Class ^-^ / < Book._j GopyrigM]^", COFffilGHT DEPOSm \ DOMESTICATED ANIMALS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Domesticated Animals. The Dog, Beasts of Burden, the Horse and Birds. Illustrated. Svo 2.50 Sea and Land. Features of Coasts and Oceans with especial reference to the Life of Man. Illustrated. Svo 2.50 Aspects of the Earth. A Popular Account of Some Familiar Geological I'henomena. With 100 illustrations. N'e'iv and Cheaper Edition. Svo 2. 50 Nature and Man in America. i2mo. 1.50 V AFRICAN ELEPHANT DOMESTICATED ANIMALS THEIR RELATION TO MAN AND TO HIS ADVANCEMENT IN CIVILIZATION BY NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER DEAN OF THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY ILLUSTRATED ^U^ NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1895 +-=. Copyright, 1895, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Press of J. J Little & Co. Astor Place, New York CONTENTS Introduction, THE DOG Ancestry of the Domesticated Dogs. — Early Uses of the Animal : Variations induced by Civilization. — Shepherd-dogs : their Peculiarities ; other Breeds. — Possible In- tellectual Advances. — Evils of Specialized Breeding. — Eikeness of Emotions of Dogs to those of Man : Comparison with other. Domesticated Animals. — Modes of Expression of Emotions in Dogs. — Future Development of this Species. — Com- parison of Dogs and Cats as regards Intelligence and Position in Relation to Man, . THE HORSE Value of the Strength of the Horse to Man. — Origin of the Horse. — Peculiar Ad- vantage of the Solid Hoof. — Domestication of the Horse. — How begun. — Use as a Pack Animal. — For War. — Peculiar Advantages of the Animal for Use of Men. — Mental Peculiarities. — Variability of Body. — Spontaneous Variations due to CHmate. — Variations of Breeds. — Effect of the Invention of Horseshoes. — Donkeys and Mules compared with Horse. — Especial Value of these Animals. — Diminishing Value of Horses in Modern Civilization. — Continued Need of their Service in War, ............. 57 THE FLOCKS AND HERDS : BEASTS FOR BURDEN, FOOD, AND RAIMENT Effect of this Group of Animals on Man. — First Subjugations. — Basis of Domestica- bility. — Horned Cattle. — Wool-bearing Animals. — Sheep and Goats. — Camels: their Limitation. — Elephants : Ancient History ; Distribution ; Intelligence ; Use in the Arts ; Need of True Domestication. — Pigs : their Peculiar Economic Value ; Modern Varieties ; Mental Qualities. — Relation of the Development of Domesti- cable Animals to the Time of Man's Appearance on the Earth, . . . 103 viii CONTENTS DOMESTICATED BIRDS PACE Domestication of Animals mainly accomplished by the vVryan Race ; Small Amount of Such Work by American Indians. — Barnyard Fowl : Mental Qualities ; Habits of Combat. — Peacocks : their Limited Domestication. — Turkeys : their Origin ; tend- ing to revert to the Savage State.— Water F'owl : Limited Number of Species domesticated ; Intellectual Qualities of this Group. — The Pigeon : Origin and History of Group ; Marvels of Breeding. — Song Birds. — Hawks and Hawking. — Sympathetic Motive of Birds : their ^-Esthetic Sense ; their Capacity for Enjoy- ment, ............... 152 USEFUL INSECTS Relations of Men to Insect World. — But Lew Species Useful to Man. — I>ittle Trace of Domestication. — Honey-bees : their Origin ; Reasons for no Selective Work ; Habits of the Species. — Silkworms : Singular Importance to Man. — Intelligence of Species. — Cochineal Insect. — Spanish Flies. — Future of Man relative to Use- ful Insects, .............. 190 THE RIGHTS OF ANIMALS Recent Understanding as to the Rights of Animals ; Nature of these Rights ; their Origin in Sympathy. — Early State of Sympathetic Emotions. — Place of Statutes concerning Animal Rights. — Present and Future of Animal Rights. — Question of Vivisection. — Rights of Domesticated Animals to Proper Care ; to Enjoyment. — Ends of the Breeder's Art. — Moral Position of the Hunter. — Probable Develop- ment of the Protecting Motive as applied to Animals, 204. THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTICATION The Conditions of Domestication ; Effects on Society ; Share of the Races of Men in the Work. — Evils of Non-Intercourse with Domesticated Animals as in Cities ; Remedies. — Scientific Position of Domestication ; Future of the Art. — List of Species which may Advantageously be Domesticated. — Peculiar Value of the Birds and Mammals. — Importance of Groups which tenant High Latitudes. — Plan for W'ilderness Reservations ; Relation to National Parks. — Project for International System of Reservations. — Nature of Organic Provinces ; Harm done to them by Civilized Men. — Way in which Reservations would Serve to Maintain Types of the Life of the Earth ; how they may be Founded. — Summary and Conclusions, . 218 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE African Elephant, . , . Frontispiece Sheep-dogs Guarding a Flock at Night lo Hounds Running a Wild Boar, 53 On Rotten Row, Hyde Park, London, 63 Cavalry Horse, 71 A Hurdle Jumper, 79 English Polo Ponies, 89 Winnowing Grain in Egypt, in The Halt in the Desert at Night — The Story Teller, . . .121 Carrying the Sugar Cane in Harvest — Egypt, . . . . 125 Feeding Silkworms with Mulberry Leaves in Japan, . . . 193 The Farmer's Apiary, 199 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT Greyhound after "the Kill," 13 St. Bernard 15 Spaniel Retrieving Wild Duck, ..,0 .... 17 Bull-Dog . . . ■ . 22 Fox-Hound and Pups, ........... 25 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Pointer Retrieving a Fallen Bird, ....... 26 Pointer and Setter, Flushing Game 27 Dutch Dogs Used in Harness, 30 King Charles Spaniel, ZZ The Pounce of a Terrier, 35 Pomeranian or " Spitz," 38 Poodles 39 Collie, 4i A Hunter, 60 Horse of a Bulgarian Marauder 67 Mare and Foal, 68 Plough Horses, France, . . • IZ Belgian Fisherman's Horse 76 Horses for Towing on the Beach in Holland, 78 Exercising the Thoroughbreds, 84 An Arabian Horse 85 Arabian Sports, 86 Syrian Horse, 92 In the Circus, 96 Domesticated Buffaloes in Egypt 104 Cattle of India, . . • 105 Indian Bullock and Water-Carrier, 108 Ploughing in Syria 109 Egyptian Sheep 114 Bedouin Goat-Herd — Palestine 116 The Great Caravan Road — Central Asia, 119 Camels Feeding, 123 Camels along the Sea at Twilight, 127 An Indian Elephant, 134 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi PAGE The Original Jungle Fowl {Gallus bankiva) and Some of his Do- mestic Descendants 153 HouDiN, Cochins, Leghorns, and Game 158 Bantams, Brahma, and Dorkings, 160 Contributions from Asia, Africa, and America — Peacocks, Guinea- fowl, and Turkey 163 The Domesticated Turkey, 165 The Largest of all Poultry — The Ostrich 168 An Eider Colony 170 Terns Aiding a Wounded Comrade 171 SOxME Recent Additions to the Poultry Yard, 173 Swans i74 The Original Wild Rock Dove ( Columba livia ) and Some of its Domestic Descendants, 173 Turtle Doves 177 The Giant Crowned Pigeon of India, 178 The English Pheasant 181 The Falconer's Favorite— Peregrine Falcon, 184 The Bandit's Brood, 186 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS INTRODUCTION One of the effects of the modern advance in natural science has been greatly to increase the attention which is devoted to the influences that the conditions of diverse peoples have had upon their development. Man is no longer looked upon, as he was of old, as a being which had been imposed upon the earth in a sudden and arbitrary manner, set to rule the world into which he had been sent as a master. We now see him as one of the myriad species which has won its way by powers of mind out of darkness and the great struggle to the place of command. The way in which this creature, weak in body and exceedingly dependent on his surroundings, has in the modern geologic epoch come forth from the mass of the lower animals, is by far the most impressive and as yet the most unexplained phenomenon which the geologist has to consider. It is not likely that the marvellous advancement can be accounted for by any single cause ; it is probably due, as are most of the great evolutions, to the concurrence of many influences ; but among these which make for advance, we clearly have to reckon the animals and plants which man has learned to associate with his work of the household and the fields. Although certain species of insects, particularly the ants, have the well-developed habit of subjugating certain creat- 2 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ures of their own family, man is the only vertebrate that has ever adopted the plan of domesticating a variety of animals and plants. The beginnings of this custom were made in a very remote time, and for long ages the profit which was thereby gained appears to have been but slight. Gradually, however, races, owing to their masterful quality and to the opportunities which were offered by the wild life about their dwelling places, obtained flocks and herds. In the group of continents commonly termed the old world, where there were several ancient primitive peoples of in- nate ability, and where there were many species of larger mammals which were well fitted for domestication, the advance in social development went on rapidly. In the new world, though the primitive races contained tribes of much ability, there was practically no chance for the people to add to their strength by the subjugation of beasts of burden, or to their food resources by the adoption of various animals which could be used for the needs of food or raiment. The advance of men when they have obtained valuable domes- ticated animals, and their failure to win a high station where the surrounding nature denied such opportunities, go far to prove the bearing of this accomplishment in the development of peoples. A little consideration makes It evident to us that the advance of mankind above the original savage state is in several ways favored by the possession of domesticated ani- mals. In the first place, each creature which is adopted into the household or the fields usually brings as its tribute a sub- stantial contribution to the resources which tend to make the society commercially successful. When we consider the enlargements of resources and the diversification of indus- IN TROD UCTION 3 tries which rest upon the adoption of any one of these animals — as, for instance, the horse — we see in a way what the possession of domesticated animals and plants really means, and are in a position to conceive, though at best but dimly, what the scores of these captive species have done for us. We recognize the fact that while, under almost any condi- tions, a certain manner of advance above the most primitive savagery is possible to a naturally able people, this on-going cannot lead any distance unless the folk have other help than their own weak bodies can give them. It is hardly too much to say that civilization has intimately depended on the subjugation of a great range of useful species. It would be interesting to trace, if we could, what share the several domesticated animals have had in the develop- ment of the human races ; but this task is not to be done. We can, however, discern that the Arab without the camel and the horse would not have found the place in history which he has filled, and that our own race could not have attained its place save for the aid which the horned cattle, sheep, and a host of other helpers which we have pressed into service, have afforded. These economic gains have to be judged in mass, they cannot be reckoned in detail. When we have made the best account of them we can, there remains another class of influences, the value of which, though evidently great, is yet harder to reckon ; these arise from the education which has been attained through the care of these adopted creatures. Among savages the great need is a training in forethoughtfulness ; all primitive peoples are like children, they live in the interests of the day ; the cares of the seasons to come, or even of the morrow, are not for them. The possession of domesticated animals certainly did 4 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS much to break up this old brutal way of life ; it led to a hioher sense of responsibility to the care of the household ; it brought about systematic agriculture ; it developed the art of war ; it laid the foundations of wealth and commerce, and so set men well upon their upward way. Moreover, the use of domesticated animals of the better sort enabled the more vio-orous and care-taking races to gain the strength which led to their advancement in power to a point where they were able to displace the lower and feebler tribes. In other words, the system of domestication has provided a method by which those peoples who were fitted to develop the qualities which make for civilization could advance ; it has provided the opportunity for selection. Of all the influences which have been exercised on man by the care of his flocks, herds, and droves, perhaps the most important is that which has arisen from the broader develop- ment of his sympathies. The savage may be defined as a man who cares only for his family and his tribe ; the civilized man as one whose kindly interest extends to mankind and beyond to all sentient beings. In the development of this altruistic motive the care of the dependent species has evidently been most effective. We note that the peoples who have attained the first upward step in the association with domesticated animals are in their quality, so far as tested by literature and history, much above the mere sav- age. With the care of the flocks we find associated poetry, the first notes of higher religious motives, and a largeness of the sympathetic life which is favored by the nature of the occupation. Where the nomadic habits of the original shepherds pass into the more sedentary state of the soil tiller, the element of personal care and the affection and INTRODUCTION 5 the consequent education of the sympathy were increased. Men had now to care for half a dozen or more kinds of animals ; they had to learn their ways, in a manner to put themselves in their places and conceive their needs. Thus the life of a farmer is a continual lesson in the art of sym- pathy ; with the result, certainly in part due to this cause, that there is no class of people from whom the brutal in- stincts of the ancient savage life which we all inherit have been so completely eradicated. It is perhaps too much to attribute the advance of the agricultural classes of our civilized peoples, in all that serves to remove them from the brutality of their savage ancestors, altogether to the nature of their work — to the very large element of kindly care for which it calls, and which is the price of success in the occupation. Yet when we note the immediate way in which the people bred in cities, under circumstances of excitement are wont to behave like savages of the lower kind, showing in their conduct a lack of all sympathetic education, and contrast their behavior with that of their kinsmen from the fields — we see essential differences in character which cannot well be explained save by the diverse natures of the traininof which the men have received. Thus in the French Revolution, the baser, more inhuman deeds were not committed by the peasants, who had been the principal sufferers under the regime which was over- thrown, but by the people of the great towns who had been less oppressed by the iniquities of the old system of gov- ernment. If it be true — as my personal experiences and observations lead me firmly to believe is the case — that man's contact with the domesticated animals has been and is ever to be one of 6 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS the most effective means whereby his sympathetic, his civil- ized motives may be broadened and affirmed, there is clearly reason for giving to this side of life a larger share of atten- tion than it has received. So far the presence of these lower creatures in our society has generally been accepted as a matter of course. Sentimentalists, after the fashion of Lau- rence Sterne, have dwelt upon the imaginary woes of the creatures. Associations of well-meaning people have en- deavored to diminish the cruelty which people of the towns, rarely those bred on the soil, often inflict upon them. It seems, however, desirable that we should place this con- sideration upon a plane more fitting the knowledge of our time. It should be made plain, not only that the success of our civilization depends now as in the past on the coopera- tion which mankind has had from the domesticated animals, but also that the development of this relation is one of the most interesting features in all history. On through the ages of the geologic past comes this great procession of life, in the endless succession of species whose numbers in the aggregate are to be reckoned by the scores, if not by the hundreds of millions. Until this modern acje, the throno- goes forward blindly, groping its way towards the higher planes of life. At length certain of the more advanced forms attain to a measure of intellectual elevation. Still, for all this advance, the life is not organized so as to attain any large ends ; no society arises from it. Suddenly, in the last geological epoch, man, the descend- ant of a group which like all others had led the narrow life of the preparatory ages, appears upon the scene. At first, and in his lower human estate, his position was not notice- ably higher than that of his kindred, but there was in him INTRODUCTION 7 the seed of a great unlikeness, of very new things, in that his desires had an element of the unlimited which was to grow apace, and in time to make him greedy of on-going. As this innovating creature sought for agents of power in the wilder- ness about him, he blindly laid hands upon such of the fellow tenants of the wilds as might serve his immediate needs. This species, both animals and plants, endowed with the capacity for variation, the plasticity which is in general a characteristic of all organic forms, were early led by their new master, as of old they had been guided by the old organic laws. They changed according to his choice, aban- doning their ancient ways for the novel paths of civilization. With this association of the hiorher forms of the earth under the leadership of man, there began an entirely new and unprecedented condition of the world's affairs. In place of the ancient law of nature there came the control of our spe- cies which had been, in a way, chosen to be the overlord of life. At first, the number of species of animals and plants which man brought under his control was very limited ; it was indeed confined to those which might readily be subjugated to meet immediate needs. Gradually, however, the list has been extended until it included thousands of forms, which, while they meet no need such as the savage recognizes, are gratifying to the taste or the ambitions of civilized peoples. These aesthetic devices, or those of necessity, are advancing so rapidly that each generation sees hundreds of new animal and plant species added to our living collections, so that our plant and animal gardens now contain a large share of the more attractive forms which are to be found in the various geographical realms. Our tilled fields yield perhaps a 8 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS hundred times as many varieties of plants as they did in the earliest historic agriculture. The advance in the process of domestication is not so rapid as regards the animal kingdom as it is with the realm of plants, and this mainly for the reason that animals have a will of their own which has to be bent or broken to that of man. Still it goes on apace. We of to-day have at our command many times the number of sentient spe- cies contributive to our pleasure or profit that had been made captive at the beginning of our era. Naturally, in the early days of domestication, men brought under their control the greater number of the animals which gave promise of utility. As no new species of any economic importance have been created within the last geologic period, the field for the exten- sion of economic domestication has of late been very limited. But the realm of sympathetic appreciation, unlike the econo- mic, knows no definite bounds, and promises in time to bring all the more important organic forms under the care of the sympathetic and masterful being who has been chosen as the ruler of terrestrial life. We thus see that the matter of domesticated animals is but a part of the larger problem which includes all that relates to man's destined mastery of the earth — a mastery which he is rapidly winning. It means that, in time, a large part of the life of this sphere is to be committed to his care, to survive or perish as he wills, to change at his bidding, to give, as other subjugated kinds have done, whatever of profit or pleasure they may contribute to his endless advancement. From this point of view our domesticated creatures should be presented to our people, with the purpose in mind of bring- ing them to see that the process of domestication has a far- reaching aspect, a dignity, we may fairly say a grandeur, that INTRODUCTION 9 few human actions possess. If we can impress this view, it will be certain to awaken men to a larger sense of their responsibility for, and their duty by, the creatures which we have taken from their olden natural state into the social order. It will, at the same time, enlarge our conceptions of our own place in the order of this world. In the following pages little effort has been made to pre- sent those facts concerning domesticated animals which would commonly be reckoned as scientific. The several essays which, in larger part, were separately printed in Scribner's Magazine, are intended for those persons who, while they may not care to approach the matter in the manner of the professional inquirer, are glad to have the results which naturalists have attained, so far as they may serve to extend knowledge of things which lie in the field of familiar experi- ences. To the text as it at first appeared, numerous additions have been made, and the concluding chapters, on the Rights of Animals, and on the Problem of Domestication, are new. In them an effort is made to direct attention to the import- ance of the problem of man's relation to the lower life which is about him, and which in the future far more than in the past is to be helped or hindered by his rule. Our life is made up of large problems ; but there seem few that are greater than this, which concerns our duty by the creatures that share with us the blessinors of existence, and over which we have come to rule. ***,{' THE DOG Ancestry of the Domesticated Dogs. — Early Uses of the Animal : Variations induced by Civilization. — Shepherd-dogs : their Peculiarities ; other Breeds. — Possible Intellectual Advances. — Evils of Specialized Breeding. — Likeness of Emotions of Dogs to those of Man : Comparison with other Domesticated Animals. — Modes of Expression of Emo- tions in Dogs. — Future Development of this Species. — Comparison of Dogs and Cats as regards Intelligence and Position in Relation to Man. It is an interestinof fact that the first creature which man won to domesticity was made captive and friend for the sake of companionship rather than for any grosser profit. The dog was, the world over, the first Hving possession of man beyond the hmits of his own kindred. He has been so long separated from the primitive species whence he sprang that we cannot trace with any certainty his kinship with the creat- ures of the wilderness. Like his master he has become so artificialized that it is hard to conjecture what his original state may have been. Naturalists are much divided in opinion in all that relates to the origin of our ancient and common domesticated animals ; and this for the reason that the longer a creature has been subjected to the change-bringing conditions of our fields and households, the further it has departed from the parent stock. This difftculty is naturally the greatest in the case of the dogs, for the reason that they have been longer and more completely under the control of man than any other of the lower animals. Some students of the problem have inclined to the opinion that the dog is a descendant 12 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS of the wolf ; the whelps of this species, it is supposed, were captured by primitive men and brought under domes- tication. Savages, like children, are much given to bringing the young of wild animals to their homes ; if the condi- tions are favorable they will care for these captives, even if the charge upon their resources is tolerably heavy. With most primitive people, however, life is so vagari- ous and starvation so recurrent that they are not apt to retain their pets long enough to establish domesticated forms. Thus, among our American Indians, though they show fondness for wild creatures as much as any other people, no species save the dog ever became permanently associated with their tribe. It is, however, possible, that in some sedentary group of savages the work of domesti- cating the ancestors of the dog, even if they were wolf-like, was accomplished. The difficulty of this view is that even with the high measure of care which the conditions of civilization permit us to devote to the effort, it has been found impossible to educate captive wolves to the point where they show any affection for their masters, or are in the least degree useful in the arts of the household or the occupations of the chase. They are, in fact, indomitably fierce and utterly self-regarding. It seems unreasonable to believe that any savage would have found either pleasure or profit from an effort to tame any of the known species of wolves. Moreover, the fact that dogs show little or no tendency to revert to