and trouble of stopping at the top of every hill to lock the wheels, and again at the bottom to unlock them. Officers of the army know how much trouble this used to cause, how it used to block up the roads, and delay the movements of troops impatient to get ahead. The lock-chain ground out the wagon tire in one spot. The brake saves that; and it also saves the animal's neck from that bruising and chafing incident to the dead strain that was required when dragging the locked wheel.

There is another difficulty that has been overcome by the wagon-brake. In stopping to lock wheels on the top of a hill, your train get into disorder. In most cases, when trains are moving on the road, there is a space of ten or fifteen feet between the wagons. Each team, then, will naturally close up that space as it comes to the place for halting to lock. Now, about the time the first teamster gets his wheel locked, the one in the rear of him is dismounting for the same purpose. This being repeated along the train, it is not difficult to see how the space must increase, and irregularity follow. The more wagons you have to lock with the drag-chain, the further you get the teams apart. When you have a large body of wagons moving together, it naturally follows that, with such a halt as this, the teams in the rear must make twenty-five halts, or stops, and starts, for everyone that the head team makes.

When the teamster driving the second team gets ready to lock, the first, or head team, starts up. This excites the mule of the second to do the same, and so all along the train. This irritates the teamster, and he is compelled to run up and catch the wheel-mules by the head, to make them stop, so that he can lock his wheels. In nine cases out of ten he will waste time in punishing his animals for what they do not understand. He never thinks for a moment that the mule is accustomed to start up when the wagon ahead of him moves, and supposes he is doing his duty. In many cases, when he had got his wheels locked, he had so excited his mules that they would run down the hill, cripple some of the men, break the wagon, cause a "smash-up" in the train, and perhaps destroy the very rations and clothes on which some poor soldier's life depended. We all know what delay and disaster have resulted from the roads being blocked up in this manner. The brake, thanks to the inventor, offers a remedy for all this. It also saves the neck and shoulders of every animal in the train; it saves the feet of the wheelers; it saves the harness; it saves the lead and swing mules from being stopped so quick that they cut themselves; and it saves the wheels at least twenty per cent. Those who have had wagons thrown over precipices, or labored and struggled in mud and water two and three hours at a time, can easily understand how time and trouble could have been saved if the wagon could have been locked in any way after it started over those places. The best brake by all odds, is that which fastens with a lever chain to the brake-bar. I do not like those which attach with a rope, and for the reason that the lazy teamster can sit on the saddle-mule and lock and unlock, while, with the chain and lever, he must get off. In this way he relieves the saddle-mule's back.

We all know that, in riding mules down steep or long hills, you do much to stiffen them up and wear them out.

CHAPTER VI.
SOMETHING MORE ABOUT BREEDING MULES.

Before I close this work, I desire to say something more about breeding mules. It has long been a popular error that to get a good mule colt you must breed from large mares. The average sized, compact mare, is by all odds the superior animal to breed mules from. Experience has satisfied me that very large mules are about as useless for army service as very large men are for troopers. You can get no great amount of service out of either. One is good at destroying rations; the other at lowering haystacks and corn-bins. Of all the number we had in the army, I never saw six of these large, overgrown mules that were of much service. Indeed, I have yet to see the value in any animal that runs or rushes to an overgrowth. The same is true with man, beast, or vegetable. I will get the average size of either of them, and you will acknowledge the superiority.

The only advantage these large mares may give to the mule is in the size of the feet and bone that they may impart. The heavier you can get the bone and feet, the better. And yet you can rarely get even this, and for the reason that I have before given, that the mare, in nineteen cases out of twenty, breeds close after the jack, more especially in the feet and legs. It makes little difference how you cross mares and jacks, the result is almost certain to be a horse's body, a jack's legs and feet, a jack's ears, and, in most cases, a jack's marks.

Nature has directed this crossing for the best, since the closer the mare breeds after the jack the better the mule. The highest marked mules, and the deepest of the different colors, I have invariably found to be the best. What is it, let us inquire, that makes the Mexican mule hardy, trim, robust, well-marked after the jack, and so serviceable? It is nothing more nor less than breeding from sound, serviceable, compact, and spirited Mexican or mustang mares. You must, in fact, use the same judgment in crossing these animals as you would if you wanted to produce a good race or trotting horse.

