ASS (A. S. asset, Goth. asilus, Bus. oscliI, Lat. asinus, probably of Eastern origin: cf. Heb. lithon, she - ass) or Doxxr:y, when domesti cated. A member of the family Equidx, and genus Equus, of horses. zebras, etc. Two species are recognized by Blanford and other specialists —one Asiatic and the other African. Asses resemble zebras rather than horses, in their less size, the presence of callosities on the forelegs alone, and the shortness of the hairs of the mane and tail, the latter (rather long) bearing mainly a terminal tuft. They differ from the zebras in color, in not having stripes (except as hereafter mentioned) and in having some what longer ears—but never so long as in the donkey. Both species roam desert regions in Small bands, and are extremely hardy, agile, and swift. Their colors are pale, harmonizing with their surroundings, and their voices are between the neighing of the horse and the bray ing of a donkey. Both are killed for food, and occasionally captured. but are intractable.
AsiArte Ass. The Asiatic ass (Eguits he mionus) ie distributed over all the arid interior of Asia. from Syria to eastern Mongolia and northern India. although more restricted now than formerly by the encroachments of civiliza tion. It was well known to the ancients, who called it o»ager, hemionus, etc., to which more recent writers have added confusing native names. There appear to be three local varie ties of this wild ass. One is the kiang, koulan, or dziggettai, of Tibet and Mongolia, which is the largest, reaching 4 feet in height at the shoulders. ft is dark-reddish in color, and has a narrow black stripe from (and including) the mane along the spine to the top of the tail; it. inhabits mountains up to the snow-line. The second is the ghorkhar. or onager, frequenting the plains of northwestern India, Afghanistan, and Beluchistan, which is smaller and paler, sometimes silvery white, and has a compara tively broad dorsal stripe. The third variety, less well marked, is that of Persia and Syria.
All are white underneath, and are likely to show obscure bars on the lower legs. This last named variety, no doubt, is that known to the writers of the Old Testament, who use it as a type of wildness and freedom—"Whose house I have made the wilderness. and the barren land his dwellings. . . . The range of the mountains is his pasturev (Job xxxix. 6. 7, S). It is, indeed, one of the freest, most agile, and perhaps the swiftest of wild quadrupeds. The kiang will rush over broken, rocky ground in an astonishing manner, and those of the plains are beyond the power of a single horseman to overtake. "In the Bakanir Desert the foals are captured during the summer by parties of mounted Baluchis, who, by relieving one an other, hunt them till they fall from sheer ex haustion, when they are taken and bound." These foals bring high prices in India, but are kept more as curiosities than for service. An other plan is to lie in wait at night by a drink ing-place, and then run the animals down when heavy with water; but their keen scent and warthess make this difficult. Among the Per sians, the pursuit of asses with greyhounds is a favorite sport, and their flesh is esteemed by many and said to resemble venison. The kiangs of the mountainous wilderness of Tibet are less shy, and will often approach one closely, with manifest curiosity, and even mingle with the horses of a train, or enter the camp. "The food of these wild asses," says Lydekker. "consists in the lowlands of different kinds of grasses, which are frequently dry; but in Tibet it is chiefly composed of various woody plants, which form the main vegetation of these arid regions. In the hills to the west of the Indus these animals are to be found wandering pretty well through out the year; but in the early summer, when the cerass and the water in the pools have dried up from the hot winds, the greater number, if not all, of the ghorkars migrate to the hills for grass and water."