the form and habits of their brutal kindred, or to interbreed with them, is clearly against the supposition that there is any close relation between the creatures. Yet other speculative inquirers have sought the origin of THE DOG n the dog through the admixture of the blood of several differ- ent species, the wolf and the jackal being, perhaps, the prin- cipal or the only components of the hybrid stock. Here, too, the evidence of nature is against the supposition. No one has ever succeeded in hybridizing the wolf and the jackal, nor do our dogs show any more tendency to revert to the jackal than to the wolf. They meet their tropical relative Greyhound after "the Kill" with as much animosity as is proper, or at least customary, in the intercourse of allied yet distinct species. In fact, all the indices by which we are able to carry back the history of other domesticated animals to their primitive or even extinct ancestry, fail in the case of the dog. When the stock is allowed to go as nearly wild as they can be induced to become, we do not find that they thereby approach to any known wild form. It therefore seems 14 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS reasonable to betake ourselves to another basis for the natural history of the dog, which has not yet been made a matter of much inquiry, but which promises to afford us more substantial truth than the conjectures which we have just considered. We should, in the first place, note the fact that the ances- tors of our more important domesticated animals, those which have been longest in subjugation, have commonly disappeared from the wild state — the species, except for the cultivated forms, having gone into the irrecoverable past. This is the case with the wild kindred of our bulls, horses, sheep, and camels, there probably being none of the original wild species of these groups now living, except those which have been more or less completely subjugated by man, and then have returned to the wilderness. The fact is, that with any large mammal the domestication of the species tends to bring about the destruction of the remaining wild forms. If we go back in fancy to the time when the dog was taken in from the wilderness, we readily perceive how certainly the subjugated individuals would have mingled with their wild kindred, so that either the wild would have become tame or vice versa. The same incompatibility which exists between slavery and freedom in our own species in any o-iven territory may be said to hold in the case of captive animals. It is particularly on this account that I am dis- posed to think that our races of dogs have been derived from one or more original species of truly canine ancestors, the wild forms of which have long since disappeared from the earth. Although there are no species of wild dogs now in exist- ence to which we can refer the oriorin of our household friends, THE DOG 15 there are several known to us only in their fossil state, from which they may possibly — indeed, we may say probably — have been derived. These creatures are, of course, repre- sented only by their skeletons, and even these remains have only been found in an imperfect state of preservation. It is evident, however, that these extinct species, or at least cer- tain of them, lived down to the time when man had come upon the earth, and was beginning to speculate on his sur- roundings for such company and help as he might win therefrom. It may interest the reader to know that a spe- cies of American dog existed in the Southern Appalachians down to a very recent time — recent, at least, in a geo- logical sense. The remains of one of these animals were found by the writer in a cave in East Tennessee, near Cumberland Gap. From the fragments of the skeleton, Mr. J. A. Allen has described the species. The animal 1 6 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS appears to have been of moderate size, and, from the posi- tion of the bones, it seems tolerably certain that it lived but a few centuries ago. It is clearly a reasonable supposition that some of these primitive canine species may have been far more domestic- able than the existing kindred of the dog — the wolves, foxes, jackals, or hyenas — differing from their fiercer kindred much as the zebras do from the wild asses, the one form being utterly undomesticable, and the other lending its back almost willingly to the burdens which man chooses to impose. It seems likely that this primitive species — perhaps more than one — whence the dog sprang was not a very vigorous or widespread form ; else, as before remarked, a savage would have found it impossible to keep his half-tamed creatures from rejoining their wild kinsmen. Thus, if a man should in this day succeed in taming wolves, in a region where they were plenty, to the point where they began to abide his presence, or even to have some slight affection for him, the call of nature would be likely to lead them back to reunion with their kind. It seems pretty certain that the first steps in the domestica- tion of the dog must be attributed not to any distinct purpose of acquiring a useful companion, but to that vague instinct which leads children to make captives of any wild animals with which they come in contact. The fancy for pets is not only common to all mankind, civilized and savage alike, but is clearly exhibited in many of the mammals below the level of man. Almost every one has observed cases where dogs, cats, and horses have become attached to some creature of an alien species with which they have been by chance thrown in contact. The higher the grade of the intelligence, the THE DOG 17 more sympathetic with other Hfe the animal is Hkely to become. Thus the elephants, whose natural endowments in the way of intelligence are perhaps superior to those of any other wild creatures, are, when brought into captivity, curi- ously prone to form attachments to human beings. Savages appear to make but little use of their dogs in hunting. In fact, those peculiar combinations of instinct and training Spaniel Retrieving Wild Duck which we find in our hounds, pointers, setters, and other dogs which have been bred to serve the purposes of sportsmen, have been acquired but slowly, and are of no value except where the search for game is carried on under what we may term civilized conditions. The dog of the savage is in all countries much like his master — a creature with few arts and unaccustomed to subdue his rude native impulses. It seems most likely that for ages the principal use of the 1 8 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS dog which dwelt about the camps of the primitive people was found in the reserve food supply which they afforded their thriftless masters. When the hunting was successful the poor brutes had a chance to wax fat, and even in times of scarcity they managed to pick up enough food to keep them alive. When their masters were brought to a state of famine they were doubtless accustomed, as are many savages at the present time, to eat a portion of their pack. In the early con- ditions of humanity there was no other beast which could be made to serve so well this simple need in the way of proven- der. The dog is, in fact, the only animal ever domesticated which can be trusted througrh his own affections alone to abide with his master in the endless changes of camp and the rapid movements of flight and chase which characterized men before their housed state began. In a certain curious way the use of dogs for food has served greatly to advance the development of these captives. When the savage was driven to feed upon his dogs he was naturally more willing to sacri- fice the least intelligent and affectionate of them, delaying, to the point of extremity, the time when he would kill those which had endeared themselves to him. In this way for ages a careful though unintended process of selection was applied to these creatures, and to it we may fairly attribute, as many considerate naturalists have done, a large part of the intellect- ual — indeed, we may say moral — elevation to which they have attained. When the place of the dog as the first and most intimate companion of man was affirmed in the rude way above described — when the savager)^ to which he was at first made free gradually enlarged to civilization, a number of special uses were found for the peculiar capacities of the creature. THE DOG 19 These varied in the different parts of the world, according to the pecuHarities in the conditions of the masters. In high latitudes, where the ground is snow-covered during the winter season, dogs were used, as they are to this day, in dragging sleds. They were, indeed, perhaps the first animals which were harnessed to vehicles. When they were brought to serve this definite end, we may well believe that the stronger and more enduring individuals were spared in times of dearth for the reason that they were almost indispensable to their masters, and even the little forethought which we find among primitive peoples would lead to their preserva- tion. Here again, doubtless, came in the process of unin- tended selection which has made the Esquimau sled-dog one of the most remarkable varieties of his kind. Perhaps the most interesting of the early variations induced among dogs is that which has arisen from the pas- toral habit. We do not know when this custom of keeping sheep in large flocks was first instituted, but it is evidently of exceeding antiquity, probably far older than the pyramids of Egypt. The custom could hardly have been instituted with- out help of the shepherd's mate, the sheep-dog. Although the creatures of this breed are probably in form very near to the original wild species whence our canines came, the variety has as regards its instincts been, by a process of education and selection, led very far away from the original stock. The wild forefathers of this species were clearly natural born sheep-slayers, and the motive abides to this day in all the breeds which have the strength to assail our unresisting flocks. The spirit is so ingrained that even the most civilized of our house-dogs, which may for generations never have 20 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS tasted blood and which show no disposition to attack the other animals of the barn-yard, cannot be trusted alone with sheep. When two or more of them are together the old instincts of the wild pack return, and they will slay with insensate brutality until they are fairly exhausted with their fury. Their behavior on such occasions reminds one of the actions of their masters when possessed with the blind rage of a mob. Yet in the shepherd-dog we find this ancestral motive, once a large part of the life of the creature, so over- come by education and selection that they will not only care for a flock with all the devotion which self-interest can lead the master to give to the task, but they will cheerfully undergo almost any measure of privation in order to protect their charges from harm. The annals of shepherd districts, especially those where winter snows fall deeply, as in Scot- land, abound in anecdotes of a well-attested nature which show how profoundly the dogs which tend the flocks are imbued with the love of the animals committed to their care. This affection is more curious for the reason that it is never in any measure returned by the sheep. To them the cus- todian is ever a dreaded overseer. He seems to bring to them nothing but the memories of danger derived from the experience which their species acquired in far-away times. It is very interesting to note the behavior of a young shepherd-dog when he is first brought in contact with a flock. It is easy to see that he has an amazingly keen interest in the sheep. He regards them with an attention which he gives to no other living things, except perhaps his master. Out of a litter of well-bred pups belonging to this variety, the greater part will at once assume a curatorial attitude toward a flock. They will show a disposition to keep them THE DOG 2 1 together, and will seize on an individual only in case he undertakes to break away. They will generally use no more force than is necessary to reduce the recalcitrant to order. They arrest him by catching hold of the leg or Heece, and rarely seize hold of the throat, which other dogs, led by their inherited instincts, are apt at once to assail. Very rarely does a shepherd-dog of good ancestry, even at the outset of his career, attack a sheep in a way which shows that the ancient proclivities have been revived in his spirit. Even then a little remonstrance, or at most a sliorht castieation, is pretty sure to turn him from his evil ways. If we could measure in some visible manner the psychic peculiarities of animals, we would be led to reofard this crreat chano-e in the instincts of the dog, which has been brought about by his use in herding, as perhaps the most momentous transformation which man has ever accomplished in any creature, including himself ; for none of our own inherited savage traits are so completely sublated at the time of our birth as is this old and sometime dominant slaying motive in the shepherd-doo". With the advancing differentiation of human occupations and amusements, our breeds of dogs have, by more or less deliberate selection, been developed until by form and instincts they fit a great variety of purposes. Some of these pertain to industrial work, but the greater portion are related to the sports or fancies of men. The turnspit was bred for its short legs and small, compact body, and was serviceable in those treadmills of the hearth which have long since passed out of use, but which were for centuries features in our kitchens. The massive type of bull-dogs, characterized by heavy frames and an indomitable will, appears to have been brought 22 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS about by a process of selection having for its unconscious end the development of a breed which should render the herds- man of horned cattle something like the assistance which the shepherd-dog gave to those who had charge of flocks. In the more primitive state of our bulls and cows the creat- ures were much wilder than at present, and were generally- kept, not in enclosed pastures, but on unfenced ranges. In Bull-Dog these conditions the care taken needed the help which the ancestors of our modern bull-door afforded. The tasks which the animal was called on to perform were of a ruder nature than those which were allotted to the shepherd-dog. Their business was to conquer the unruly beast. They were taught to seize the muzzle, and by the pain they thus inflicted they could subdue even the fiercer small bulls of the ancient type of form. From this original use the cattle-dogs were turned to the brutal sport of bull-baiting, a rude diversion which was indulged in by our ancestors for centuries, and has only dis- THE DOG 23 appeared in our less cruel modern days. Bred for the bull- ring, these dogs acquired the formidable strength and ferocity under excitement which made their name a terror and their qualities a satirical embodiment of the ruder traits which characterized the British folk. The traininof which instituted the breed of bull-doQfs was evidently much less continuous and effective than that which ■developed the shepherding variety. The use for the creature in the care of herds has passed away. In the older parts of the world cattle are kept only in enclosures ; and where, as on our frontier, they still range over unbounded fields, they are guarded by horsemen who do not need the assistance of dogs to control the movements of the herds. No longer service- able either in economies or sports, the breed of true bull-dogs is rapidly disappearing. As we may often observe in other fields of development, the peculiarities of this breed are now under the control of fancy, and the blood is being led far away from its old characteristics. The bull-terrier and other varieties, which retain something of the form and of the solemn demeanor which characterized their ancestors, but which are too small to assail horned cattle, mark the van- ishing stages of this great stock, which will soon be known only in memory. The history of this peculiar herd-dog shows us how marvellously pliant the body and mind of this species has become under the conditions of civilization. The rude process of unconscious selection, acting without stead- fastness of purpose or rationally developed skill, serves to sway the qualities of the animal this way or that to meet the ever-changing requirements of use or fancy. A similar selection in the case of our horned cattle has within a few ■centuries converted the cows into mild-mannered and 24 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS sedentary milk-making machines, and has deprived the bulls of the greater part of their ancient savage humor. Owing to this change in the quality of their associates in captivity the dogs have also been led into crreat variations. The same fc> »5 type of interaction may be traced again and again in the isolated part of the world enclosed within our fences, as well as in the free realm of the wildernesses. All the individuals in the great host of life affect each other as do the soldiers of a well-organized army in the movements of a battle. The shepherd-dog, the turnspit, and the bull-dog are the three remarkable variations of the canine blood which were brought about by a process of training and selection uncon- sciously directed to the institution of breeds suite.d to special economic ends. The other varieties of dogs have been shaped more distinctly for purposes of amusement or for the indulgence of mere fancy. The several varieties of hounds, harriers, beagles, pointers, setters, terriers, etc., have been designed to meet a dozen or more variations in the con- ditions of the chase. The marvellously complete way in which special peculiarities have been developed in mind and body makes this field of domestic culture the most fascinating subject of inquiry to the naturalist. The ordinary fox-hound has had his inheritances determined so as to fit him for pur- suing a small animal which can rarely be kept in view during its flight, and which can only be followed by the odor it leaves in its trail, so these creatures run almost altogether under guidance of their sense of smell. The stag-hound, on the other hand, pursues a relatively large animal which can- not well be followed by the nose, at least with any speed ; they therefore trust almost altogether to vision in their chase. The packs which hunt otters have developed the swimming THE DOG 25 habit and an array of instincts which fit them especially for this pecuHar sport. If space allowed we could note at least a dozen divisions of the group of hounds or chasing dogs, each of which has developed a peculiar assemblage of qualities, more or less precisely adapted to some particular game. Perhaps the most special adaption which man has brought about in his domesticated animals is found in our pointers Fox-Hound and Pups and setters. In these groups the dogs have been taught, in somewhat diverse ways, to indicate the presence of birds to the orunner. Although the modes of action of these two breeds are closely related, the)' are sufhcientK* distinct to meet certain differences of circumstances. The peculiarities •of their actions, it should be noted, are altogether related to the qualities of our fowling-pieces. These have been in use, at least in the form where shot took the place of the single ball, for less than two centuries, and the peculiar training of 26 DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS our pointers and setters has been brought about in even less time. It seems Hkely, indeed, that it is the result of about a hundred and fifty years of teaching-, combined with the selection which so effectively works upon all our domes- ticated creatures. It thus appears that this peculiar impress Mv'ftiiVmA*vw '*^ Pointer Retrieving a Fallen Bird upon the habits of the hunting-dog is the result of some- where near thirty generations of culture. Although, as has been often suggested, the pointing or setting habit probably rests upon an original custom of paus- ing for a moment before leaping upon their prey, which was possibly characteristic of the wild dog, it seems to me un- likely that this is the case, for we do not find this habit of creeping on the prey among our more primitive forms of dogs nor the wild allied species as a marked feature. All the THE DOG 27 canine animals trust rather to furious chase than to the cau- tious form of assault by stealthy approach and a final spring upon their prey, as is the habit with the cat tribe. Granting this somewhat doubtful claim that the induced habits of these dogs which have been specially adapted to the fowling-piece rest upon an original and native instinct, the amount of spe- Pointer and Setter, Flushing Game cialization which has been attained in about thirty genera- tions of care remains a very surprising feature, and affords one of the most instructive lessons as to the possibilities of animal culture. It is an interesting fact that the variation of a spontaneous sort, which is now taking place in our pointers and setters, is considerable. It is, perhaps, more distinctly indicated here than in any other of the breeds which are characterized by peculiar qualities of mind. All those familiar with the behav- 28 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ior of these strains of dogs have observed the high measure of individuality which characterizes them. I have recently been informed by a friend, who is a hunter and a very observ- ing naturalist, of one of these variations in the pointer's instinct, which may, by careful selection, possibly lead to a very useful change in the habits of the animal. Hunting the Virginia partridge in the tall grass on the sea-coast of Geor- gia, his dog found by experience that his master could not discern him when he was pointing birds, and that a yelp of impatience would put up the covey before the gun was ready for them. The sagacious dog, therefore, adopted the habit of backing away from the point where he first fixed him- self, so that he, by barking, denoted the presence of the birds without giving them alarm. Although, in this first instance, the action is purely rational, and is indeed good evi- dence of singular discernment and contrivinor skill, it seems likely that by careful breeding it may be brought into the realm of pure instinct or inherited habit. The great variation in habits which is taking place in those varieties of dogs which are immediately under the master's eye during all the process of the chase, is easily explained by the fact that these creatures are in a position to be immedi- ately and constantly influenced during their most active, and therefore teachable state of mind, by the will of man. A pack of fox-hounds is, to a great extent, out of hand while engaged in the pursuit of their prey ; but a pointer or setter, even when under extreme excitement, is almost completely mastered by the superior will. When we observe the extent to which human intelligence is affecting the qualities of our hunting-dogs, it is not surprising to note that, in almost every district where there are peculiar kinds of game, varieties THE DOG 29 of the dog are developing which are especially adapted to its pursuit. Thus, in the parts of North America where the raccoon abounds, a variety of hunting-dog is in process of development which has a singular assemblage of qualities which fit it for this peculiar form of the chase. Although as yet " coon-dogs " have not been cultivated for a sufficient time to acquire distinct physical characteristics, their habits exhibit a larger range of specialization than those of any other breed of sporting dogs. In those parts of the Americas where peccaries are hunted, the dogs used in their pursuit have learned to beware of assaulting the pack which they have brought to bay, and instead of indulofinor in the instinct which leads them into that way of danger and of certain death, they circle round the assemblage, compelling them to show front on every side and so to remain stationary until the hunters come up. Perhaps a score of similar specializations in the modes of action of our dogs which are employed in the chase could be recited; but as they all lead us to one conclusion — which is to the effect that these creatures are, as far as their mental powers are concerned, like clay in the hands of the potter — we may pass them by for some considerations which appear to have escaped the attention of writers who have discussed the problems of canine intelligence. The singular elasticity as regards both mental and physi- cal qualities which the dog exhibits, may well be compared with the other conditions which we find in certain of our domesticated animals, as, for instance, in the horse, where the mind shows but slight changes, and where the body has proved far less plastic than among dogs. The readiness with which the proportions of the dog may, by the breeder's 30 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS art, be made to vary, is probably due to the fact that the group to which this creature belongs is one of relatively modern institution. It has the plasticity which we note as a characteristic of many other newly-established forms. The flexibility of mind is a concomitant of the carnivorous habit where creatures obtain their prey by the chase. Such an occu- ), fpKMtAi***. •'*^ Dutch Dogs used in Harness pation tends to develop agile minds as well as bodies, and where exercised as it doubtless was by the ancestry of the dog, in the manner of pack hunting, where many individuals share in the chase, it is well calculated to insure a certain free and outgoing quality of the mind. So long as our clogs were employed in the labor or the organized