We are told, in Mason and Skinner's Stud Book, that in breeding mules the mares should be large barrelled small limbed, with a moderate-sized head and a good forehead. This, it seems to me, will strike our officers as a very novel recommendation. The mule's limbs and feet are the identical parts you want as large as possible, as everyone that has had much to do with the animal knows. You rarely find a mule that has legs as large as a horse. But the mule, from having a horse's body, will fatten and fill up, and become just as heavy as the body of an average-sized horse. Having, then, to carry this extra amount of fat and flesh on the slender legs and feet of a jackass, you can easily see what the result must be. No; you will be perfectly safe in getting your mule as large-legged as you can. And by all means let the mare you breed from have a good, sound, healthy block of a foot. Then the colt will stand some chance of inheriting a portion of it. It is natural that the larger you get his feet the steadier he will travel. Some persons will tell you that these small feet are natural, and are best adapted to the animal. But they forget that the mule is not a natural animal, only an invention of man. Let your mare and jack be each of the average size, the jack well marked, and No. 1 of his kind, and I will take the product and wear out any other style of breed. Indeed, you have only to appeal to your better judgment to convince you as to what would result from putting a jack, seven or eight hands high, to a mare of sixteen or more.

I have witnessed some curious results in mule breeding, and which it may be well enough to mention here. I have seen frequent instances where one of the very best jacks in the country had been put to mares of good quality and spirit. Putting them to such contemptible animals seemed to degrade them, to destroy their natural will and temper. The result was a sort of bastard mule, a small-legged, small-footed, cowardly animal, inheriting all the vices of the mule and none of the horse's virtues--the very meanest of his kind.

CHAPTER VII.
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE MULE.

The mule seems to have been used by the ancients in a great variety of ways; but what should have prompted his production must for ever remain a mystery. That they early discovered his great usefulness in making long journeys, climbing mountains, and crossing deserts of burnings and, when subsistence and water were scarce, and horses would have perished, is well established. That he would soon recover from the severe effects of these long and trying journeys must also have been of great value in their eyes. But however much they valued him for his usefulness, they seem not to have had the slightest veneration for him, as they had for some other animals. I am led to believe, then, that it was his great usefulness in crossing the sandy deserts that led to his production. It is a proof, also, that where the ass was at hand there also was the horse, or the mule could not have been produced. Any people with sufficient knowledge to produce the mule would also have had sufficient knowledge to discover the difference between him and the horse, and would have given the preference to the horse in all service except that I have just described. And yet, in the early history of the world, we find men of rank, and even rulers, using them on state and similar occasions; and this when it might have been supposed that the horse, being the nobler animal, would have made more display.

The Scriptures tell us that Absalom, when he led the rebel hosts against his father David, rode on a mule, that he rode under an oak, and hung himself by the hair of his head. Then, again, we hear of the mule at the inauguration of King Solomon. It is but reasonable to suppose that the horse would have been used on that great occasion, had he been present. On the other hand, it is not reasonable to suppose that the ass, or any thing pertaining to him, was held in high esteem by a nation that believed they were commanded by God, through their prophet Moses, not to work the ox and the ass together. It must be inferred from this that the ass was not held in very high esteem, and that the prohibition was for the purpose of not degrading the ox, he being of that family of which the perfect males were used for sacrifice. The ass, of course, was never allowed to appear on the sacred altar. And yet He who came to save our fallen race, and open the gates of heaven, and fulfil the words of the prophet, rode a female of this apparently degraded race of animals when He made his triumphal march into the city of the temple of the living God.

List of Mules Received, died, and Shot, at the Depot of Washington, D.C., from 1st February, 1863. to 31st July, 1866.

PICTURES OF SOME OF OUR MOST CELEBRATED ARMY MULES.

I have had photographs taken of some of our mules. A number of these animals performed extraordinary service in connection with the Army of the Potomac and the Western Army. One of them, a remarkable animal, made the great circuit of Sherman's campaign, and has an historical interest. I propose to give you these illustrations according to their numbers.

