The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-09-24
The Blue BuITO.

Inc Blue BurTO.
The donkey is a marvellous animal in
! point Of voice. His brayingpower varies
inyersely a, his size. The large Spanish
lack, whose bray can be heard Il distance
nj thirtv-four miles-as computed by
Prof. Huyley-is reduced to silence
when he enters into competition with a
small London donkey Of not half hi,
size. The smallest, and, at the same
time, the loudest, Of all donkeys is the
Mexican blue burro, little beast not
much larger than q Newfoundland dog.
Il wasa donkey of this variety that in
1861 put his nose into the door of Pro.
testant mission chapel in Minitlantepetl
and prayed the preacher and the entire
congregation, numbering five souls and
fifteen Mexicans, out OF the back win.
dow. The unfortunate congregation
was whirled before the awful blast like
leaves before hurricane, and even the
roof Of the mission chapel was lifted and
seriously strained. The noise was dis.
tinctly heard as far us Chicohualtlac,
distant eighty-five miles, where it was
mistaken for the roar Of an approaching
cylone, and so greatly alarmed the peo-
ole az to temporarily interrupt business
and put stop to the mornings rev0lu-
ton.
The Mexican burro has lately been in
troduced into New Orleans, where he
has become very popular as a useful
plaything for children. His bray has
naturally created good deal Of aston
ishment, and the local donkeys have en-
tirely ceased all attempts at competitive
braying. Not only is his voice seven
times as powerful as the voice of any
other donkey, but it contains a far larger
quantity Of ingenious and appalling
''stops." The burro has steam whis-
tie ''stop," q Chinese gong ''stop," and
saw-fling ''stop," Of which no other
style OF donkey can boast, and when it
is added that he has q coupling arrange
ment by which he can sound these and
all his remaining stops simultaneously
the full horror Of his bray can be appre-
ciated. M
Dr.. John Y. Cruger, one of the lead
ing scientific persons Of New Orleans,
recently bought burro for his little
daughter. Fascinated by the bray Of
the animal, he determined to make a
scientific investigation into the nature
Of the burro's vocal instrument, and
with that intention spent many hours
observing him when in the act Of bray
ing. He finally made up his mind that
the peculiarities of the bray were caused
by peculiar structure Of the larynx, and
he thereupon determine to overhaul the
burro's larynx in the most thorough
manner.
Accordingly, he one day seized the
donkey, conveyed him to his private Of
fee, and there, putting him under the
influence Of chloroform, opened his
lsrynx. TO his great surprise he found
that the larynx was filled with series
Of small tubes, each containing a
"reed," and precisely resembling the
pipes Of q melodeon. He counted
twenty .nine Of these tubes-though he
y not quite sure whether the tweoty-
eighth and twenty-ninth were really
separate tubes-and with his remorse-
less knife removed every one of them
from the donkey's larynx and placed
them in bottle for exhibition to his
medical class. The larynx, which af-
Ter this operation could not be distin-
sui1hsd either in size or shape from the
hrynx Of any professional basso, was
then washed out with . weak solution Of
carboic acid and sewed up. The burro
- recovering his senses seemed weak
81 Spiritless, and WAS placed In his
nhle and orders given that he should
M b disturbed for several days. 1t
was nearly . week before the animal
Ahny recovered and was ready to re-
Dmne active braying. '.s s s
The Doctor watched closely to note
~ sdect Of his operation upon the dom
& hys voice. On the sixth day after the
lsnoyA Of the tubes from the larynx the
ksyhg. He planted his four feet firm
1aad wide apart, he stretched out his
leck, Mid back hs ears, and took in 4
IN breath. Not sound followed, exc
opt gentle murmur Ike the peaceful
plrling Il the contsnted cat. The dom
~ boksd al around him in great as
tonishment, cAref lily searching the