recreations of man, the tendency of the association with the superior being was in a high measure educative. They were constantly submitted to a more or less critical THE DOG 31 but always effective selection which tended ever to develop a hiofher crrade of intellis^ence. With the advance in the organization of society the dog is losing something of his utility, even in the way of sport. He is fast becoming a mere idle favorite, prized for unimportant peculiarities of form. The effort in the main is not now to make creatures which can help in the employments of man, but to breed for show alone, demanding no more intelligence than is necessary to make the animal a well-behaved denizen of a house. The result is the institution of a wonderful variety in the size, ( shape, and special peculiarities of different breeds with what appears to be a concomitant loss in their intelligence. We often hear it remarked by those who are familiar with dogs that the ordinary mongrels are more intelligent and more susceptible of high training than the carefully inbred varieties, which are more highly prized because they conform to some thoroughly artificial standard of form or coloring. This is what we should expect from all we know concerning the breedinor. W^here for orenerations the dogf-fancier has selected for reproduction with reference to the trifling and often injurious features of shape he seeks to attain, he natur- ally and almost necessarily neglects to choose the creatures in regard to their mental peculiarities. The result is that the breed tends to fall back in these regards to below the level of the ordinary cur, who makes his place in the affec- tions of his owner because he has attractive or useful quali- ties of mind. It appears to me, in a word, that our treat- ment of this noble animal, where he is bred for ornament, is in effect degrading. Although the formation of our fancy breeds does not serve to advance the development of those intellectual feat- 3 2 DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS ures which are the most interesting part of our dogs, the experiments have served to show the amazing physical plasticity of this species under the conditions of long domes- tication. The range in size between a tiny spaniel, such as those which are bred in Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, and the great Danes or mastiffs of northern Europe, is, perhaps, the greatest which has ever been attained in any mammal. In some cases the larger individuals belonging to the mastiff breed probably weigh nearly thirty times as much as their smaller kinsmen. Great as are these variations, they are only in form and bulk. They involve none of those curi- ous changes in the number of bones of the skeleton which we may trace among the domesticated pigeons. We there- fore turn from these results of breeders' fancy to consider certain of the mental qualities of dogs which have not come in our way in our review of the history of its relations to man. First of all, we may note the fact that the friendly rela- tions which dopfs have become accustomed to form with men vary exceedingly in their range and activity. Perhaps in no other regard does the dog exhibit such distinctly human char- acteristics as in the way in which he meets the individuals of the mastering species. The gamut of their social relations with men is almost exactly parallel with our own. With from one to a dozen persons a dog may maintain an attitude of almost equally complete sympathy and mutual understanding- He may be on terms of acquaintanceship in varied degrees of familiarity with a few score others with whom he comes in frequent contact. Toward the rest of mankind he maintains a position of more or less complete distrust, which with experience may attain the indifference which men commonly THE DOG show toward perfect strangers. If we observe a clog going alon^i- a much-frequented street, we may note that his rela- tions to the people are substantially those which the folk have to each other. He shows as they do a certain consid- eration for the individuals he encounters, gives them their due place, and yet holds to his own. It is particularly notice- able that he avoids all contact with the other passers — in fact a doQf has to be much beside him- self with rage or fear, or insane from disease, be- fore he will break those bounds of personality which civilization has set up to guide the conduct of life. The social culture of dogs appears to have gone to the point where they recognize the meaning of an introduction — at least as far as the sympathetic relations of that understanding are concerned. Almost any well-bred dog will submit to be presented by his master, or even by persons whom he knows but is not accustomed to obey, to a stranger to whom he has already exhibited some dislike. During the introduction he will submit to those formal exchanges of courtesy which he is accustomed to recognize as the indices of friendship. The impression of this understanding seems to be so permanent that on subsequent meetings the dog. King Charles Spaniel 34 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS though he may maintain his original dislike of the man who has been forced upon his acquaintance, will continue to treat him with a certain consideration, though it is often easy to see that it is a difficult matter for him to conform to the requirements of society. When we compare the conduct of doQfs in these regards with the behavior of other animals, even highly domesticated forms, we perceive how marvel- lously successful has been man's unconscious effort to mould this creature on his own nature. Another extremely human characteristic of our canine friends is shown in their susceptibility to ridicule. Faint traces of this quality are to be found in monkeys and perhaps €ven in the more intelligent horses, but nowhere else save in man, and hardly there, except in the more sensitive natures, do we find contempt, expressed in laughter of the kind which conveys that emotion, so keenly and painfully appreciated. With those dogs which are endowed with a large human quality, such as our various breeds of hounds, it is possible by laughing in their faces not only to quell their rage, but to drive them to a distance. They seem in a way to be put to shame and at the same time hopelessly puzzled as to the nature of their predicament. In this connection we may note the very human feature that after you have cowed a dog by insistent laughter you can never hope to make friends with him. A case of this kind is fresh in my experience. A year or two ago I was imprudent enough to laugh at a very intelligent dog in my neighborhood, he having unreasonably assailed me at my house-door, where he had been left for a long time to wait while his owner was within and had thereby been brought into an unhappy state of mind. Sympathizing with his situation, I preferred to laugh him out of his humor THE DOG 35 rather than to beat him with my stick. I regret I did not take the other alternative, for I made the poor brute my implacable enemy by my pretence of contempt for him. I am inclined to think that if I had beaten him the matter could have been arranged afterward in a friendly way. Another very remarkable and I believe hitherto unnoticed likeness between the mind of dogs and that of man is found in the fact that these dumb beasts, unlike all other inferior animals, except, perhaps, some of the more intelligent species of monkeys, will learn lessons from isolated experiences. In this regard they are indeed quite as apt as the lower kinds of men. Thus a dog who has had an unsavory or painful experience with a skunk or a porcupine is apt to keep away 36 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS from these creatures for a long time thereafter. Where, as is not infrequently the case, a cur takes to eating eggs, a single dose of tartar emetic concealed in an ^^^ which is placed where he can readily find it, is apt to effect an immediate and complete reform. This ready learning from experience is almost the gist of our human quality — at least on the intellectual side of it. Perhaps the greatest success to which man has attained in his education of the doe is to be found in the measure in which he has overcome the fierce rage which clearly charac- terized the ancestors of this creature when they first felt the mastering hand. The reader cannot understand the intensity of the rasfe motive in the carnivora unless he has studied some of these brutes in their wild state, where from the time in the remote ages when they first began to take on the qualities of their species they have survived and won success by the fury of their assault. In almost all our breeds of dogs this primal ferocity has been overlaid by the various motives of rationality, sympathy, and conventional demeanor, until one may live half a lifetime with well-bred dogs without a chance to see the demon which we have buried in their breasts, as we have in our own, beneath a host of civilizing influences. It is rare indeed in our day that a dog, unless insane, will bite a human being. The most of their assaults are pure bluster, mere pretence of fury, as is shown by the fact that if, carried away by their pretence, they are led to use their teeth, it is usually a mere sham assault, having no semblance of the effectiveness of true combat. Something of the pristine fury of the primitive dogs may still be noted in a certain brutal variety of watch-dogs which are still to be found in parts of continental Europe. The THE DOG 2>7 best types of this breed which I have ever seen are to be found among the dogs which are kept to guard the quarries of Solenhofen, in Bavaria, whence come all the fine litho- graphic stones which are so extensively used in printing. These quarries are scattered over several square miles of untilled country, and the separate pits are to be numbered by the score. As much valuable stone is necessarily left over night in the quarries, their care is confined to packs of watch-dogs which are turned loose at night and appear as if by instinct to spend the hours of darkness in prowling over the territory. Such is their size and ferocity that it takes a sturdy beggar to face them. I remember inadvert- ently disturbing one of these brutes from sleep, in the strong cage where he was confined, and I have never beheld such a picture of blind fury as he exhibited. I had not come within twenty feet of him, and was merely moving past his place of confinement ; yet he sprang to the grating and strove with his teeth to break his way through the bars. I thought the animal must be mad, but his keeper assured me that such was his ordinary state of mind and that the humor was common to all the breed ; even the masters dwelt in fear of them. Ordinarily the only exhibitions of the innate ferocity of our dogs are to be seen in their combats with each other, when for a time the creatures return to their primitive state of mind. Even these occasional exhibitions of fury are not found among all breeds of dogs, and among many individuals even of the combative strains of blood the motive of battle appears to have quite passed away. In antithesis to the old Ishmaelitic humor of our prim- itive dogs, man has developed a singular, sympathetic, and kindly motive in these creatures. From the point of view of 38 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS the clog's education we must not set too much store by his affection for his master. This kind of devotion of one being to another is displayed elsewhere in the animal kingdom, thouof-h it is more common amonor birds than amonor mam- mals. We find traces of it in the greater part of our domes- ticated creatures or in those which we have individually adopted from the wilderness. It is a part of the great sym- pathetic motive, which, originating far down in the series of animals, increases as they gain in the scale of being, until it reaches the high- est level it has yet attained in spirit- ually minded men. The eminent pe- culiarity in the case of a dog- is that the very centre of his life is formed of the affections, which are evidently the same as those which rule the days of the most cultivated men. To him these elements of friendli- ness are absolutely necessary to a comfortable existence. If by chance he becomes separated from his master and the other people with whom he is familiar, his bereavement is intense ; but in most cases, at the end of a day or two, he is compelled to form new bonds, and he sets about the task in an exceedingly human way. I dwell in a town where dogs abound and where the frequent coming and going of the peo- ple puts many of the creatures astray. Perhaps as often as once a week, almost always late in the evening, one of these Pomeranian or " Spitz " THE DOG 39 unhappy lost ones seeks to make friends with me. His advances toward this end always begin by his dogging my footsteps at a little distance. If I do not repulse him he will come nearer until he has made sure of my attention. A friendly word will bring him to my hand ; but his behavior is never effusive, as it would be if he had found his right- ful owner, but mildly propitiative and with a touch of sad- ness. There is, it seems to me, no other feature in the life of the dog which tells so much as to his moral nature as his conduct under these unhappy cir- cumstances. In the long cata- logfue of hu- ^ . Poodles man quali- ties which characterize our thoroughly domesticated dogs, we must not fail to take account of their sense of property. In this the creature differs from all other of our domesticated animals. It is a common characteristic of mammals, both in their wild and tame state, that they feel a motive of ownership in the food which they have captured or in the den which they have made their lair ; but beyond these narrow personal limits we see no evidence of any sense of ownership in land or effects. We readily observe, however, that our household dogs not only know the chattels of their master and distinguish them 40 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS from those of other people, but they also learn to recognize the bounds of their house-lot or even of a considerable farm. When a dog, even of a militant quality, enters on territory which he does not feel to belong to him, he is at once a very different creature as compared to his condition when he is on his own land. He treads warily and will accept without dis- pute an order to take himself off. A perception of this sort indicates an extraordinary amount of sympathy and discern- ment. It requires us to assume that the creature has a good sense of topography and that he observes closely the various acts, none of them perhaps very indicative, which go to show the limits of his master's claims. Although the mental qualities of our highly domesticated dogs are singularly like those of their masters, the likeness going to the point that the household pet is apt to have acquired something of the general character of the people with whom he dwells, there are many suggestive differences arising from failures of development which are in the highest measure interesting to those who study the species. We note, in the first place, that although for ages in contact with the constructive work which occupies his masters, the dog shows no tendency whatever to essay any undertakings of this nature. He is quite alive to considerations of personal comfort and is particularly fond of a warm bed ; yet, except for a few unverified stories, we may say that there is no evidence whatever to show that they ever try to improve their con- ditions by deliberately providing themselves with warm bed- ding. In no well-attested case has a dog shown any sense as to the nature of any mechanical contrivance. They will learn which way a door opens, and rarely if ever do they undiscerningly close it when it is slightly ajar and they THE DOG 41 wish to pass through the opening ; but I have never been able to observe or obtain evidence to show that they would without teaching pull down a latch in the way in which a cat readily learns to do. Much as dogs have had to do with guns, they display no kind of interest in the arms except so far as they are tokens of sport to come. They connect the explosion with the capture of game, and will search for it in the direction toward which the barrel was pointed. I have not, however, been able to find that they know, as they might readily do, and as a crow would surely do, when the weapon was loaded and when empty. They show no interest in it, such as monkeys readily display toward any mechanical contrivance to which their attention has been directed. All these negative features indicate that the mechanical side of the canine mind is entirely undeveloped. 42 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS Although there is some evidence that the sense of num- ber attains a measure of development in dogs, the ability to form mathematical conceptions of any kind appears to be very weak in this species. The fact that shepherd-dogs, in a way, keep an account of considerable flocks so that they will know when one is gone astray, can readily be explained on the supposition that they know their charges individually and not in sum. The absence of arithmetical capacity is, how- ever, less important than the lack of mechanical sense, for the reason that such incapacity is also common in the lowest races of men. Although dogs, as before noted, quickly and clearly acquire a notion of property rights in all which pertains to their owner's holdings, they appear never to extend their sense of their own personal possessions beyond the original limit to which they had attained when the species was domes- ticated. The creature feels a sense of personal property in his food and in his sleeping-place, but appears not to extend his conception of individual rights beyond these primitively established limits. All our well-bred household dogs quickly learn certain bodily habits which are necessary to make them acceptable members of a household. These habits are not well affirmed by inherited instinct, but the ease with which the instruction is acquired shows that they have become prone to submit to such regulations. Culture on this line rests upon a primal instinct, orieinatine we know not how, which leads a number of wild animals to conceal their excrement. On the other hand, these creatures exhibit no sense of modesty, though that, in a more or less complete measure, is characteristic of all human tribes whatsoever. As regards the memory, dogs appear to have a consider- THE DOG 43 ably greater measure of capacity than is observable in any other group of domesticated animals. There is no question that they can recall their associations with people from whom they have been separated for a year or more. Some trust- worthy anecdotes appear to establish the fact that the recol- lections may endure for two or three years. I have observed an instance in which the memory seems perfectly clear after an interval of eighteen months, and this concerned a person who had been with the dog for a period of not more than four days. It is interesting to note the behavior of a dog when he has failed to recognize a person whom he has known well, but from whom he has been long separated. I have a shep- herd-dog that has known me well, but the friendship is often interrupted by partings of some months' duration. When, after one of these absences, I appear to him in the distance, he comes furiously towards me, quite possessed by his enmity. At a certain point in his charge a doubt begins to beset him ; he moderates his pace ; his roaring bark passes into a whine ; and as the full measure of his blunder is borne in upon him by my voice, he becomes the picture of shame. In his perplexity, he always finds relief in endeavoring with his paw to scrape a supposititious fly from the side of his nose. He then deals with what I suppose to be an equally imagin- ary flea ; after he has thus gained a few seconds for readjust- ment, he welcomes me joyously. All this is so thoroughly human-like, that even the naturalist, the professional doubter, is forced to believe that the dog's mind works substantially as his own, and that the feelings connected with the action are essentially the same. While in the case of the elephant and the pig, and in a less measure in several other of the lower animals, we have 44 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS indices of as high or even higher intelHgence than the dog, no other brute shows anything like the same measure of what we may term human quality. So far as the field of the emo- tions is concerned, we are driven to believe that it has been bred into the kind by the ages of intimate associations, sup- ported by the selective process which has led people to pre- serve the individual of the species with which they found themselves the most in sympathy. I repeat the suggestion, and shall repeat it yet again, for the reason that just here — how effectively the reader's imagination will suggest — we find a basis for the hope that, with time and care, man may bring his subjects of the lower realm into a more intimate, affec- tionate, and helpful relation than is dreamed of by those who look upon them as mere brutes. The most curious limitation which we find in dogs is as to the measure of expression to which they have attained. No one who has well considered the facts can doubt that our civilized varieties of this species have something like a hun- dred times as much which deserves utterance as their savage forefathers possessed. Yet the capacity for giving note to these thoughts or emotions has not gained anything like the proportion to the needs. It seems, however, that some gain in this direction has been made, and that much may be won hereafter in the way of further advance. Never having known the species whence our dogs came in its wild state, we are uncertain as to its modes of expression ; but, observing the varieties of dogs which are kept by savages, it seems probable that the primitive canines used their voice only in howling or yelping ; that is, as a continuous sound akin to the bellowings or other cries of the various wild mammals. It is characteristic of all these primitive forms of utterance THE DOG 45 that they are, to a great extent, involuntary, and that when the outcry is begun it continues in a mechanical manner, with no trace of modulation arising from the conditions of the moment. In other words, these actions resemble, in a way, sneezinof or hiccouehincr in human kind ; actions which are stimulated by certain states of the body, but which are not at all under the control of the will. Howlino- or bellowing doubtless represents, in a measure, a state of mind as well as of body, but the action is of a general and uncontrolled kind. The effect of advancing culture upon a dog has been gradually to decrease this ancient undifferentiated mode of expression afforded by howling and yelping, and to replace it by the much more speech-like bark. There is some doubt whether the dogs possessed by savages have the power of uttering the sharp, specialized note which is so characteristic of the civilized forms of their species. It is clear, however, that if they have the capacity of thus expressing themselves, they use it but rarely. On the other hand, our high-bred dogs have, to a great extent, lost the habit of expressing them- selves in the ancient way. Many of our breeds appear to have become incapable of ululating. There is no doubt but this change in the mode of expression greatly increases the capacity of our dogs to set forth their states of mind. If we watch a high-bred dog, one with a wide range of sensibilities, which we may find in breeds which have long been closely associated with man, we may readily note five or six varieties of sound in the bark, each of which is clearly related to a cer- tain state of mind. The bark of welcome, of fear, of rage, of doubt, and of pure fun, are almost always perfectly distinct to the educated ear, and this although the observer may not be acquainted with the creature ; if he knows him well, he may 46 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS be able to distinguish various other intonations — -those which express impatience and even an element of sorrow. This last note verges toward the howl. It does not seem to me that we should reorard barkine as a new and useful invention ; there are, indeed, few such in the organic world. The sound appears to me to have been derived from the primitive habit of howling. If we hearken to this utterance we perceive that it is not an unbroken sound, but is somewhat intermittent. At either end of the prolonged sound we can often notice that it is divided into rather distinct yelps more or less completely separated from the other notes. The cries of a dog when beaten often exhibit the same peculiarity ; so, too, the puppy, before he has attained skill in barking, will often prolong each utter- ance in a way which makes its relation to the ancient mode of expression tolerably clear. At the risk of being deemed fanciful, I venture to suggest that the bark is in effect a divis- ion of the howl into clearly separated notes, the change hav- ing come about as a similar alteration is effected in our own speech, by the increase in the intelligence which the creature is called upon to express. I conceive that while the primitive and massive emotions found satisfying utterance in the long- drawn notes, the more divided state of mind of the human- ized successor has led to a change in its utterances. Although these modifications of speech, if such we may term them, have probably been developed on the basis of the dog's human relations, there is, it seems to me, good reason to believe that the diversities in note have come to have a distinct conventional value between the individuals