Illustration No. 1 (84k)

No. 1, then, is a very remarkable six-mule team. It was fitted out at Berryville, Maryland, early in the spring of 1861, under the directions of Captain Sawtelle, A. Q. M. They are all small, compact mules, and I had them photographed in order to show them together. The leaders and swing, or, as some call them, the middle leaders, have been worked steadily together in the same team since December 31, 1861. They have also been driven by the same driver, a colored man, of the name of Edward Wesley Williams. He was with Captain Sawtelle until the 1st of March, 1862; was then transferred, with his team, to the City of Washington, and placed under a wagon-master of the name of Horn, who belonged to Harrisburg, Pa. Wesley took good care of his team, and was kept at constant work with it in Washington, until May 14, 1862. He was then transferred, with his team, to a train that was ordered to join General McClellan at Fort Monroe. He then followed the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac up the Peninsula; was at the siege of Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg, and in the swamps of the Chickahominy. He was also in the seven days' battles, and brought up at Harrison's Landing with the Army of the Potomac. He then drove his team back to Fort Monroe, where they were shipped, with the animals of the Army of the Potomac, for Washington. He was set to work as soon as he reached a landing, and participated in hauling ammunition at the second battle of Bull Run. He then followed the army to Antietam, and from that battle-field to Fredericksburg, where he hauled ammunition during the terrible disaster under General Burnside. The team then belonged to a train of which John Dorny was wagon-master. When General Hooker took command of the army this team followed him through the Chancellorville and Chantilly fights. It also followed the Army of the Potomac until General Grant took command, when the train it belonged to was sent to City Point. This brings us up to 1864. It was with the army in front of Petersburg, and, during that winter, the saddle mule was killed by the enemy's shot while the team was going for a load of wood. In short, they were worked every day until Richmond was taken. In June, 1865, they were transferred back to the City of Washington. It is now August, 1866, and they are still working in the train, and make one of the very best teams we have. I refer now to the leaders and swing mules, as they are the only four that are together, and that followed the Army of the Potomac through all its campaigns. There is not a mule of the four that is over fourteen and a half hands high, and not one that weighs over nine hundred pounds. This team, I ought to add here, has frequently been without a bite of hay or grain for four or five days, and nothing to eat but what they could pick up along the road. And there are instances when they have been twenty-four hours without a sup of water. The experienced eye will see that they have round, compact bodies, and stand well on their feet.

Illustration No. 2 (64k)

No. 2 is the leader of the team, and for light work on the prairies, packing, or any similar work, is a model mule. Indeed, she cannot be surpassed. Her bone and muscle is full, and she is not inclined to run to flesh.

Illustration No. 3 (84k)

No. 3 is the off-leader of the same team. She is a good eater, tough, hardy, and a good worker,--in every way a first-class mule. I would advise persons purchasing mules to notice her form. She is a little sprung in the knees; but this has in no way interfered with her working. This was occasioned by allowing the heels on her fore-feet to grow out too much. During, and for some time after, the second battle of Bull Run, the train to which she belonged was kept at very hard work. The shoes that were on her at that time, to use the driver's own language, were "put on to stay." Indeed, he informed me that they were on so long, that he concluded they had grown to the feet. And in this case, as in many others, for want of a little knowledge of the peculiarities of a mule's feet, and the injury that results from over-growth, the animal had to suffer, and was permanently injured.

Illustration No. 4 (96k)

No. 4 is the off-swing, or middle-leader mule. She is perfectly sound, of good height, a good eater, and a great worker. She is also well adapted for packing, and a tolerably good rider. Her ears and eyes are of the very finest kind, and her whole head indicates intelligence. Her front parts are perfection itself. She is also remarkably kind.

Illustration No. 5 (84k)

No. 5 is the near swing mule, or middle leader. She is what is called a mouse-color, and is the fattest mule in the team. She underwent the entire campaigns of the Army of the Potomac, and is to-day without a blemish, and capable of doing as much work as any mule in the pack. Her powers of endurance, as well as her ability to withstand starvation and abuse, are beyond description. I have had mules of her build with me in trains, in the Western Territories, that endured hardship and starvation to an extent almost incredible; and yet they were remarkably kind when well treated, and would follow me like dogs, and, indeed, try to show me how much they could endure without flinching.

Illustration No. 6 (96k)

No. 6 is an off-wheel mule, of ordinary quality. I had to take the spotted mules from the wheels of this team, as they were not equal to the work required of them, and got very sore in front.

Illustration No. 7 (88k)

No. 7 is a spotted, or, as the. Mexicans call them, a calico mule. He and his mate were sent to the Army of the Potomac about the time General Grant took command of it. They were worked as wheel mules in the team until 1866, when this one, like nearly all spotted animals, showed his weak parts by letting up in his fore-feet, which became contracted to such an extent that the surgeon had to cut them nearly off. We were compelled to let him go barefoot until they grew out. This is one of the spotted mules I have referred to before. You never can rely on them.

Illustration No. 8 (84k)

No. 8 is the mate of No. 7. His bead, ears, and front shoulder indicate him to be of Canadian stock. His neck and front shoulder, as you will see, are faultless. But on looking closely at his eyes you will find them to be sore, and running water continually. I have noticed that nearly all animals in the army that are marked in this way have weak and inflamed eyes. A farmer should never purchase them.

Illustration No. 9 (100k)

No. 9 is a swing mule that has undergone a great deal of hardship. She is tolerably well formed but inclined to kick. She is also hard to keep in good condition, and unless great care is taken with her she would give out in the hind feet, where she now shows considerable fullness. When a mule's neck lacks the ordinary thickness there must be some direct cause for it, and you should set about finding out what it is. Lack of food is sometimes the cause. But in my opinion creased neck very frequently so affects the passages to and from the head, that the organs that should work in depositing flesh, fat, or muscle become deranged, and the neck becomes weak and in a disordered state. Purchasers would do well to discard these creased-neck mules.

Illustration No. 10 (92k)

No. 10 is an animal of an entirely different character from No. 9. She is remarkably gentle and tractable, of good form, and great endurance, and will work in any way. She is fifteen hands and one inch high, weighs ten hundred and fifty pounds, and is seven years old. This celebrated animal went through all of General Sherman's campaigns, and is as sound and active to-day as a four-year old.

Illustration No. 11 (92k)

No. 11 is one of those peculiar animals I have described elsewhere. He is all bones and belly. His legs are long, and of little use as legs. He is five years old, sixteen and a half hands high, and weighs thirteen hundred and ninety pounds. One of his hind legs shows a thorough pin. His hocks are all out of shape, and his legs are stuck into his hoofs on nearly the same principle that you stick a post into the ground. The reason why his pastern-joints show so straight is, that the heels on the hind feet have been badly trimmed when shaving. They too have been permitted to grow too long, and thus he is thrown into the position you now see him. This mule belongs to a class that is raised to a considerable extent, and prized very highly in Pennsylvania. In the army they were of very little use except to devour forage.

Illustration No. 12 (108k)

No. 12 is what may be called a pack mule of the first class. He is seven years old, fifteen and a half hands high, and weighs eleven hundred and fifty-six pounds. This animal has endured almost incredible hardships. He is made for it, as you will readily see. He is what is called a portly mule, but is not inclined to run to belly unless over-fed and not worked. He has a remarkably kind disposition, is healthy, and a good feeder. This animal has but one evil to contend with. His off hind foot has grown too long, and plainly shows how much too far back it throws the pastern-joint. This is in a measure the effect of bad shoeing. It is very rare to find a blacksmith who discovers this fact until it is too late. Now there is nothing more easy than to ruin a mule by letting his toes grow too long. Doctor L.H. Braley, chief veterinary surgeon of the army, is now developing a plan for shoeing mules, which I consider the very best that has been suggested. His treatment of the foot when well, and how to keep it so; and how to treat the foot by shoeing when it becomes injured, is the best that can be adopted.

Illustration No. 13 (88k)

No. 13 is a mule that has been worked in a two-mule train which has been in my charge for about a year. She was previously worked in a six-mule train, as the off-wheel mule. She is five years old, rising; size, fifteen hands and three inches high, and weighs fourteen hundred and twenty-two pounds. She was received into the Government service at Wheeling, Virginia, and when shipped or transferred to this depot, with four hundred others, was but two years old, rising three. She was worked, at least a year or more, too young; and to this cause I attribute certain injuries which I shall speak of hereafter. This mule, with two hundred others, was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, and went through its campaigns from 1864 up to the fall of Richmond. She is an excellent worker, and her neck, head, and fore shoulders are as fine as can be. Indeed, they are a perfect development of the horse. But her hips or flank joints are very deficient. Owing to her being worked too young, the muscles of the hind legs have given way, and they have become crooked. This is done frequently by the animal being placed as a wheeler when too young, and holding back under a heavy load. If you want to see how quick you can ruin young mules, place them in the wheels.

Illustration No. 14 (100k)

No. 14 is the off-wheel mule of a six-mule team. I had this mule photographed for the purpose of showing the effects of hitching animals so short to the team that the swingle-tree will strike or rest on their hocks. I referred to this great evil in another place. This mule is but six years old, sixteen hands high, and weighs nearly sixteen hundred pounds. Aside from the hocks, she is the best made and the best looking mule in the park; and is also a remarkably good worker. You will notice, however, that the caps of her hocks are so swollen and calloused by the action of the swingle-tree as to make them permanently disfigured. The position I have placed this mule in, as relates to the wagon wheel, is the proper position to put all wild, green, contrary or stubborn mules in when they are hard to bridle.