of all the different breeds. Any one who closely observes these animals must have noticed the fact that the degree of attention they THE DOG 47 give to the utterances of their kindred varies in a way which indicates that they have great varieties of denotations. Some of the shades of the meaning which a dog's bark has to others of his species probably escape our less fine ears. The creation of something like a language among our civilized dogs has naturally been accompanied by the develop- ment of an understanding of human speech. Although we cannot attach much importance to the mass of anecdote on this point, there is enough which is well attested — sufficient, indeed, which has come within the limits of my own observa- tion — to make it clear that dogs, even without deliberate teaching, frequently acquire a tolerably clear understanding of a number of words and even of short phrases. They will catch these not only when given in distinct command, but when uttered in an ordinary tone, without any sign that they relate to their affairs. It is true that these understood words generally relate to some action which the dog is accustomed to perform, yet there are instances so well attested that they deserve credit, which seem to show that the creatures can get some sense of the drift of conversation even when it is carried on by persons with whom they are not familiar and does not clearly relate to their own affairs. It should be observed that within the narrow limits of this essay little or no effort has been made to interpret the state of mind of dogs from the vast but rather untrustworthy mass of anecdote with which our books are filled. So largre a part of this evidence is contaminated by prepossessions, and a yet larger part is so unverified in any scientific sense, that for purposes of sound inquiry it is worthless. It therefore seems best to limit ourselves, as has been done in this paper, to those oreneral actions of the creatures which are matters 48 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS of common knowledge and safely beyond question. From these indices we are able to determine a basis for some important conclusions. These are in effect as follows, viz. : Our domestic dog is derived from a species, one or more, akin to the wolf, the jackal, and the fox ; to a group of animals not characterized by great native intelligence, but distinguished for their ferocity and their general untamable- ness. There is no reason to believe that the primitive dog had any more foundation for his great attainments than his obstinately savage kindred, except that he may have had a greater disposition to form an attachment to a master. We can hardly believe that he had any share of that marvellous sympathy with man and understanding of his motives which characterize the high-bred varieties of his species. All this vast transformation, which from a psychological point of view has carried the dog relatively as far up above his origin as civilization has lifted man above his lowest estate, has been due to human intercourse and the lone and effective concomitant selection of good from bad. It is hardly too much to say that a large part of our human nature has been transferred into the descendants of this ancient wild beast. The sense of property, a great part of human affections, many of the attributes which constitute the gentleman, have been passed over to him. In considerincr the effects arisingr from the intercourse of man with the clog, we should not overlook the development of human sympathy which has come ab^ut through this rela- tion. The fact that the dog has been rfiade by far the most sympathetic of the lower animals, is due to the affection which men for thousands of years have given to him. In his inter- course with this creature, man first learned to develop his THE DOG 49 altruistic motives beyond the limits of his own kind. With this extension of his affection must have beofun the ofrowth of that large motive, which is the most distinguishing feature of our modern life, which leads us to go forth in a loving manner to the living beings about us, not only to our flocks and herds but to the life of the unsubjugated realm as well. Thus, in a way, we may look upon the dog as affording the first steps on the path of culture which was to lift man from his primitive selfishness to the altruistic state to which he has attained. Great as has been the work of man upon the dog— it deserves, indeed, to be ranked high among all the accom- plishments of his culture — there is reason to believe that if he but go forward with understanding in the ways which have hitherto led him blindly to his success, the final result may be very m.uch more perfect than that which has been attained. It is on this account that I feel it fit to make a strong protest against the system our breeders pursue. Except in the case of dogs used in sport and for herding sheep, the sole effort appears to be to create breeds which shall exhibit peculiarities of form which are mere extrava- ofances, and move the real lover of this noble animal to indior- nation. In these preposterous and unseemly tasks no care is taken to continue the mental development on lines which have been established by long use. Still less is there any effort to essay the development of the intelligence in ways which are clearly open to us, and which afford possibilities of lifting this species to a yet nobler companionship with our own kind. It seems worth while for our associations of dog fanciers to undertake to develop varieties of dogs solely with refer- ence to the intellectual qualities of the animal. I venture to 4 50 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS suggest that those who seek this end should select some of the prhnitive types of form, such as are found among the undifferentiated mass of the species, those which are improp- erly termed mongrels, and this for the reason that among these unselected creatures the intelligence is quicker and more varied than it is in the highly developed varieties. Under skilful trainers the successive generations bred in the experimental station should be subjected to tests which will indicate the measure of intellectual ability. The results already attained by the unconscious selection which man has applied serve to indicate that at the end of a century, and perhaps in much less time, we might develop an animal which in various ways would come to a closer intellectual relation with man than any other lower species has attained. Cats deserve some mention for the reason, that, while they are the least essential, and on the whole the least interesting, of domesticated animals, they have had a certain place in civilization. They afford, moreover, a capital foil by which to set off the virtues of the dog. Nowhere else, indeed, among the creatures which are intimately associated with men, do we find two related forms which afford, along with a certain like- ness, such great diversities of quality. We know nothing as to the time when the cat first found its way to the associations of man. Presumably this period was much later than the advent of the dog into the human family. The presumption rests upon the fact that while the dog does not demand fixed residence as a condition of its fealty, but is at home wherever his master is, the cat is the creature of the domicile, caring more indeed for its dwelling- place than it ever does for the inmates thereof. In a word, the creature must have come to us after our forefathers gave THE DOG 51 up the nomadic life. Nevertheless, the association is very- ancient ; it has endured in Egypt at least for a term of several thousand years. Among the curious features connected with the associa- tion of the cat with man, we may note that it is the only animal which has been tolerated, esteemed, and at times worshipped, without having a single distinctly valuable quality. It is, in a small way, serviceable in keeping down the excessive development of small rodents, which from the beo-innincr have been the self-invited oruests of man. As it is in a certain indifferent way sympathetic, and by its caresses appears to indicate affection, it has awakened a measure of sympathy which it hardly deserves. I have been unable to find any authentic instances which go to show the existence in cats of any real love for their masters. In the matter of intelligence cats appear to rank almost as high as dogs. They are even quicker than their canine relatives in discerning the nature of man's artful contriv- ances ; they readily acquire the habit of opening doors which are closed by means of a latch, even where it is necessary to combine the strong pull on the handle with the push that completes the operation. Feats of this sort are rarely if ever performed by dogs. The most peculiar quality in the mind of cats is the intense way in which they cling to a well-known locality. Their memory of places, and affection for them, if we may so term it, is evidently far greater than that which they feel for people. Some years ago I had an interesting exhibition of this singular humor. A well-grown and thoroughly domesti- cated cat, one that seemed more than usually attached to people, was brought from my house in town to a place on the 52 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS shore. When released, the creature seemed for some days to be nearly insane. It did not recognize any of its friends, it betook itself to the fields, and was with difficulty captured at the end of a week of roaming, during which it appeared to have had no food. Confined within one room, it gradually recovered its powers of mind, and began to take account of its friends. In the course of a month it seemed to be recon- ciled to its surroundings. Nine months after its first sojourn in the wilderness it was again brought from the town to the same place. On the second visit the creature was somewhat uneasy, but this passed away in a day or two. On a third visit, after a like interval, it seemed at once and entirely at home. Nevertheless, its habits while in the country differ very much from those it has in town. In its original domi- cile it insists on beine about the table at meal-times. While in the country it does not care to be present ; in fact, it appears to avoid associations with the household. It seems to me that this cat, after the manner of some men whose brains are diseased, now lives in two distinct states of con- sciousness, each relating to one of its places of abode. The differences as regards affection for localities which is shown by cats and dogs are perhaps to be accounted for by an original and essential variation in the habits of life in their wild ancestors. Judging by the kindred of the species which are known to us in their wild state, we may fairly suppose that the dogs were of old accustomed to range over a wide field, having no fixed place of abode ; the pack ranging, if the occasion served, for hundreds of miles in any direction. On the other hand, with the cats, it is characteristic of the species that they have lairs to which they resort, and a definite hunt- ing ground in which they seek their food. They are, in a I THE DOG 55 word, animals of very determined routine. As there has been no effort by breeding to change this feature, it has remained in all its old ingrained intensity. As a consequence of the affection which cats have for par- ticular places, they often return to the wilderness when by chance the homes in which they have been reared are aban- doned. Thus in New England, in those sections of the dis- trict where many farmsteads have of late years been deserted, the cats have remained about their ancient haunts and have become entirely wild. In this State they are bred in such numbers that their presence is now a serious menace to the birds and other weaker creatures of the country. The behav- ior of these feralized animals differs somewhat from that of creatures which have never been tamed. They have not Xhe same immediate fear of a man, but the least effort to approach them leads to their hasty flight. While considering the inelastic quality which is exhibited by cats as compared with the dog, the naturalist notes with interest the fact that the former creature belongs to a family which has never been accustomed to any social life beyond the limits of the family. Moreover, all the cats have the habit of hunting in a solitary way, each for itself, in the achievement and in the result. It is otherwise with dogs. They belong to a group which hunts in packs. For ages they have been used to a communal life. Their minds have thus become accustomed to social intercourse ; they are used to havine their excitements of the chase in com- radeship, and generally they are accustomed to the rough- and-tumble fraternity which we behold in a pack of wolves. It was longr aofo remarked that the reallv social animals are those which afford the only good material for subjugation. 56 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS The difference between the cat and dog seems, in a way, to warrant this statement. Although it is Hkely that many efforts have been made to domesticate the other larger felines, no distinct success has attended these experiments. A large Asiatic cat known as the chetah is somewhat used in hunting for sport, but the species has never been adopted in any definite way. In fact, with all the larger cats, including the lion, which is structu- rally a little apart from the other members of the group, the size and furious nature of the animal have made it impossible to begin the process of selection which has been the means whereby the wilderness motive has been replaced by that of the household in the case of all other domesticated beasts. THE HORSE Value of the Strength of the Horse to Man. — Origin of the Horse. — Peculiar Advantage of the Solid Hoof. —Domestication of the Horse. — How begun. — Use as a Pack Animal. — For War. — Peculiar Advantages of the Animal for Use of Men. — Mental Peculiarities. — Variability of Body. — Spontaneous Variations due to Climate. — Varia- tions of Breeds. — Effect of the Invention of Horseshoes. — Donkeys and Mules compared with Horse. — Especial Value of these Animals. — Diminishing Value of Horses in Modern Civilization. — Continued Need of their Service in War. The largest economic problem which primitive people on their way upward towards civilization had unconsciously to face was that of obtainincr some kind of strength which could be added to the power of their own weak limbs. For all his eminent capacities of body, man is not a strong animal, nor is he so built that he can apply the measure of strength that is in him to good advantage. There are scores if not hundreds of species with which he came in contact in his effort to dominate nature that are stronger, swifter, and better provided with natural weapons. With the first step upward, as in almost all the succeeding steps, the advance depended on securing more energy than that with which our kind was directly endowed. It is hardly too much to say that the progress of mankind beyond the savage state would probably never have been effected but for the bodily help which has been rendered by a few domesticated animals. From the point of view of the student of domesticated animals the races of men may well be divided into those which have and those which have not the use of the horse. 58 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS Althouofh there are half a score of other animals which have clone much for man, which have indeed stamped themselves upon his history, no other creature has been so inseparably associated with the great triumphs of our kind, whether won on the battle-tield or in the arts of peace. So far as material comfort, or even wealth, is concerned, we of the northern realms and present age could, perhaps, better spare the horse from our present life than either sheep or horned cattle; but without this creature it is certain that our civilization would never have developed in anything like its present form. Lacking the help which the horse gives, it is almost certain that, even now, it could not be maintained. We know the ancient natural history of the horse more completely than that of any other of our domesticated animals. We can trace the steps by which its singularly strong limbs and feet, on which rests its value to man, were formed in the great laboratory of geologic time. The story is so closely related to the interests of man that it will be well briefly to set it before the reader. In the first stages of the Tertiary period, in the age when we begin to trace the evolution of the suck-giving animals above the lowly grade in which the kangaroos and opossums belong, we find the ancestors of our mammalian series all characterized by rather weakly organized limbs fitted, as were those of their remoter kindred the marsupials, for tree climbing rather than for movinor over the surface of the around. The fact is, that all the creatures of this great clan acquired their properties of body in arboreal life, and with such relatively small and light bodies as were fitted for tree climbing. For this use the feet need to be loose-jointed, and so the system of five toes, each terminating in a sharp and strong nail or claw. THE HORSE 59 became fixed in the inheritances. When, g-aining strength and coming to possess a more important place in the world, these ancient tree-dwellers were able to occupy the ground which of old had been possessed by the great reptiles, the limbs that had served well for an arboreal life had to undergo many changes in order to fit them for progression in the new realm. If we watch the progress of a bear over the surface of the ground, we readily perceive how lumbering is its gait and how poor the speed which it attains. Its slow and shambling movement is due to the fact that it has the tree-climbino- foot, and is not well fitted for motion such as is required in running. To attain anything like speed in this exercise it is necessary to support the body on the tips of the toes. Every man who has gained any sk-ill in this art knows full well how^ incompetent he is if he tries to run with rapidity in the flat- footed manner. The bear cannot essay this method of pro- gression on the toe-tips because its loose-jointed feet cannot be made to support its heavy body. In this way arose the necessity of developing a peculiar kind of foot when that part had to serve for rapid locomotion. The experiments to this end have been numerous and varied. Thus in the elephants, which retain the originally numerous toes, the bones of these members are planted in an upright position and tied together with such strong muscles and sinews, that the foot parts have something like the solidity and strength of the upper portions of the leo;s. In the sino-le-hoofed or horse-like forms, and in the cloven-footed animals, other series of experiments have been tried which in the end have proved most successful, giving us animals with the speediest movements of any animals except the creatures of the air. 6o DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS The success which has been attained in our ordinary large herbivora, and which has made them competent to evade the chase of the beasts of prey, has been ac- compHshed by reducing the number of the toes, giving the strength of the aborted parts to in- crease the power of those remaining. The result is the formation of two great groups, the double -hoofed forms, includ- ing the pigs, deer, cattle, sheep, and their kindred, and the single- toed species, of w h i c h our horse is the foremost example. In the reduction of the number of toes, different , plans were followed in each of these groups. In the cloven-hoofed forms, a single toe THE HORSE 6l first disappeared, leaving but four ; then the two outer of these were aborted, leaving two nearly equal digits. In the series of the horse, where we can trace the change more clearly, we find the earliest form five-toed, but the outer and inner digit shrunken so as to become of little use. This condition of the creature in the early Tertiaries gives us the beginning of the equine series, and shows that far away as the creature is now from ourselves, it originated from the main stem of mammalian life, from which our own forms have sprung. In the next higher stage in time, and likewise in development, we find these lessened toes at their vanishing point, and two of the remaining digits, lying on either side of what corresponds to the middle finger in our own hands, beginning to shrink in length and volume, while the central toe becomes larger and stronger than before. Last in the series we come to our ordinary equine form, in which nothing is left but the single massive extremity, though the remnants of two of the toes can be traced in the form of slender bones known as splints, which are altogether enclosed within the skin which wraps the region about the fetlock joints. As if it were to show to us the history of this marvellous organic achievement, nature now and then, though seldom — perhaps not oftener than one in ten million instances — sends forth a horse with three hoofs to each leQ^. Two of these are small and lie on either side of the functioning extremity. Each of these hoofs is connected with a splint-bone which has in some way suddenly become reminded of its ancient use, and develops in a manner to imitate the creatures which passed from the earth millions of years ago. In most cases the splint-bones have no function whatever to perform. They 2 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS are indeed superfluous and injurious parts, and are likely from time to time to be worse than useless, becoming the seats of disease. In this beautiful instance, perhaps the fair- est of all those showing how the highly developed forms of our time retain a memory of their ancestral life, we see how the advance in the series of the horse has been effected against the resistance ancient organic habit opposes to all Qfains. We can therefore the better understand how the building of the hoof represents the labor of geologic ages durinor which the slow-made a-ains were won. In its present elaborate form, the hoof of a horse is the most perfect instrument of support which has been devised in the animal kingdom to uphold a large and swiftly moving animal in its passage over the ground. The original toe-nail, and the neighboring soft parts connected with it, have been modified into a structure which in an extraordinary manner combines solidity with elasticity, so that it may strike violent blows upon the hard surface of the earth without harm. The bones of the toe to which it is afhxed have enlarged with the progressive loss of their neighbors of the extremity, until they fairly continue the dimensions of the bony parts of the leg. Moreover, they have lengthened out, so as to give the limb a great extension, and this, in turn, magnifies the stride which the creature can take in running. The result is that the horse can carry a greater weight at a swifter speed than any other animal approaching it in size. The needs which led, in a slow accumulative way, to the invention of the admirable contrivance of the horse's foot, were doubtless founded on the necessities of swift movement in fleeing from the great predaceous animals. Incidentally, however, as this development has gone on, the peculiarities THE HORSE 65 of the extremity have proved highly advantageous in defence, and the creatures have acquired certain peculiar ways of using their feet effectively to this end. The solid character of the hoof, its considerable weight, and the great power of the muscles of the hams, which are the principal agents in propelling the animal, make the hind feet capable of deliver- ing a very powerful blow. The measure of its efficiency may be judged from the fact that a lion has been slain by a stroke from the foot of a donkey, and in their wild state a herd of horses with their heads together, can beat off the attack of the most powerful beasts of prey. In using the hind feet for assault or defence, horses have adopted an effective method of kicking: which is unknown amono- other animals. Restinp- on their fore-legs, the hinder feet are thrown backward and upward, so that they may strike a blow six feet from the ground. Many of our cloven-footed animals have learned to strike cutting blows with the sharp hoofs of their fore-limbs — our bulls will stamp a fallen enemy with great force ; but the backward kick of the horse is a peculiar movement, and is distinctly related to the peculiar structure of the animal's extremities. It is an interesting fact that the development of a long and slowly elaborated series leading to the making of the horse appears to have taken place mainly, if not altogether, in the region about the headwaters of the Missouri River. In the olden days when this great work was done, that part of our continent was a well-watered country, much of its sur- face being occupied by great lakes which have long since dis- appeared. In the deposits accumulated in these bodies of fresh water are found the bones of the olden species telling the history of their series. It is not yet certain that the final 5 66 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS step of the accomplishment which gave us our existing spe- cies was effected in this land. It seems indeed most likely that the ancestral form of our domesticated horses found their way to the continents of the Old World, and there underwent the last slight changes, before they were made captive by man. If there ever were perfect horses on this continent, they had passed away from its area before the coming of man to the land. The history of our aborigines would have been quite other than it has been, if they had had a chance to win the assistance of this noble helpmeet. Central Asia appears to have been the