This is the severest use to which a lariat can be put on mule or horse. The person using it, however, should be careful to see that it sets well back to the shoulder of the animal. I refer now to the part of the loop that is around the neck. The end of the lariat should always be held by a man, and not made fast to any part of the wagon, so that if the animal falls or throws himself, you can slack up the lariat and save him from injury. Three applications of the buck will conquer them so thoroughly that you will have little trouble afterwards. Be careful to keep the lariat, in front, as high as the mule's breast; and see also that they are pulled up close to the front wheel before pulling it through the hind wheel.

DISEASES COMMON TO THE MULE, AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE TREATED.

The mule does not differ materially from the horse in the diseases he is afflicted with. He however suffers less from them, owing to lack of sensibility. It may be useful here to make a few remarks on the various diseases he is subject to, and to recommend a course of treatment which I have practiced and seen practiced, and which I believe is the best that can be applied.

DISTEMPER IN COLTS.

This disease is peculiar to young mules. Its symptoms develop with soreness and swelling of the glands of the throat, a cough, difficulty of swallowing, discharging at the nostrils, and general prostration. If not properly treated it is surely fatal.

TREATMENT:--Give light bran mashes, plenty of common salt, and keep the animal in a warm and dry stable. You need not clothe, for the mule, unlike the horse, is not used to clothing. If the swelling under the throat shows a disposition to ulcerate, which it generally does, do nothing to prevent it. Encourage the ulcer, and let it come to a head gradually, for this is the easiest and most natural way that the trouble, which at first seems to pervade the whole system, can be got rid of. When the ulcer appears soft enough to lance, do so, and be careful to avoid the glands and veins. Lance through the skin in the soft spot, which appears almost ready to break. If the throat is at any time so swollen as to render swallowing difficult, give water frequently, about milk warm, with nourishing feed of oats, corn, or rye meal--the last is the best. If this treatment, which is very simple, be carefully carried out, few animals will fail to recover.

CATARRH OR COLDS.

This disease seldom attacks the mule. We have had many thousands of them in camp, and out of the whole number, I do not recollect of a case where it either destroyed or disabled a single animal. In fact, it is a question with me whether mules will take cold when kept as the Government keeps them--camped out, or standing in sheds where the temperature is the same as outdoors.

GLANDERS.

This is one of the most destructive of diseases with which the horse family is afflicted, and one that has set the best veterinary skill of the world at defiance. A remedy for it has yet to be discovered. I have deemed it proper here, however, to carefully describe its symptoms, and to recommend that all animals showing symptoms of it be kept by themselves until their case be definitely ascertained. When you have ascertained to a certainty that they are afflicted with the disease, destroy them as quick as possible. See, too, that the place where they have been kept is thoroughly cleansed and sprinkled with lime, for the disease is contagious and the slightest particle of virus will spread it anew.

Farcy is but one stage of this terrible disease, but is not necessarily fatal while in this stage. It should, however, be treated with great care and caution. Farcy can also be conveyed to others by inoculation. Any one who has had the field for observation the author has for the last four years, would become convinced that the recommendations I am about to make describe the only course to be taken with this contagious disease. The number of its victims under my observation were counted by thousands. All that can be done is to prevent, if possible, the disease taking place, and to destroy when ascertained to a certainty that the animal has contracted it. I would say here, however, that this subject will soon be thoroughly handled in a work soon to be published by Doctor Braley, head veterinary surgeon of the army. He will undoubtedly throw some light on the subject that has not yet appeared in print.

SYMPTOMS.

First:--When it appears in a natural form, without the agency of contagion or inoculation, dryness of the skin, entire omission of insensible perspiration, starring of the coat. Sometimes slight discoloring can be observed about the forehead and lower part of the ears. Drowsiness, want of lustre in the eye, slight swelling on the inside of the hind legs, extending up to the bu-boa. This condition of things may continue for several days, and will be followed by enlargement between the legs. The inflammation incident to this may entirely subside, or it may continue to enlarge, and break out in ulcers on the lactiles of the lymphatic, which accompanies the large veins. In the last case it has appeared in the form of Farcy. This being the case, the countenance assumes a more cheerful look, and the animal otherwise shows signs of relief from the discharges of poisonous matter. If it remain in this state, death is not generally the result. If the system be toned up it will sometimes heal, and the animal will seem to be in a recovering state of health. Yet, from watching the symptoms and general health of the animal afterwards, you will be convinced that the disease is only checked, not eradicated. Acting in the system, it only waits a favorable opportunity to act as a secondary agent in colds, general debility, or exposure, when it will make its appearance and produce death.

But in the first case, as shown by the swelling in the hind legs, if the swelling disappear, and general debility of the system continues; if the eyes grow more drowsy, and discharge from the lower corners; and if this is followed by discharge from the nostrils, slight swelling and hardening of the sub-maxillary glands, which are between the under jaws, then it is clearly developed glanders. All the glands in the body have now become involved or poisoned, and death must follow in the course of ten or fifteen days, as the constitution of the animal may not be in a condition to combat the disease.

If this disease be annoyed by inoculation from the farcy heads of farcied animals into suppurating sores on other animals, it will be very slow in its progress, especially if it attack the other in a region remote from the lymphatic. If in a saddle-gall, it will make sores very difficult to heal. If there is any such thing as checking the disease in its progress, it is in these three cases.

I have observed that when it has been taken in a sore mouth it has followed down the cheek to the sub-maxillary gland, and ended in a clear case of glanders or farcy. There is another form in which this disease can be taken, and which is, of all others, the most treacherous and dangerous, yet never producing death without the agency of other diseases--always carrying with it the germs of infection, and ready to convey it to debilitated subjects and cause their death. The animal will still live himself, and show no sign of disease further than I am about to describe in the position. It is that which is taken in at the nostrils and attacks the sub-maxillary glands, which become enlarged and will remain so. When these become overloaded there will be a discharge at the nose. That being thrown off, it may be some time before any further discharge will be seen from the same source. In some cases, when the discharge is constant, this can be easily distinguished from gleet or ozena, from the healthy and natural appearance of the membranes of the nose, which at first are pale, then become fiery red or purple. In gleet the discharges from the nostrils, as in ozena, are of a very light color. In glanders they are first of a deep yellow, then of a dirty gray--almost slate color.

Mules affected with glanders of this kind, although it may seem hard from their otherwise healthy appearance, should be destroyed. They indeed carry with them the germs of infection and death, without any visible marks in their appearance to warn those who have the care of animals against their danger.

TEETHING.

As mules seldom change hands to any great extent until two or three years old, it is not deemed necessary here to say any thing of their age until they have reached two years, so as to give the inexperienced a wider scope. The mule's mouth undergoes exactly the same changes as the horse's. Between the ages of two and three these changes begin to take place in the mule's mouth. The front incisor teeth, two above and two below, are replaced by the horse for permanent teeth. These teeth are larger than the others, have two grooves in the outer converse surface, and the mark is long, narrow, deep, and black. Not having attained their full growth, they are somewhat lower than the others, the mark in the two next nippers being nearly worn out, and is also wearing away in the corner nippers.

A mule at three years old ought to have the central permanent nippers growing, the other two pairs uniting, six grinders in each jaw, above and below, the first and fifth level with the others, and the sixth protruding. As the permanent nippers wear and continue to grow, a narrow portion of the cone-shaped tooth is exposed to the attrition; and they look as if they had been compressed. This is not so, however; the mark of some gradually disappears as the pit is worn away. At the age of three and a half or four years the next pair of nippers will be changed, and the mouth at that time cannot be mistaken. The central nippers will have nearly attained their full growth, and a vacuity will be left where the second stood; or, they will begin to peep above the gum, and the corner ones will be diminished in breadth and worn down, the mark becoming small and faint. At this period also the second pair of grinders will be shed. At four years the central nippers will be fully developed, the sharp edges somewhat worn off, and the marks shorter, wider, and fainter. The next pair will be up, but they will be small, with the mark deep and extending quite across. Their corner nippers will be larger than the inside ones, yet smaller than they were, and flat, and nearly worn out. The sixth grinder will have risen to a level with the others; and the tushes will begin to appear in the male animal. The female seldom has them, although the germ is always present in the jaw. At four years and a half, or between that and five, the last important change takes place in the mouth of the mule. The corner nippers are shed, and the permanent ones begin to appear. When the central nippers are considerably worn, and the next pair are showing marks of wear, the tush will have protruded, and will generally be a full half inch in height. Externally it has a rounded prominence, with a groove on either side, and is evidently hollow within. At six years old the mark on the central nippers is worn out. There will, however, still be a difference of color in the center of the tooth. The cement filling up the hole made by the dipping in of the enamel, will present a browner hue than the other part of the tooth. It will be surrounded by an edge of enamel, and there will remain a little depression in the center, and also a depression around the case of the enamel. But the deep hole in the center of the enamel, with the blackened surface it presents, and the elevated edge of the enamel, will have disappeared. The mule may now be said to have a perfect mouth, all the teeth being produced and fully grown.