domicile of the horse when he first began his acquaintance with our kind. We do not know the original form of the creature. The wild horses existing at the present day in that part of the world, and which plentifully occur in other regions whereunto they have been taken by man, appear to have been set free from captivity. The first domestication of the horse appears to have been | brought about, at an early time in the history of our race, in northern Asia. The time when this feat was accomplished antedates our records. The creature may first have come into possession of the Tartar tribes, but it quickly passed over Asia and Europe and shortly became the mainstay of the Aryan and Semitic folk. None other of our domesti- cated forms has been disseminated with like rapidity, or at the outset with as little change in its orio-inal features. From the first the horse seems to have been mainly used as a saddle and pack animal. It has never served in any considerable measure for food. The failure to make use of the flesh of this animal appears to be common to most of the savage or barbaric people who keep horses, and has been transmitted THE HORSE 67 in a singularly definite way to all civilized folk. The origin of such a prejudice, despite the fact that the fiesh of the horse is of excellent quality, can only be explained through the sympathetic motives conimon to all men. Their associa- tion with the horse, as with the doof, is so intimate as to make the use of these animals in the form of food more or less repugnant. In a small though unimportant way, mares have been used for milk, and there seems no reason to doubt that, if they had , been care- fully bred for this pur- pose, they miorht have been as ser- viceable as the cow. It may be that the failure to use the milk of the horse is to be accounted for on the same ground as the dislike to its flesh. The horse was probably at first most valued for its use in war. The peoples which possessed it certainly had a great advantage over their less well provided neighbors. In fact the development of the military art, as distinguished from the mere fighting of savages, was made easy by the strength, endurance, fleetness, and measure of bravery characterizing this creature. In the wide range of species which have been domesticated or might be won to companionship with man, there is none other which so completely supplements the Horse of a Bulgarian Marauder 68 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS imperfect human body, making it fit for great deeds. If the horse had been much smaller or larger than he is, he would have been far less serviceable to man. It was a most fortu- nate accident that the creature came to us with the propor- tions which insured a high measure of utility in various lines of activity. The elephant has been found too large for agri- jmammmm^- Wlare and Foal cultural uses, and too powerful to be controlled by the will and force of his master under conditions of excitement. Those peoples which early acquired the resources in the way of strength and fleetness which the horse put at their disposition, became inevitably the conquerors of the folk who were denied these advantages. If we consider the conditions which have led to the domination of the world by the Aryan and Semitic people, and the races which they have affiliated with them, we readily discern the fact that they have, to a THE HORSE 69 great extent, won by horse-power rather than by their own physical strength. Thus equipped by their able servants, they have pressed outward from their ancient realms and have in a way overridden the tribes which were unmounted. So imposing is the effect of the horsed man on all peoples who are without previous knowledge of the united creatures, that it always carries fear to their hearts. To such folk the combination appears as a single terrible being. The ease with which the Spaniards conquered Mexico and Peru can, to a great extent, be attributed to the awe carried into the ranks of the savage footmen by their mail-clad horses. The Greeks, who were wont to represent the forces of nature and the accomplishments of man by skilfully constructed myths, have left a record showing their appreciation of the streno-th derived from the union of horse and man, in their fable of the Centaur, which possibly grew up in a time before their people had won the use of the animal, and when they only knew the creature by chance encounters with enemies who were mounted upon them. Although the naturalist of to-day perceives the impossibility of there ever having been on this earth a form uniting the trunk and fore-limbs of a quadruped to the upper part of a man's body, such scientific conceptions are a part of our modern, recently acquired store of knowl- edge. To the Greeks of the myth-making age the creature, half man, half horse, added but one more wonder to the vast store the world already contained. The currency of this fable shows us very clearly how great was the impression Avhich the horse made upon primitive peoples. To perceive the value of the horse in those ancient con- tests which opened the paths of civilization, we must note the fact that, until the invention of gunpowder, success in 70 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS breaking the ranks of an enemy depended mainly on the charge. With a large body of vigorous horsemen it was generally possible to overwhelm an enemy's line of battle, either by direct assault or by an attack on its fiank or rear. If the reader is curious to see the value of horsemen in ancient warfare, he should read the story of the campaigns of Hannibal against the Romans in Italy. The first successes of that great commander — victories which came near changing the history of the western world — were almost altogether due to the strength lying in his admirable Numidian cavalry. The Romans were already good soldiers, their footmen more trustworthy than those which the Carthagenian general could set against them ; but with his horsemen, as at Cannae, he could wrap in the Roman line and reduce the most valiant leo-ions to the confused herd which awaited the butcher. Although the invention of firearms has somewhat chanpfed the conditions under which cavalry may be used, making indeed the direct charge more costly to the assailant than the assailed, it has in no wise diminished, but rather increased, the value of horses in military campaigns. In the line of battle horses have become necessary for the conveyance of field officers and messengers, and the right arm of battle, the artillery, could not possibl)^ be managed except by horse- power. The swift marches of modern armies, by hastening the issue of contests, have spared the world half the woes of its great campaigns, and are made possible by the ready movement of supply trains, which could not be effected except by the help of these creatures. The result is that a large part of the military strength of any state rests not only in the valor and training of its fighting men, but in the supply of horses that its fields may afford. In this connection Cavalry Horse THE HORSE /o it is instructive to compare the military strength of a countr)- like China, where the horse is not a common element in the life of the people, with that of any of the western folk who may hereafter have to wrestle with that populous empire. Some writers, in their efforts to forecast the large politics of the future, have imagined that when the hardy and obedient Chinaman came to receive the European training in the mili- Pluugh Hiirsub, Fr tary art, the armies of that country might prove from their numbers a menace to our own civilization. Such an issue seems in a high degree improbable, for the reason that the eastern realm could not provide the horses which would be necessary for the use of invading armies ; nor is it at all likely that the rigid framework of their society will ever be so altered as to provide an abundance of these animals. Although in the first instance the horse served mainly, if 74 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS not altogether, as an ally of man in his contests with his neighbors, its most substantial use has been in the peaceful arts. As pack animal and drawer of the plough, the ox appears in general to have come into use before its swifter companion. The displacement of horned cattle has been due to the fact that their structure and habits make them much less fit for arduous and lonor-continued labor than the horse has been found to be. The cloven foot, because of its division, is weak. It cannot sustain a heavy burden. Even with the unincumbered weight of the body of the animal, the feet are apt to become sore in marches which the heavily mounted horse endures unharmed. Centuries of experience have shown that while the ox is an excellent animal for drawing a plough in a stubborn soil, and is well adapted to pulling carriages where the burden is heavy and the speed is not a matter of importance and the distance not great, the creature is too slow for the greater part of the work which the farmer needs to do. The pace which they can be made to take in walkino- is not more than half as ereat as that of a quick-footed horse moving in the same gait ; and the ox is practically incapable, because of its weak feet, of keeping up a trot on any ordinary road. But for the fact that an aged ox may be used for beef, they would doubtless long since have ceased to serve us as draught animals. As it is, with the growing money value of the laborer's time, this slow- moving creature is steadily and rather rapidly disappearing from our farms. This change, indeed, is one of the most indicative of all those now occurring in our agriculture. It is an excellent example of the operations which the increase in the workman's pay is bringing into our civilization. The natural advantages of the horse for the' use of man THE HORSE 75 consisted in its size, strength, and endurance to burden ; form of the body, which enabled a skilful rider to maintain his position astride the trunk ; and the peculiar shape of the mouth and disposition of the teeth which made it possible to use the bit. With these direct physical advantages there were others of a physiological and psychic sort, of equal value. The creature breeds as well under domestication as in the wilderness ; the young are fit for some service in the third year of their life, and are, at least in the less elaborated breeds, in a mature condition when they are five years old. Experience shows that the animal can subsist on a great variety of diet, being in this regard surpassed only by its humbler kinsman the donkey, and by the goats. There are few fields so lean that they will not maintain serviceable horses. They do well alike in mountain pastures and amid the herbage of the moistest plainland. The mental peculiarities of the horse are much less char- acteristic than, its physical. It is indeed the common opinion, among those who do not know the animal well, that it is endowed with much sagacity, but no experienced and careful observer is likely to maintain this opinion. All such students find the intelligence of the horse to be very limited. It requires but little observation to show that the creature observes quickly, and in some way classifies the objects with which it comes in contact. The fear aroused in it by unknown things makes this feature of attention to the sur- rounding world very evident. Almost all these animals retain a tolerably distinct memory of the roads which they have traversed, even if they have passed over them but a few times. The studies which I have made on this point show me that the average horse will be able to return on a road 76 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS which it has traversed a few hours before, with less risk of blundering than an ordinary driver. Some well-endowed animals can remember as many as a dozen turnings in a path over which they have journeyed three or four times. It seems almost certain that their guidance in these movements is not at all effected by the sense of smell, but is due to a distinct memory of the detailed features of the country. Belgian Fisherman's Horse Good as is the horse's memory, it is difficult to organize its actions on that basis. Only in rare cases and with much labor can he be taught to execute movements that are at all complicated. Fire-engine horses may be trained of their own will to step into the position where they are to be attached to the carriage. Some artillery horses will, as I have noticed, associate the sound of the buole with the resultincr move- ments of the guns and take the appropriate positions, where they may be out of danger in the rapid swinging of the THE HORSE J J teams and carriages. It is partly because of this trainino- received by disciplined artillery horses, that it seems to many experienced officers not worth while to have militia com- panies in this arm, who have to manoeuvre with animals untrained for the service. Although some part of this men- tal defect in the horse, causing its actions to be widely con- trasted with those of the dog, may be due to a lack of delib- erate training and to breeding with reference to intellectual accomplishment, we see by comparing the creature with the elephant, which practically has never been bred in captivity, that the equine mind is, from the point of view of rationality, very feeble. The emotional side of the horse's nature seems little more developed than its rational. Although they have a certain affection for the hand which feeds them, and in a mild way are disposed to form friendships with other animals, they are not really affectionate, and never, so far as I have been able to find, show any distinct signs of grief at separation from their masters or of pleasure when they return to them. Although there are many stories appearing to indicate a certain faithfulness in horses which have remained beside their fallen and wounded riders, the facts do not justif)- us in supposing that such actions are due to the affection a dog clearly feels. We have been singularly led astray by a chance use of the epithet " horse," which has come to be applied to many organic forms and functions where strength is indicated. Thus, in the case of plants w^e speak of " horse-radish " or "horse-mint," denoting thereby spices which have strong qualities. Horse-chestnut is another instance of the applica- tion of the term to plants. It chanced that "horse-sense" 78 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS came to be used to Indicate a sound understanding, and in an obscure way, but in a manner common with words, this has led to a vague impHcation of mental capacity in the animals whence the term is derived. The fact is that our horses, as far as their mental powers are concerned, appear to be the least improvable of our great domesticated animals. ng on the Beach in Holland Little elastic as the horse appears to be on the psychic side of its nature, in its physical aspects it is one of the most plastic of all the forms subjected to the breeder's art. It requires no more than a glance at the streets of our large cities to see how great is the range in size, form, and carriage of these animals which may be found in an}^ of our great centres of civilization. We readily perceive that these varia- tions have a distinct relation to the several divisions of human activity in which this creature has a share. The massive A Hurdle Jumper THE HORSE 8i cart-horse, weighing it may be as much as eighteen hundred or two thousand pounds, heavy Hmbed, big headed, unwilHng to move at a pace faster than a slow trot, yet not without the measure of beauty seemingly inseparable from the spe- cies, contrasts very markedly with the alert saddle animal bred for speed and grace, and for the easy movement which makes it comfortable to the equestrian. Between these extremes we may note minor differences which, though they may not strike those persons who take only a commonplace view of the creatures, are most marked to the initiated. The trotter, the coach horse, the strong but nimble animals which are used in fire-engines and other heavy carriages which have to be swiftly moved, mark the results of breeding designed to insure particular qualities, and show how readily the physical features of the animal can be made to fit to our desires. Although from an early day a certain amount of care has been given to breeding horses for saddle purposes, the careful and continuous choice which has led to the modern variations is a matter of only a few centuries of endeavor. So far as we can judge from the classic monuments, the olden varieties were mere varieties of the pony — the small, compact, agile creature which had not departed far from the parent wild form. It seems to me doubtful whether any of the horses possessed by the Greeks or Romans attained a weight much exceeding a thousand pounds, or had the peculiarities of our modern breeds. The first considerable departure from the original type appears to have been brought about when it became necessary to provide a creature which could serve as a mount for the heavy armored knights of the Middle Ages, where man and horse were weighted with from one to two 82 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS hundred pounds of metal. To serve this need it was neces- sary to have a saddle animal of unusual strength, weighing about three-quarters of a ton, easily controllable and at once fairly speedy and nimble. To meet this necessity the Nor- man horse was gradually evolved, the form naturally taking shape in that part of Europe where the iron-clad warrior was most perfectly developed. In the tapestries and other illus- trative work of that day, when the knight won tournaments and battle-fields, gaining victory by the weight and speed which he brought to bear upon his enemies, we can see this splendid animal, in physical form, at least, the finest product of man's care and skill in the development of the lower species. With the advance in the use of hrearms the value of the Norman horse in the art of war rapidly diminished. This breed, however, has, with slight modifications, survived, and is extensively used for draught purposes where strength at the sacrifice of speed is demanded. It is a curious fact that the creatures which now draw the beer wao^ons of London often afford the nearest living successors in form to the horses which bore the mediaeval knights. It is an ignoble change, but we must be grateful for any accident which has preserved to us, though in a somewhat degraded form, this noblest product of the breeder's art, which, even as much as the valor of our ancestors, won success for our Teutonic folk in their great struggle with Islam. A tincture of this Norman blood, perhaps the firmest fixed in the species of any variety, pervades many other strains most valuable in our arts. The best of our artillery horses, particularly those set next the wheels, are generally in part Norman. In the well- known American Morgan, the swiftest and strongest of our THE HORSE 83 harnessed forms, the observant eye detects indications of this masterful blood. The Norman strains of horses retain certain Interesting indications of their ancient lineage and occupation. As appears to be common with old breeds, the stock is readily- maintained. It breeds true to its ancestry, with little tendency to those aberrations so common in the newly instituted varieties. When crossed with other strains, the effect of the intermixture of this strong blood is distinctly traceable for many generations. In their mental habits these creatures still appear to show something of the effects of their old use in war ; it is a valiant race, less given to insane fear than other strains, and, even under excitement, more con- trollable than the most of their kindred. So far as I have been able to learn, they seem singularly free from those wild panics which are so common among our ordinary horses. It does not seem to me fanciful to suppose that these qualities were bred in the stock during the centuries of experience with the confusion of battle-fields and tournaments. The horse, in common with the other domesticated animals varying readily in the hands of the breeder, under- goes a certain spontaneous change which in a way corre- sponds to the physiography of the region in which it is bred. At first sight it may seem as if these alterations are due to the admixture of previously existing varieties, or to the institution of peculiarities by some process of selection. I am, however, well convinced that these variations are in good part due to a direct influence from the environment. Thus in our high northern lands there is a distinct and spontaneous reduction in size of the creatures, which attains its farthest ■point in the Shetland pony. Again, as we go toward the 84 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS tropics, a like though less conspicuous decrease in bulk is observable. The largest animals of the species develop in the middle latitudes, the realm where the form appears to have acquired its characters. The speed with which these local variations are made is often great. Thus the horses of Kentucky have, in about a century, acquired a certain stamp of the soil which makes it possible, in most cases, for the Exercising the Thoroughbreds observer to identify an individual as from that State, though he may find it in a field a thousand miles away. The defining indications are not limited altogether to bodily form, but are shown in what might seem trifling features of carriage and behavior. The difference between the horses of Great Britain and those of the United States seems to me, from repeated observations, to be quite as great as that separating the men of the two realms. I believe that if a lot of a thousand, taken in equal parts from either land, were put together, a person well accustomed to taking account of THE HORSE 85 these animals could separate them into two herds, with less than ten per cent, of error. It is doubtful if a more perfect selection could be made if the same experiment were tried on an equal number of men, provided the indices to be derived from peculiarities of speech or dress could be excluded. By some the Arabian horse is thought to be the most remarkable specialization of the kind which has been attained. An Arabian Horse In his native country and in his perfection, the Arab breed has been seen by but few persons who have been specially trained in noting the peculiarities of the animal. So far as I have been able to judge by pictures and a few specimens, said to be thoroughbreds of their stock, which I have had a chance to see, the Arabian form of the horse appears to have been led less far away from the primitive stock than many of our European and American varieties. 