What I have said above must not be taken as a positive guide in all cases, for mules' mouths are frequently torn, twisted, smashed, and knocked into all kinds of shapes by cruel treatment, and the inexperience, to use no harsher term, of those who have charge of them. Indeed, I have known cases of cruelty so severe that it were impossible to tell the age of the animal from his teeth.

At seven years old the mark, in the way in which I have described it, is worn out in the four central nippers, and is also fast wearing away in the corner teeth. I refer now to a natural mouth that has not been subjected to injuries. At eight years old the mark is gone from all the bottom nippers, and may be said to be quite out of the mouth. There is nothing remaining in the bottom nippers by which the age of the mule can be positively ascertained. The tushes are a poor guide at any time in the life of the animal to ascertain his age by; they, more than any other of the teeth, being most exposed to the injuries I have referred to. From this time forward, the changes that take place in the teeth may be of some assistance in forming an opinion; but there are no marks in the teeth by which a year, more or less, can be positively ascertained. You can ascertain almost as much from the general appearance of the animal as from an examination of the mouth. The mule, if he be long-lived, has the same effect in changing his general appearance from youth to old age as is shown on the rest of the animal creation.

DISEASES OF THE TEETH.

There are few if any diseases to which the mule's teeth are subject, after the permanent teeth are developed; but during the time of their changes I have been led to believe that he suffers more inconvenience, or at least as much as any other animal--not so much on account of the suffering that nature inflicts upon him, as through the inexperience and cruelty of those who are generally intrusted with his care. I will here speak first of lampass. The animal's mouth is made sore and sensitive by teething; and this irritation and soreness is increased by the use of improper bits. As if this were not enough, resort is had to that barbarous and inhuman practice of burning out lampass. This I do, and always have protested against. If the gums are swollen from the cutting of teeth, which is about all the cause for their inflamed and enlarged appearance, a light stroke of a lancet or sharp knife over the gums, at a point where the teeth are forcing their way through, and a little regard to the animal's diet, will be all that is necessary. It must not be forgotten, that at this time the animal's mouth is too sore and sensitive to masticate hard food, such as corn. With the development of the teeth, however, the lampass will generally disappear.

THE EYE.

Mules are remarkable for having good eyes. Occasionally they become inflamed and sore. In such cases the application of cold water, and the removing of the cause, whether it be from chafing of the blinders, forcing the blood to the head through the influence of badly fitting collars, or any other cause known, is all I can recommend in their case.

THE TONGUE.

Mules suffer much from injury to the tongue, caused by the bad treatment of those who have charge of them, and also from sore month, produced in the same manner. The best thing for this is a light decoction of white-oak bark, applied with a sponge to the sore parts. Charcoal, mixed in water, and applied in the same manner, is good. Any quantity of this can be used, as it is not dangerous. If possible, give the animal nourishing gruels, or bran mashes; and, above all, keep the bit out of the mouth until it is perfectly healed.

POLL-EVIL.

This is a disease the mule more than all other animals is subject to. This is more particularly so with those brought into the service of the Government unbroken. It will be very easily seen that the necessary course of training, halter-breaking, &c., will expose them to many of the causes of this disease. Aside from this, the inhuman treatment of teamsters, and others who have charge of them, frequently produces it in its worst form. It begins with an ulcer or sore at the junction where the head and neck join; and from its position, more than any other cause, is very difficult to heal. The first thing to be done, when the swelling appears, is to use hot fomentations. If these are not at hand, use cold water frequently. Keep the bridle and halter from the parts. In case inflammation cannot be abated, and ulceration takes place, the only means to effect a cure, with safety and certainty, is by the use of the seton. This should be applied only by a hand well skilled in the use of it. The person should also well understand the anatomy of the parts, as injuries committed with the seton-needle, in those parts, are often more serious and more difficult of cure than the disease caused by the first injury.