86 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS The very great, if not the preeminent, success of the horse in Arabia is the more remarkable from the fact that it has been attained under conditions which, from an a p7^iori point of view, must be deemed most unfavorable. This variety has been bred in a land of scant herbage and deficient water- supply, where the creature has had from time to time, indeed we may say generally, to endure something of the dearth of Arabian Sports food which stunts the Indian ponies and the other horses of the Cordilleran district. The ancestors of the horse appear to have attained their dev^elopment in well-watered and fertile regions. All the varieties bred within the limits of civilization do best on rich pasturages such as Arabia does not afford. The success of the horse in that land shows how devoted must have been the care which has been given to its nurture. Fitting, as the Arabian horse does, exactly to the needs of nomadic people engaged in almost constant warfare, it has THE HORSE 87 naturally been a far more important helper to the wild folk of the desert lands about the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea than to any other race. In those lands horses fell into the keeping- of a very able folk. The contrast between the care devoted to the animals by them, and that which our Indians give to their ponies, is a fair measure of the difference in the ability of these very diverse races. As a whole, the horse demands for his best nurture and keeping an amount of care required by no other animal which has been won to the uses of man, unless perhaps it be the silkworm. Kept in its best state, the horse has to be sedu- lously groomed. To be maintained in its very best condition some hours of human labor must each day be given to keep- ing his skin in order. The effect arising from a friction on the horse's hide is not confined to the beauty that comes from cleanliness, but in a curious way reacts upon the general nervous tone of the animal. All those who are familiar with horses will, I think, agree with me that much grooming dis- tinctly increases the endurance and elasticity of their bodies. The influence of the grooming process appears to be some- what like that obtained by massage and friction of the skin in the training of an athlete. More than once I have had occasion to observe the effect of this process on some ancient horse of good blood, which for years had been allowed in its old age to go uncared for as an idle tenant of the pastures. Two or three days of assiduous grooming will bring back the strength and suppleness to the aged limbs, and restore some- thing of the olden spirit. The effect obtained from this care is the more remarkable for the reason that nothing similiar to it was experienced by the wild ancestors of these creatures. It is as artificial as bathing in the case of man. The influ- 88 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ence of the treatment shows how very unnatural is the state of our civiHzed horses. The task of providing horses with food is more consider- able than in the case of any of our other domesticated creat- ures. By nature the animal is a frequent feeder, and does not well endure long fasts. Its stomach is rather small for the size of the body, and the digestive process appears to be more than usually rapid. A mounted animal, when taxed to its utmost, should be fed four or five times a day, and with less than three good meals is apt to break down. No such care in the matter of provender is necessary in the case of the other members of man's animal family. The contrast between the physiological conditions of the camel and those of the horse are fully recognized by the Arabs, in their almost complete neglect of the individuals of the one species and their exceeding care of the other. Perhaps the greatest element of care which man has had to devote to the horse is found in the matter of shoeing. In the state of nature the admirably constructed hoof sufficiently provided the animal against the excessive wearing of its horny extremity. Nature, however, rarely provides for more strength and endurance than the creature in its wild state demands ; and so it comes about that when horses have to bear burdens or draw carriages, particularly on roadways, their unprotected feet will not withstand the strain which is put upon them, the rate of growth of the structure com- posing the hoof not being sufficiently rapid to make good the wearing which these unnatural conditions impose. For thousands of years, in the roadless stages of man's develop- ment, the difficulties arising from the wearing of the hoof were not serious, for the creatures trod either on turf-covered THE HORSE 91 plains or on the soft ways of the desert. When the advance of culture made roads necessary, when carriages were invented and something like our modern conditions were instituted, it became imperatively necessary to provide additional protec- tion for the feet. We find the Greeks, in the classic time, wrestling with this problem. Xenophon, in his treatise on the care of horses, advises that they be reared on stony ofround, he havinp- observed that, in a natural way, the hoof becomes somewhat adapted to the necessities of its condi- tions. The Romans found the difTficulty from the tender foot of the horse yet more serious on their paved roads ; but both these classic people showed, in their ways of dealing with the difficulty, that lack of inventive skill which so curiously separates the olden from the modern men. They devised soles of leather and bags as coverings for the horse's feet, but none of the contrivances could have been very serviceable. All such coverings must have been quickly worn out in active use. So far as we can determine, it was not until about the fourth century of our era that the iron horseshoe was invented. This valuable contrivance appears to have origi- nated in Greek or Roman lands, probably in the former realm, for it first bore the name of " selene," from its likeness to the crescent shape of the new moon. Although simple, the horseshoe was a most important invention, for it com- pletely reconciled the animal to the conditions of our higher civilization by removing the one hinderance to its general use in the work of war and commerce. It is probable that with this invention beean the ereat task of differentiating^ the several breeds of European horses for their use in various employments, as draught animals for packing purposes, as 92 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS liofht saddle horses, and the bearins: of armored men. Neither the draught nor the war horses of Europe could well have been specialized until their heavy bodies were separated from the ground by these metallic coverings of the hoof. Much has depended on the specialization of the horse into different breeds, made possible by the iron shoe. By Syrian Horse reconciling the creature to uses — agriculture, which depends on draught animals, and the commerce of importance, which can only be effected by means of wagons — the rapid economic development of our civilization was made possible. By developing a horse capable of bearing an armored man, Europe was brought into a condition in which organized armies took the place of mere forays, and so the development of centralized states was promoted. In the warfare between the Mohammedans and the Christian states of Europe, in THE HORSE 93 the campaigns with the Turks and the Saracens, it is easy to see that the powerful breeds of horses reared in western and northern Europe were a mighty element in determining the issue of the contest. The battles of these momentous cam- paigns represented, not only a struggle between the Christian Aryans and the Semitic followers of Mahomet, but, in quite as great a degree, the war was waged between the light and agile steeds of the Orient and the massive and powerful animals that bore the mail-clad warriors of the West. On the field of Tours, when the fate of Christian Europe for hours hung in the balance, we may well believe that the strong and enduring horses of the northern cavalry did much to give victory to our race. Along with our general account of the place of the horse in civilization, it is fit to give something to the story of his near, though inferior, kinsmen, the ass and the mule, both of which have played a subordinate, though important, part in the same field of endeavor in which the nobler species has done so much for man. The original progenitors of our donkeys differed from the ancestral form of the horse by variations of good specific value. So far as we can determine from visible features, these forms were more distinctly parted than the dog and the wolf, or either of these animals from the jackal. Nevertheless, these equine forms are clearly closely akin, for they may be bred together. Although the original stock of the ass may possibly have been lost, it seems most likely that the wild forms which exist in Asia have not wandered off from captivity, but are the remnants of the original wilderness form. It appears likely that the two domesticated equine species have been under the care of man for about the same length 94 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS of time ; but the difference in their condition, and in the place which they hold in civilization, is very great. As we have seen, the horse has been made to vary in a singular measure, its form and other qualities changing to meet the need or fancy of its master. Its humbler kinsman has remained almost unchanged. Except small differences in size, the donkeys in different parts of the world are singularly alike. In part this lack of change may be explained by the relative neglect with which this species has been treated. From the point of view of the breeder it has perhaps been the least cared for of any of our completely domesticated animals. In some parts of the world, as for instance in Spain, where a long-continued effort has been made to develop the animal for interbreeding with the horse, the result shows that the form is relatively inelastic. It is doubt- ful if any conceivable amount of care would develop such variations as the horse now exhibits. The principal hinderances to the general acceptation of the donkey as a help-meet to man are found in its small size and slow motion. These qualities make the creature unserviceable in active war or in agriculture, and they seem to be so fixed in the blood that they are not to any extent corrigible. So long as pack animals were in general use, and in those parts of the world where the conditions of culture cause this method of transportation to be retained, the qualities of the donkey have proved and are still found of value. The animal can carry a relatively heavy burden, beine in such tasks, for its v^eii^ht, more efficient than the horse. It is less liable to stampedes. It learns a round of duty much more effectively than that creature, and can subsist by browsing on coarse herbage, where a horse THE HORSE 95 would be so far weakened as to become useless. Thus, in developing the mines in the unimproved wilderness of the Cordilleras, where ores of the precious metals have to be carried for considerable distances, trains of "burros" are often employed. The animals quickly learn the nature of their task, and will do their work with but little guidance from man. In general we may say that the donkeys belong to a vanishing; state of human culture, to the time before carriage- ways existed. Now that civilization goes on wheels, they seem likely to have an ever-decreasing value. A century ago they were almost everywhere in common use. At the present time there are probably millions of people in the United States to whom the animal is known only by descrip- tion. In a word, the creature marks a stage in the develop- ment of our industries which is passing away as rapidly as that in which the spinning-wheel and the hand-loom played a part. As the use of the ass in the economic arts began to decline, the mule or hybrid progeny of this creature and the horse has progressively increased. Although the value of this mongrel has been known, particularly in southern Europe, from very early days, its most extensive employment has been found in the old slave-holdine States of the Federal union. The custom of usino- mules has been almost unknown in England, and has never been generally adopted in the northern part of the United States. It appears to have been introduced into southern regions by the Spaniards and the French, and there to have spread, because of the peculiar fitness of the creature to the climate and the employment it had to endure in that part of America. The mule has the 96 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS peculiar advantage that it is on the average as large as the horse, is nearly as quick-footed when walking, and has at the same time a considerable share of the patient endurance to hard labor and scant fare which characterizes the donkeys. It matures somewhat more speedily than its nobler kinsman, being ready to meet severe strains perhaps a year earlier. "^'^ ^-«^" ■ '' l^ ,«?r • JfSbf. r* ■''#: ^1^1 ^f .,^ «||9|^E^^^^J»' .ji^ wVmgi W^m ^BmI 9e|^.,^. -; -^ Jl ^ pB' i 1 1 \ ^ '^ / / hi ... In the Circus Unless unconscionably abused, its period of fitness for hard work endures about one-third longer, often lasting for thirty years. It is singularly exempt from disease, its sturdy frame withstanding rude usage until the old age time. The mule is especially interesting to the naturalist for the reason that it affords the only certain case in which a hybrid has proved decidedly serviceable to man. It is not unlikely that a similar mixture of the blood of two species occurs in our ordinary cats, and it may exist in the case of the dog THE HORSE 97 and in some of the domestic birds ; but so far as we know, there has been no other useful result from the hybridizing, if it has occurred. Moreover, the mule is unique for the fact that the animal is distinctly stronger for its weight, and more enduring than either species which his blood combines. In fact, there is no product of man's industry in relation to domesticated animals which is more interesting than this singular creature. At present, its use appears to be going out of vogue ; the evidence goes to show that the hybrid has no place in the affections of mankind, and that it is only likely to be kept in its use in tropical countries, and partic- ularly in regions where the beasts have to be under the care of slaves or other neo^liaent folk. It is a sinofular fact in connection with this hybrid, that it is nearly absolutely sterile, there being only two or three cases on record in which they have proved fecund. It seems, however, possible that if these rare instances of continued breeding were to be duly used, an intermediate species might be permanently estab- lished. This is, indeed, one of the most important lines for experiment which could be undertaken by an institution devoted to the study of problems relating to domestication. It is commonly thought that a mule is a stupider creature than the horse ; but I have never found a person, who was well acquainted with both animals, who hesitated to place the mongrel in the intellectual grade above the pure-blood ani- mal. There is, it is true, a decided difference in the mental qualities of the two creatures. The mule is relatively unde- monstrative, its emotions being sufficiently expressed by an occasional bray — a mode of utterance which he has inherited from the humbler side of his house in a singularly unchanged way. Even in the best humor it appears sullen, and lacks 7 98 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS those playful capers which give such expression to the well- bred horse, particularly in its youthful state. It is evident, however, that it discriminates men and things more clearly than does the horse. In oroino- over difficult oround it studies its surface, and picks its way so as to secure a footing in an almost infallible manner. Even when loaded with a pack, it will consider the incumbrance and not so often try to pass where the burden will become entangled with fixed objects. Mules soon learn the difference between those who have the care of them and strangers. It is a well-known fact that trouble awaits the wight who unwarily ventures to take from the stall a mule which has not the advantage of his acquaint- ance. On this account they are rarely stolen. Even in the daytime they are often dangerous for strangers to approach, and the most of the ill-usage which men receive from their heels arises where unwitting people venture to treat them as they would horses. Mules are much less liable to panic-fear than the most of our domesticated animals, yet, when kept in the herded way, they occasionally become stampeded. Many a soldier of our Civil War, where mules played a large part in the campaigns, doubtless remembers the mad outbreaks of these creatures from their corrals, when they went charging through the army with a fury which, if directed against an enemy, would have been almost as effective as a cavalry charge. It is interesting to note that mules have a greater dispo- sition to adopt a leader in their movements than we note in either of the species whence they come. In the old days when mules were plentifully bred in Kentucky, and taken thence for sale to the plantation States, they went forth in droves, commonly under the leadership of a bell horse, or, by THE HORSE 99 preference, a mare, which it was quite the custom to choose of a white color. In the course of a few hours the creatures would learn to know their guide, and to follow the leader with so little trouble that two men could conduct a throng of sev- eral hundred. Nevertheless, if the foremost mule of the procession turned aside, all the others would blindly follow him in the manner of a flock of sheep. I recall an amusing instance of this " follow-my-leader " motive which occurred many years ago in a way somewhat personal to myself, in southern Kentucky. Engaged in sur- vey work, I was passing along a quiet road when in the dis- tance I heard a thunder of hoofs, and in a moment saw a great drove of mules, the appointed leader of which, a man on a white horse, had fallen to the rear of the column. The creatures, thinking that it was their duty to overtake the miss- ing master, were going on the full run. Heeding the shouts of the troubled herder, I turned my wagon across the road, which, being at that point very narrow, was effectually barri- caded by the vehicle. Although the rush was so wild that the brutes nearly overset my " outfit," they were brought to a full stop. Unhappily, on one side of the road and one hundred feet or so from it, there was a comfortably built southern house, with a broad gallery extending along the front ; while in the door of the mansion were some women who had been attracted by the tumult. No sooner had the mob of mules been brought to a state of surging quiet, than one of the creatures jumped the picket fence, and started for the open house-door, thinking, perhaps, that he would find some peace of life in what probably seemed to him his accustomed barn. In much less time than it takes to tell it, a hundred or more mules were on the gallery, the floor of which gave way beneath lOO DOMESTICATED ANIMALS their weight ; they quickly broke down the columns which supported the roof, so that the whole structure at once became a heap of wood and mules. The unhappy proprietor of the drove, in his consternation, forgot even to swear — an art which I have never known on any other occasion to pass from a mule-driver ; and, sitting on his white horse, he lifted his hands like an oriental in prayer, and said to me meekly, " Did you ever in all your life ? " I assured him that I had never, and went my way, leaving him to settle an interesting case of damages with the owner of the mansion. In considering the general influence of the horse and its kindred forms on human culture, we clearly perceive that we are now attaining a time when the machinery of civilization is to depend in a much less degree than of old on the help which these creatures give to man. Even fifty years ago the horse was far more necessary to the work of our kind than it is at present. Going back a hundred years, we perceive that the population of the civilized world could not possibly have been maintained, if by some disease all the horses had been swept away. Such a calamity in the year 1800 would have led to the depopulation of almost all the cities of the interior country, famine would have ravaged our States, and the whole economic system of society would have had to be reconstructed. Now the greater part of the work which of old had to be done by horses, can, at a slight increase of cost, be effected by mechanical engines. Plough- ing, except on steep hillsides and in very stony ground, can be cheaply and effectively done by steam. The same agent can propel the harvesters and work the threshing machines. Even farmers who till fields of no great extent find it desirable to do much of their work by steam-engines, for THE HORSE lOI the reason that fuel is less costly than horse feed. An interesting instance to show how far mechanical inventions have taken the place of horsed wagons in the work of civilized communities was afforded by the horse distemper which swept over the country in 1S72. During the week or more in which this epidemic was at the worst, the State of Massachusetts was practically unhorsed, yet the greater part of the necessary business, that required to bring provisions to the town, was effected by means of the railways. The same incident shows, however, in another way, how absolutely necessary this animal is, in certain parts of our work. For the great Boston fire, which occurred at that time, was doubtless due to the fact that, owing to the sickness of the horses, an effort was made to drag the engines by hand- power, with the result that they came upon the ground so slowly as to give the fire a chance to become an uncontrollable conflagration. In the present state of our arts there is one great occupa- tion which we cannot conceive to be carried on Vv-ithout the services of horses. This is war. It is hardly too much to say that all our highly elaborated military system has depended for its development, as it does for its maintenance, on the transportation value of horses. Much has been said of late as to the use of bicycles as adjuncts to armies, and in a certain limited way they will doubtless prove serviceable in future campaigns ; but no one who has had any experience of military duty, with its work across tilled fields and through forests, can imagine a man on a wheel rendering any very effective service except under peculiar conditions. Moreover, no ordnance corps can do its appointed work in the rear of a line of battle without sending its wagons across 102 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS country and over ground which no unhorsed vehicle could traverse. The mark of the old utility of the animal in varied employ- ment is retained in our use of the term horse-power in measuring the energy of engines. That gauge of strength of old determined what man could do in the severest taxes upon the forces at his command. In attaining the point where, owing to the possession of horses, he could use this standard, he won a great way beyond the station of his ancestors, who had but the strength of men at their command. Modern invention, by giving us heat-engines, has made the way for an advance. In another century, or even in another generation, the horse may, save for the uses of war, be confined to the position of a luxury and an ornament. THE FLOCKS AND HERDS : BEASTS FOR BURDEN, FOOD, AND RAIMENT Effect of this Group of Animals on Man. — First Subjugations. — Basis of Domesticability. —Horned Cattle. — Wool-bearing Animals. — Sheep and Goats. — Camels ;. their Limi- tation. — Elephants : Ancient History ; Distribution ; Intelligence ; Use in the Arts ; Need of True Domestication. — Pigs : their Peculiar Economic Value ; Modern Varieties ; Mental Qualities. — Relation of the Development of Domesticable Animals to the Time of Man's Appearance on the Earth. It is not too much to say that the opportunity to go for- ward on the paths of culture, at least the chance to advance any considerable distance beyond the estate of primitive men, depends in a considerable measure upon what the wilderness may offer in the way of domesticable beasts of burden. Where such exist we find that the folk who dwell with them in any land are almost certain to have made great advances. Where the surrounding nature, however rich, denies this boon, we find that men, however great their natural abilities may appear to be, exhibit a retarded development. Thus in North America, where there was no domesticable beast of burden, the Indians, though an able folk, remain savages. So, too, in central and southern Africa, where the mammalian life, though rich, affords no large forms which tolerate cap- tivity, the people have failed to attain any considerable cul- ture. On the other hand, in the great continent of the Old World, where the horse, the ass, the buffalo, the camel, and the elephant existed in the primitive wilds, men rose swiftly toward the civilized station. I04 DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS The immediate effect arising from the possession of beasts of burden is greatly to enlarge the scope and educative value of human labor. A primitive agriculture, sufficient to provide for the needs of a people, can be carried on by man's labor alone, though the resulting food-supply has generally to be supplemented by the chase. Rarely, if ever, are the products of the soil thus won sufficient in quantity to be made the basis Domesticated Buffaloes in Egypt of any commerce. Such conveyance as is necessary among the people who are served by their own hands alone, has to be accomplished by boat transportation or by the backs of men. The immediate effect of usinsf beasts for burden is the introduction of some kind of plough, which spares the labor of men in delving the ground, and the use of pack animals, which, employed in the manner of caravans, greatly promotes the extension of trade. A great range of secondary influ- ences is found in the development of the arts of war, by which people who have become provided with pack or saddle ani- THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 105 mals are able to prevail over their savage neighbors, and thus to extend the reahii of a nascent civihzation. Yet another influence, arising from the domestication of large beasts, arises from the fact that these creatures are important store- houses of food ; their flesh spares men the labor of the chase, and so promotes those regularities of employment v/hich lead men into civilized ways of life. In fact, by making these creatures captive, men unintentionally brought themselves out of their ancient savagery. They were led into systematic and forethouo-htful courses, and thus found a trainingr which they could in no other way have secured. The first and simplest use made of the animals from which man derives strength appears to have been brought about by the subjugation of wild cattle — the bulls and buffaloes. Several wild varieties of the bovine tribe were originally widely disseminated in Europe and Asia, and these forms m.ust have been frequent objects of chase by the ancient hunters. Although in their adult state these animals were doubtless originally intractable, the young were mild-mannered, and, as we can readily conceive, must often have been led captive to the abodes of the primitive people. As is common with all grega- rious animals which have long acknowledged the authority Cattle of India I06 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS of their natural herdsmen, the dominant males of their tribe, these creatures lent themselves to domestication. Even the first generation of the captives reared by hand probably showed a disposition to remain with their masters ; and in a few generations this native impulse might well have been so far developed that the domestic herd was established, afford- ing perhaps at first only flesh and hides, and leading the people who made them captives to a nomadic life — that con- stant search for fresh fields and pastures new which charac- terizes people who are supported by their flocks and herds. It is a curious fact that the kindred of the buffaloes and bisons differ exceedingly in the measure of their domesticabil- ity. Thus, the ordinary buffalo of Asia, though a dull brute, is very subjugable, even in the literal sense, for he makes a tolerable beast for the plough and bears the yoke with due patience. His African kinsman, on the other hand, is perhaps the most unconquerable of all the large wild animals. The late Sir Samuel Baker, in answer to my question as to what wild form was the most to be feared in combat, unhesitat- ingly answered, " The African buffalo, the bulls of which charge home upon any aggressor with an immediate and determined fury, which often enables them to kill the hunter after they have been shot through the brain." Our American bison, though a much milder-spirited beast, seems also to be essentially undomesticable for the reason that he cannot be taught to subordinate his desires to the will of man. He can readily be brought to the point where he will tolerate captiv- ity ; but if, when engaged in ploughing, it occurs to him that he needs water, he will straightway go in search of it, not in a vicious, but in a perfectly obdurate manner. This quality of mind appears to be accountable for the failure of the many THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 1 07 experiments which have been made to domesticate this inter- esting American form. The limitations of the domesticating work, the fact that as between two kindred species the one has been chosen by man and the other left, indicate the truth — which is generally of much importance — that the intellectual qualities of animals commonly differ more than their frames. This is a part of the larger fact that with the advance in organization the individu- ality, as regards the whole spiritual field in persons and species alike, becomes greater. The culmination of the tendency is seen in man, where, with bodies which do not vary much, we have an almost infinite range in individual qualities. This is perhaps a good place in which to make answer to the suggestion that the domesticability of the animal species is in inverse proportion to their native courage and indepen- dence of mind. The reader will see how fallacious is this common notion if he will consider the quality of the supremely domesticated creature, the dog. There is probably no beast which has a larger share of natural courage and of indepen- dent motive. When not under the control of their masters, they have perhaps as free a contact with nature as any creat- ure in the world ; the same thing may be said of the elephant, which, next to the dog, lends himself most obediently to the requirements of the master. Owing to the power of his huge body and to the ease with which he wins his food, he is in his native wilds the least dependent of land animals. Except from the assaults of man, he has nothing to fear ; yet when enslaved he at once surrenders himself to his captors. In general, it may be said that the true gauge of domesticability is the sympathetic motive, that strange outgoing spirit which leads the mind to recognize the life about it and to accept io8 DOMESTICA TED ANIMALS that life as a part of its own. In other words, the domestic- ability of man is due to his willingness to enter into social relations and rests on the same foundation that supports his intercourse with the lower animals he has won to his use. It is probable that the first use which was made of beasts of burden, in ways in which their strength became useful to man, was in packing the tents and other valuables of their masters as they moved from place to place. Even to this day in certain parts of the world bulls and oxen serve for such p u r poses. _- " In fact the nomadic ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ life, a fash- ^V p '^r^'^^^^HJ^BIf ^.::.-^j^- -' ion of so- ciety which is enforced w h e r eve r people sub- sist from their cattle alone, leads inevi tably to such use of the beasts. In the southern Appalachian district of this country there remain traces of this service rendered by bulls and oxen. These creatures, provided with a kind of pack saddle, are occasionally used in conveying the dried roots of the ginseng, beeswax, feathers, and the peltries which are gathered by the inhabitants of remote districts, not accessible to carriages, to the markets of the outer world. All the varieties of ordinary cattle could be made to serve as burden-carriers, and they doubtless would be continued to be Indian Bullock and VVater-Ca THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 109 used for saddle purposes in one way or another but for the wide use of the horse, a creature very much better adapted for carrying weight. The cloven foot of the bulls and buffaloes gives a weakness to the extremities which will quickly lead to disease in case they are forced to carry heavy loads such as the horse or ass may safely bear. The help which our bovine servants aftord us by the power which they exert in traction, as in drawing ploughs, sleds, or wagons, appears to have been first rendered long after their in- troduction to the waysofm.an. The first of these uses in which the draw- ins^ strenorth of these animals was made serviceable appears to have been in the w^ork of ploughing. In primitive days and with primitive tools, hand delving was a sore task. The inventive genius who first contrived to overturn the earth by means of the forked limb of a tree, shaped in the sem- blance of a plough and drawn by oxen, began a great revo- lution in the art of agriculture. To this unknown genius we may award a place among the benefactors of man- kind, quite as distinguished as that which is occupied by the equally unknown inventors of the arts of making fire or of smelting ores. After the experience with the strength of oxen had been won from the work of ploughing, it was easy • v.Nfor, Ploughing in Syria no DOMESTICATED ANIMALS to pass to the other grades of their employment, where they were made to draw carriages. Next after the contribution which the kindred of the bulls have made by their strength, we must set that which has come from their milk. Although this substance can be obtained in small quantities from several other domesticated animals, the species of the genus Bos alone have yielded it in sufficient quantities greatly to affect the development of man. It is difficult to measure the importance of the addition to the diet, both of savage and civilized peoples, which milk affords. It is a fact well known to physiologists that in its simple form this substance is a complete food, capable when taken alone of sustaining life and insuring a full development of the body. It is indeed a natural contrivance exactly adapted to afford those materials which are required for the development and restora- tion of creatures essentially akin to our own species. Those races which avail themselves extensively of it in their dietary are the strongest and most enduring the world has known. The Aryan folk are indeed characteristically drinkers of milk and users of its products, cheese and butter. It may well be that their power is in some measure due to this resource. In our horned cattle man won to domestication creatures which were admirably suited to promote his advancement from savagery to civilization. Indeed, the possession of these animals appears to have been a prime condition of his ad- vancement. With them, however, as with the camel, there came little in the way of those sympathetic qualities which have made it possible for our race to establish affectionate relations with other captive forms. Long intercourse with man has, it is true, somewhat diminished the wildness of these creatures, though the males remain the most indomitably fero- \9p ^ .y THE FLOCKS AND HERDS II3 cious of all our servants. The truth seems to be that the bovine animals have but little intellectual capacity, and it has in no wise served the purposes of man to develop such powers of mind as they have. We have ever been given to askin<^ little of them, save docility. This we have in a high measure won with our milch cows, which of all our domesticated creat- ures are perhaps the most absolutely submissive ; the more highly developed of them being little more than passive pro- ducers of milk, almost without a trace of instincts or emotions except such as pertain to reproduction and to feeding. It is a noteworthy fact that in all the great literature of anecdote concerning our domesticated animals, there is hardly a trace of stories which tend to show the existence of sagacity in our common cattle. It is evident that the variability of our domesticated bovines, as far as their bodies are concerned, is very great. Between the ancient aurochs and the more highly cultivated of its descendants, the difference is as great as that which separates any other of our captive animals from their wild ancestors. In size, shape, in flesh- and milk-giving qualities, the departure from the old form of the wilderness is remark- able. Moreover, at the present time these diverse breeds of horned cattle are rapidly being multiplied, the distinctive forms probably being twice as numerous as they were at the beginning of the present century. The process of selection has led to some very wide diversifications of the body. The horns, which in the wild state are invariably well developed, and which in the cattle of our Western plains attain very great size, have in certain breeds altogether disappeared, and in their place there sometimes comes a remarkable crest of bony matter which does not project beyond the skin which 8 114 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS covers the head. If such differences occurred in the wild state, they would be regarded as separating the two types of animals widely from each other. In treating the wool-bearing animals along with beasts of burden, we make a somewhat fanciful classification which yet is not quite without reason. By long training- man has Egyptian Sheep brought these species to the state where their covering of wool or hair, once a coating only sufficient to afford pro- tection from the weather, has become a very serious load.. In certain of our highly developed varieties the annual coat is so far increased that the creature loses a large part of its bulk after the shearer has done his work. Each year's fleece often amounts in weight to eight to twelve pounds, and in its lifetime the animal may yield a mass of wool far exceeding its THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 1 15 weight of flesh and bones in any time of its life. When the fleece is mature the animal is often burdened with a load about as heavy in proportion to his size as is a horse by the weight of its rider and accoutrements. As a flesh producer, particularly in sterile fields, sheep are more valuable than our horned cattle. They mature more rapidly, attaining their adult size and reproducing their kind in less than two years, so that in many parts of the world it is possible to obtain a larger quantity of flesh from poor pas- turages with sheep than with any other of our domesticated animals. Their principal value, however, has been from the means they afforded whereby men in high latitudes have obtained warm clothino-. Before the domestication of these creatures, peoples who had to endure the winter of high lati- tudes were forced to rely upon hides for covering— a form of clothing which is clumsy, uncleanly, and which the chase could not supply in any considerable quantity. Owing to its peculiar structure, the hair of the sheep makes the strongest and warmest covering, when rendered into cloth, which has ever been devised for the use of man. The value of this con- tribution is directly related to the conditions of climate. In the intertropical regions the sheep plays no part of impor- tance. In high latitudes it is of the utmost value to man. No other of our domesticated creatures, except the camel, is so specially adapted to the needs which peculiarities of climate impose upon their possessors. The relations of the goat to mankind are in certain ways peculiar. The creature has long been subjugated, probably having come into the human family before the dawn of his- tory. It has been almost as widely disseminated, among bar- barian and civilized peoples alike, as the sheep. It readily ii6 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS cleaves to the household, and exhibits much more intelligence than the other members of our flocks and herds. It yields good milk, the flesh is edible, though in the old animals not Bedouin Goat-Herd — Palestine savory, and the hair can be made to vary in a larger measure than any of our animals which are shorn. Yet this creature has never obtained the place in relation to man to which it seems entitled. Only here and there is it kept in consider- THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 1 17 able numbers or made the basis of extensive industries. The reason for this seems to be that these animals cannot readily be kept in flocks in the manner of sheep. They are only partly gregarious, and tend to stray from the owner's keeping. There seems reason also to believe that they cannot easily be made to vary in other characteristics except their hairy coverino- at the will of the breeder, and so varieties cannot be formed, as is the case with sheep, to suit each peculiarity of soil and climate. Thus in Europe, where it would be easy to name a score of distinct breeds of sheep, each peculiarly well suited to the conditions of the country where it had been developed, the goats are singularly alike. The original stock of these creatures appears to have been adapted to feeding on the scant herbage which develops in rocky and moun- tainous countries. They do not seem able to make the perfect use of the resources of a pasture which sheep do. These inherited peculiarities in feeding enable them to pick up a subsistence where they may range over a considerable ter- ritory, even where it seems to afford no forms of food for the hungriest animal. Thus in that part of the city of New York known as " Shanty town," goats may be seen in fairly good condition, although the sole source of food, besides a few stray weeds, appears to be the paste of the paper advertise- ments which they pick from the rocks and fences. Although goats appear to be characterized by invariable bodies, our sheep are, in physical characteristics, among the most flexible of our domesticated animals. They may by selection readily and rapidly be made to vary as regards the character of their wool, the size and proportion of their muscles, and the quantity and placing of the fat. In all these features they may be fairly blown to and fro by the wind of Il8 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS favor. Between the meagre-bodied merino, with its skeleton- like frame and heavily wrinkled skin bearing a vast burden of long wool, and the heavy Hampshire-downs or South- downs, there is really an immense difference in bodily quality; yet these variations represent only a century or two of care- ful experiment on the part of the breeders. It seems not improbable that in the present state of this developing art it would be possible, in a hundred years, to reverse the con- ditions of these two varieties. Sheep and goats, like the other herbivorous species which are the common tenants of our fields and forests, belong to the great class of dull-witted mammals in which the intellec- tual processes appear to be almost altogether limited to ancient and simple emotions, such as are inspired by fear or hunger. They are characterized by little individuality of mind, and althoucrh the needs of men have not led to anv experiment in developing their wits, as in the case of dogs, there is no reason to believe that they afford much founda- tion for such essays. The present rapid variations in the physical characteristics of our sheep which are induced by the breeder's skill, make it evident that we are far from having attained the maximum profit from these creatures. The goats also give promise, when selective work is carefully done upon them, of giving much more than they now afford to the uses of mankind ; but from neither of these forms is there reason to hope, at least on our present lines of experi- ment, for any considerable gain in the intellectual qualities. We have already noted the fact that the sheep is espe- cially adapted to serve man in high latitudes, where he has to provide against the winter's cold. The camel is an even more striking instance in which the value of the creature THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 119 depends upon climatal peculiarities. It is peculiarly fitted, by its ancestral training and development, for the use of men who dwell in arid countries. In the olden days of the later Tertiary epoch, creatures akin to the camels appear to have been widely distributed, and were probably adapted to considerable variations of environment. Within the time of which we know something by history, these forms have been The Great Caravan Road — Central Asia limited to the arid districts of southwestern Asia and northern Africa. It is not certain that we know the originally wild form of either of the two species, the double-humped or single-humped camels. Wild members of each exist, but they may be the descendants of the domesticated forms. It seems probable that long before the building of the Pyramids the people of the deserts had learned how to profit from the very peculiar qualities of this strangely provided beast, which in several distinct ways is singularly fitted to serve the needs of I20 DOAIESTICATED AJVIMALS man in arid lands. The large and well-padded foot of this creature is well adapted for treading a surface unsoftened by vegetation. Its peculiar stomach enables it to store water in such a manner that it can go for days without drink. In the humps upon its back, as in natural pack-saddles, it may harvest a share of the nutriment which it obtains from occa- sional good pasturages, the store being laid away in the form of fat which may return to the blood when the creature would otherwise starve. So important have these peculiarities been found by men who have domesticated the camel, that on them have rested many of the most interesting features of race development in the history of our kind. In the territories along the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, and in a large part of southern and central Asia, the camel has done service to man which elsewhere has been performed by sheep, cattle, and horses. In those parts of the world the share which these domesticated animals have had in the development of man has been relatively small. The camel has given the strength for burdens, hair for clothing, and often flesh to the needy men of the desert. Although long a captive, and for ages, perhaps, the most serviceable of all the creatures which man has won from the wilds, the camel is still only partly domesticated, having never acquired even the small measure of affection for his master which we find in the other herbivorous animals which have been won to the service of man. The obedience which he renders is but a dull submission to inevitable toil. The intel- ligence which he shows is very limited, and, so far as I can judge from the accounts of those who have observed him, there is but little variation in his mental qualities. As a whole, the creature appears to be innately the dullest and THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 12 least improvable of all our servitors. The fact is, this animal belongs to an ancient and lowly type of mammals character- ized by relatively small brains, and therefore of weak intelli- gence ; but, for its singular serviceableness in drought-ridden j:j:. rtyi^ Camels Feeding countries, it would probably have been hunted off the earth by the early men, as have been many other remnants of the ancient life. It is somewhat characteristic of the older forms of animals, those which took shape in the earlier Tertiary periods, that they are less variable than those which acquired their char- acteristics in times nearer our own. It is a fact well known to the students of paleontology, that species and genera 124 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS which have been long on the earth are apt to become in a way rigid as regards their quahties of body and mind. It is an interesting fact that, although the camel can readily be transplanted to many other parts of the world, where the physiographic conditions are similar to those of the realm where he has served man so well, he has never been thor- oughly successful except in the regions where he has been in use for ages. In the desert regions of the Cordilleras of America, in South Africa, and in Australia, various experi- ments go to show that the creature could be perfectly recon- ciled to its environm.ent. Many years ago a lot of camels were brought to the valley of the Rio Grande with a view to their utilization in that region, which closely resembles the desert countries about the Mediterranean. These animals were thoroughly successful in meeting the climatal conditions of the region. They proved as strong and as fertile as in their natural realms. Although it is said they survive to the present day, they have never been of any service to the people. Although, as before noted, the camel has a certain value for other purposes than conveying burdens, these subsidiary uses are so far limited that the creature is not likely to retain a place in the world after his service in caravans is no longer called for. The rapid recivilization of northern Africa, lead- ing as it does to the development of a railway system in that region, promises to displace this creature from his most trod- den ways. It seems likely that the other portions of the desert lands in the old world will soon be brought under the same civilizing influences, the nomadic tribes reduced to a stationary habit of life, and the commerce effected in the modern manner. When this change is brought about, this old-time animal, which but for the care of man would have THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 127 probably long since passed away, will be likely, save so far as it may be preserved through motives of scientific interest, to join the great array of vanished species. It affords a pleasant contrast to turn from the consid- eration of the camels to a study of the elephants. The difference in the measure of attractiveness of the two forms is very great, and depends upon facts of remarkable interest. Camels along the Sea at Twilight Unlike the camel — which, as we have seen, is the last survivor of an ancient lineage, represented by but two species, and these limited to a small part of the world — the elephant, at the time when man appears to have taken shape, seems to have existed on all the continental lands except Australia, and to have been in a state of singular prosperity. As is often the case with other vigorous genera of mammals, the species were adapted to a very great variety of climates, and were fitted to endure tropic heat as well as arctic cold. The group of elephants is first known to us in the early 128 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS part of Tertiary time. From its first appearance on our stage it seems to have been successful in a high measure, and this probably by reason of its possession of the remarkable inven- tion of the trunk — a prolonged and marvellously flexible nose which serves in the manner of an arm and hand for gathering food. When we first find traces of mankind in the records of the rocks, in what appears to be an age just anterior to the Glacial epoch, the elephant had passed the experimental stages of its development and was firmly established as the king of beasts. In his adult form he had nothing to fear from any of the lower animals, and by the organization of herds it Is probable that even the young were tolerably safe from assault. Until the early races of men had attained a considerable skill in the use of weapons, the great beasts were probably safe from human attack. We may well believe that primitive savages shunned them as unconquerable. As early, perhaps, as the closing stages of the Glacial epoch in Europe, we find evidences which pretty clearly show that the folk of that land, probably belonging to some race other than our own, had attained a state of the warlike arts in which they could venture to hunt this creature. The species of elephant which was hunted by the early men of Europe, and perhaps also by those in Asia and Amer- ica as well, was a greater and, at least in appearance, a more formidable monster than the living species of Asia or Africa. He was on the average taller and probably bulkier than any of his livinof kindred. The tusks were lar^e and curved in a curious scimitar form. Adding to the might of its aspect was a vast covering of hair, which on the neck appears to have had the form of a mane. This covering must have greatly THE FLOCKS AND HERDS I 29 increased the apparent size of the creature, which no doubt appeared about twice as large as any of our modern elephants which are nearly hairless. Although the perils of this ancient chase must have been great, the triumphs were equally so, and to a people who lived by hunting, most profitable ; a single animal would furnish more food than scores of the lesser beasts such as the reindeer. It seems probable that the ancient northern elephant con- tinued in existence in North America down to the time when this continent was inhabited by man. It can hardly be doubted that the very ancient human beings, whose remains are preserved to us beneath the lava streams of California, dwelt on the continent along with the mammoth. In excava- tions which I have made at Big Bone Lick in Kentucky, where a group of saline springs emerges at the bottom of a valley, there were disclosed a very great number of skeletons of this great elephant, commingled with the bones of one or two smaller forms of the related genus, the mastodon. At a slightly higher level was the multitude of remains belonging to an extinct species of bison which came just before our so-called buffalo, while near the surface of the ground was found the waste of the creatures which were in the field when it was first seen by the white men. A very careful search failed to reveal any trace of man until the uppermost level was attained. The facts, which cannot well be discussed here, have led me to the conclusion that only a few thousand years can have elapsed since the mammoth and the mastodon plen- tifully abounded in North America ; but I am forced to doubt whether our savages were here in time to make acquaintance with these animals. It is not certain that the extermination of the ereat north- 9 I30 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ern elephant or mammoth even in the Old World came about through the action of man. It is possible that the death was clue to more natural causes, such as the change of climate which attended the decline of the Glacial period, or to the attacks of some insect enemy like the tsetze fly of South Africa, which occasionally brings destruction to cattle in that part of the world. On the whole, however, it seems most probable that the extermination of this noble beast is to be accounted among the brutal triumphs of mankind, perhaps as the first of the long tale of destructions which he has inflicted upon his .fellow-creatures. However this may be, it is clear that at the dawn of civilization the species of the genus elephas had become limited to that part of the African conti- nent which lies south of the Sahara, and to the portion of Asia east of the Persian Gulf and south of China. The rem- nant consisted of two species : the African form, on the aver- age the larger of the two, a fierce and scarcely domesticable creature ; and the Asiatic, a milder-natured species which alone has been to any extent brought into the service of man. It is not certain when or where elephants were first reduced to domestication. In the dawn of history we find them used to enhance the state of princes and for the purposes of war. It seems possible that in this early day the African as well as the Asiatic species was tamed, at least to the point where they could be made to serve in battle. We can hardly believe that all these animals which were at the command of Hannibal and the other generals of North Africa, came from the Asiatic realm. The fact that in modern times the species which dwells south of the Sahara has not been turned to the uses of man, may be accounted for by the lowly estate of the native people in that part of the world, and the lack of need THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 131 for such creatures in the economic conditions of/the Aryafi^-., folk who have settled along the shores and in the southern y part of that continent. The relations of man to the elephant are more peculiar than those which he has formed with any other domesticated animal. Although the creature will breed in captivity, its reproduction in that state is exceptional, and it is\mny years before the offspring are fit for any service. It is indee^about thirty years before the creature is sufficiently adult to ai.tain a eood measure of streno^th and endurance. It has therefore been the habit of the people who avail themselves of this admirable beast to use the captures which they make in the wilderness. It is a most interesting and exceptional fact that these captive elephants, though bred in perfect freedom and provided with none of those inherited instincts so essentially a part of the value of our other domesticated quadrupeds, become helpful to man and attached to him in a way which is characteristic of none other of our ancient companions except the dog. It is safe to say that the Asiatic elephant is the most innately domesticable, and the best fitted by nature for companionship with man, of all our great quadrupeds. The qualities of mind which in our other domesticated quadrupeds have been slowly developed by thousands of years of selection and intercourse with our kind, are in this creature a part of its wild estate. It appears from trustworthy anecdotes that the Asiatic elephants in a few months of captivity acquire the rules of conduct which it is necessary to impose upon them. The speediness of this intellectual subjugation maybe judged from the fact that, after a short term of domestication, they will take a willing and intelligent part in capturing their kindred 132 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS of the wilderness, showing in this work little or no disposition to rejoin the wild herds. In the case of no other animal do we find anything like such an immediate adhesion to the ways of civilization. We have to account for this eminent peculi- arity of the elephant on the supposition, which appears to be thoroughly justified, that the creature has, even in its wild state, a type of intelligence and instincts more nearly like those of men than is the case with any other wild mammal, an affinity with human quality which is. perhaps, only approached by certain species of birds. It appears from the observations of naturalists that the family or tribe of wild elephants is a distinct and highly sympathetic community. The grade and value of the friendly feeling which prevails among them may be judged by the fact that, when one of the males becomes lost or is driven away from its associates, it does not seem to be able to join any other tribe, but becomes a " rogue," or solitary individual, and in this state develops a morose and furious temper. There are many well-attested stories which serve to show that wild elephants have a kind of intelligence which indicates a certain constructive capacity. Of these, perhaps the best are the instances in which the creatures have been caught in pitfalls, made by digging a hole in the paths of the wilderness which they are accustomed to follow, the surface being cov- ered with a frail platform so arranged as to conceal the exca- vation. When one of a tribe is caught in the trap, the others, if time allows before the hunters come to the ground, will in an ingenious way release him. I doubt if the most practicable manner of effecting this will occur at once to the reader. The easiest plan may seem to drag the captive from the pit by sheer strength, but as the hole is deep and has vertical sides, THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 133 the elephants contrive a better way. They bring bits of timber, which they throw into the pitfall, the captive treads them clown until he is elevated to a position whence he can escape from his prison. The intelligence of the wild elephant is probably in good part to be accounted for by the fact that the creature possesses in its trunk an instrument which is admirably contrived to exe- cute the behests of an intelligent will. It is easy for us to see how, in the case of man, the hands have served to develop the intelligence by providing him with means whereby he could do a great variety of things which demanded thought and afforded education. The elephant is the only large mammal which has ever acquired a serviceable addition to the body such as the trunk affords. In their ordinary life the trunk does almost as varied work as the human arm. With it they can express emotions in a remarkable way ; they caress their young, gather their food by a great variety of movements, or defend themselves from assailants. To the naturalist who has come to perceive the close relations between bodily struct- ure and mental endowments, it is not surprising to find that these creatures have attained a quality of mind which is found nowhere else among the mammals except in man and in some of his kindred, the apes. The most peculiar mental quality of the elephant, a feature which separates him even from the dog, is the rational way in which he will do certain kinds of mechanical work. He appears to have an immediate sense as to the effects of his actions, which we find elsewhere only among human beings. From a great body of well-attested observations, showing what may be called the logical quality of the mind of these creatures, I may be allowed to select a few stories which have 134 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS a singular denotative value. An acquaintance of mine, a British officer who had served long in India, told me that in taking artillery over very difficult roads, certain of the abler elephants could be trusted to walk behind each piece, where An Indian Elephant they would in a fashion control its movements, steadying or lifting it as the occasion demanded without any directions from the driver. Elephants can be trained to pile up sticks of timber, such as railway ties, placing the layers alternately in opposite directions, as is the custom in such work. There is an excel- lent and well-attested story of an elephant who, without a driver, was bearinof a stick of timber throuo-h a narrow wood THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 135 path. Meeting a man on horseback, and perceiving that the way was not wide enough for both himself and the oncomer, the sagacious animal deliberately backed his huge body into the chaparral so as to clear the way, and then trumpeted as if to signal the horseman that the path was free. The emotions as well as the intelligence of elephants are singularly like those of human kind. It is said by those who know them well that if when in their stubborn fits they are brutally overborne, they are apt to die of what seems to be pure chagrin. Their states of grief, despair, and rage much resemble those which are exhibited by violent children or men unaccustomed to control. Their affections and animosities have also a curious human cast. They readily form attach- ments which appear to be quite as enduring as those exhib- ited by dogs, and their memory of injuries remains quick for years after they have received the harm. Well-verified anec- dotes showing the likeness of these emotional qualities to our own exist in such numbers that it would be easy to fill a volume with them. They are, however, not necessary to show the likeness of the creature to ourselves. This is suffi- ciently exhibited by their daily behavior under domestication. In noting this we should remember that the male elephant is the only large mammal the males of which it has proved safe to use in the ordinary work of life. Even our bulls and stall- ions, though they belong to species which have been domesti- cated for thousands of years, are so violent and untrustworthy as to be of little value except for breeding purposes. Bulls, even of the tamer breeds, are a constant menace to the lives of their masters ; yet an adult male elephant recently made captive may, except when seriously diseased, be trusted to obey the mere signals of the driver, who has no such control 136 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS over him as the bit affords in the case of horses. The creat- ure has the strength to overcome all control save that of a moral nature. To this he submits in a way which is only equalled by our well-bred dogs. As yet the utility of the elephant to man has, measured by his qualities, been but small. The creature has a marvellous strength, great intelligence, and remarkable docility. In pro- portion to the power which he can apply to a task, he is not an expensive animal to maintain. He can endure a consider- able range of climate, and enjoys a tolerable immunity from disease. The reason for the relatively inconsiderable use of these creatures is probably to be found in the fact that they are not adapted for ordinary draught purposes, nor are they well suited to the needs of the caravan, for which the camel or the pack-mule is much better fitted. In ancient warfare, before the invention of gunpowder, elephants carrying archers or javelin-men upon their backs were greatly valued for the effect of their charge against an enemy and for the fright with which they inspired horses. Against the unsteady ranks of Oriental armies they were often most efficient in breaking a line of battle. Even the Roman troops, when they first encountered them and before they knew how to meet their charges, found them very formidable. It was soon learned that if their onset was stoutly resisted, they were likely to become unmanageable in the uproar of the fight, and to do as much damagfe to friends as to foes. It is onlv in certain peculiar tasks that, in modern days, the elephants have any economic value, and in the most of this work their strength is likely to be replaced by various engines. The two existing species of elephants are, as before re- marked, the survivors of a long lineage, represented in the THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 137 geological record by the remains of many extinct forms. Some of these lost species were far smaller than those of to-day ; one at least was no larger than our heavier horses. If by the breeder's art the existing varieties could be caused so to change as to give us once again this relatively diminu- tive form, the creature would be sure to find a place of im- portance in our ordinary arts. The trouble is that the very long life of this animal is naturally associated with a slow growth. It requires indeed almost the lifetime of a genera- tion to bring the individual to an adult age. It is therefore not surprising that, as the wild forms can readily be won to domestication, these creatures have not been the subject of any of those interesting processes of selection which have so far affected for the better the characteristics of nearly all the other domesticated animals. In every other regard than those mentioned above, the elephant appears to be an excellent subject for improvement by choice in breeding. The individuals vary much as regards their physical and mental qualities. Probably no other wild mammal exhibits such differences in the mental features as does this highly intellectual creature. The physical individu- ality does not seem to be as striking as the mental, but even here we note a range, at least as regards size, which is un- usual in the wild forms bred under similar conditions. The general elasticity of the group Is shown by the considerable differences which may be traced in the herds which occupy different parts of the field over which the species range. As yet these local peculiarities have not been carefully studied ; but from an examination of the tusks In the ivory warehouse at the docks in London, I have found that those shipped from particular ports in Africa and Asia differed both in form and 138 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS texture, so that the experts were able to tell from which dis- trict they came. The evidence, in a word, appears to show that the creature tends to vary ; and it is a safe presumption that the forms would prove as responsive to the breeder's art as those of our horses, cattle, sheep, or dogs. As a whole, the elephant has been almost as little associ- ated with the life of our own race as the camel. Neither of these creatures has ever played any considerable part in European affairs. From the disappearance of the last of the mammoths in the closing stages of the Glacial time until the invasions of Italy by Pyrrhus and by Hannibal, elephants were practically unknown in Western Europe. They have never been used in peaceful occupations on that continent, and have had only a trifling place in its military arts. It was probably due to this separation of our eminently experimental race from the realm of the elephants that no efforts have been made systematically to breed them in captivity, and thus to win varieties in which the form might become better adapted to economic needs, and the remarkable mental powers of the creature be brought to their utmost develop- ment. As yet the only Europeans who have had much to do with elephants are the British, who in their civil and military service in India have been thrown in contact with these ani- mals. Generally, however, these people have been only tem- porarily domiciled in Asia, and probably on this account have not become interested in the problems which this noble beast presents to all those who appreciate the animal world. We lack, indeed, the observations which might have been made with admirable effect by British observers in India during the two centuries in which that people has had to do with the lands in which elephants abound. THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 139 The elephant of Africa Is still a tolerably abundant animal. Its numbers, though doubtless diminished by more than one- half within this century, are probably to be counted by the hundred thousand. Nevertheless, in less than a hundred years the field which they occupied has been greatly reduced ; and between the ivory hunter and the sportsman of our brutal race armed with guns of ever-increasing deadliness, it will certainly not require another century of free shooting to annihilate the African species. In view of the present con- dition of the life of these noble beasts, it seems in a high measure desirable that a thorough-going effort should be made to extend the domestication to the point where the form will not only be won from the wilds, but will be a permanent element in our civilization, in the manner of our common flocks and herds. It will be an enduring shame if, by neglect of our opportunities, the utmost is not done to attain this end. It appears fit that this task should be under- taken by the British Government, which In modern days has displayed a skill and forethought In the administration of Its Indian provinces unexampled In the history of colonies. Owing to the slow breeding-rate of the elephant, it may require more than a century for experiments to attain any definite result, so that the task is clearly beyond the limits of individual endeavor. 7^ Among the humbler helpers of man, the pig holds an Important place. He has had no small share in the better- ment of the estate of his masters. One of the large questions which beset men in their unconscious endeavors to lay the foundations of civilization was that of food-supply. No sooner does a population become sedentary than the wilder- nesses about Its dwelling-place are rapidly cleared of the large 140 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS game, so that the chase affords but Httle save amusement. Therefore a provision in the way of meat has to be obtained from domesticated animals. The flocks and herds supply this need, though in a costly way. Sheep have a value for their wool ; horned cattle develop slowly, and are, moreover valu- able, the oxen for their strength and the cows for their milk. Horses are too valuable to be used for food, save in times of exceeding stress ; and none but the lowest savages are willing to send their faithful dogs to the pot. From the beginning of his experience with man the pig has been found the cheap- est and most serviceable domesticated animal as a source of food-supply. We can trace the origin of our dom.esticated pigs more clearly than in the case of the most of the other subjugated animals. The creature is evidently descended from the wild boar of Europe and Asia ; and though long under domestica- tion and greatly varied from its primitive stock, it readily reverts to something like its original form when allowed to betake itself once more to the wilds. The domestication of the species appears to have been accomplished at several different points in Asia and Europe. The forms which are found in eastern Asia differ from those which are kept in the western portion of the great continent, and may have their blood commingled with that of another species which is native in that part of the world. Among our domesticated animals the pig is exceptional in the fact that it has been bred for its flesh alone ; for although the hide is valuable and the hair serves certain purposes, as in the manufacture of brushes, these uses are only incidental and modern. They have not affected the plan of the breeder, whose aim has been to produce the largest weight of flesh in THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 141 the shortest time, and with the least expenditure of food. In this peculiar task the success has been remarkable, the creat- ure having been made to vary from its primitive condition in an extraordinary manner. In its wild state the species develops slowly, requiring, perhaps, three or four years to attain its maximum size. It never becomes very fat, but re- mains an agile, swift-footed, and fierce tenant of the wilds. Under the conditions of subjugation the pig has been brought to a state in which its qualities of mind and body have under- gone a very great change. In the more developed breeds, even the males, when kept about the barnyard, are quiet- natured and not at all dangerous. The creatures have become slow-moving ; they attain their full development in about half the time required for the growth of their wild kindred, and when adult they may outweigh them in the ratio of four to one. The effect arising from the food-supply which our pigs afford is well seen in the use which is made of their flesh in all the ruder work of men, at least in the case of those of our race. Our soldiers and sailors are to a great extent fed on the flesh of these creatures, which lends itself readily to pres- ervation by the use of salt. So rapidly can these animals be bred, owing to the number of young which they produce in a litter and the swiftness of their growth, that sudden demands for an increase in the supply, such as occurred at the out- break of our civil war, can quickly be met. If the need should arise, the quantity of pork produced in this country could readily be doubled within eighteen months. This is the case with no other source of flesh-supply, and this fact gives the pig a peculiar importance. Owing to the remarkably complete domestication of this 142 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS animal, and also to the fact that it is omnivorous, the creature has ever been a favorite with the cotter class. Those folk, who can afford neither sheep nor horned cattle, can often pro- vide the food for pigs, and thus, in turn, be much better fed than they would otherwise be. It is only within two centuries that our pigs have attained to anything like the domestication in which we commonly find them. Of old they were allowed to range the forests, much as they do in certain parts of our Southern States at the present day. In some parts of Europe, particularly in the southern portion of the continent, this method of rearing and feeding is still common. It was and is advantageous, for the reason that the creature, by its remarkably keen sense of smelling and its singular capacity for overturning the ground, is able to provide itself with abundant food in the way of grubs and roots which are not at the disposition of any other animal. It was only as the public forests disappeared that pigs came to receive any considerable part of their provender from the products of tilled fields. In this stage of our agricul- ture, when all the land was possessed, the life of the pig was necessarily more restricted, and he became the denizen of a pen. In the earlier state there was no cost for his keeping; in the latter, except so far as he could be fed from the waste of a household, he is an expensive animal. It is with this last state of the pig, when he became the most housed of our domesticated animals, that the work of the breeder really began. The aim of those who have developed the pig has been, as we have said, to obtain the most rapid "■rowth alonof with the o-reatest weight of fat, and to accom- plish the results with the least expenditure in the way of food. Although the animal has been subjected to selective experi- THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 143 ments, looking to these ends, for not more than a century, or say about forty generations of the species, the amount of variation which has been attained is singularly great, the form and habits having been changed more rapidly, and in a larger measure, than in the case of any other of our domesticated animals. It may fairly be said that this creature is more obe- dient to the will of the practical selectionist than any other with which we have experimented. It is commonly assumed that our pigs are among the least intelligent of the creatures which man has turned to his use. This impression is due to the fact that the conditions in which these animals are kept insure their degradation by cutting them off fram all the natural mental trainino- which wild ani- mals, as well as the other tenants of the fields, receive. In the state of nature or in the condition of domestication which existed before pigs became captives in their pens, they were among the most alert and sagacious animals with which man has come in contact. Their wits were quick and their sympa- thies with their kind remarkably strong. Trainers have found these creatures more apt In receiving instruction than any other of our mammals, and the things which they can be made to do appear to indicate a native intelligence nearer to that of man than is found in any other species below the level of the apes. As there is little in the books of anecdotes of animals concerning pigs, I venture to give an account of a learned individual of this species whose performances I had an oppor- tunity of observing in much detail. The creature, an ordi- nary specimen about three years old, had been trained by a peasant In the mountain district of Virginia who made his living by instructing animals for show purposes. He stated 144 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS that in selecting pigs for education it was his practice to choose those characterized by a considerable width between the eyes and whose skulls projected in this part of their periphery to a more than usual degree. He said that from many experiments he was satisfied that there was a very great difference in the capacity of the animals to receive training, and that the above-mentioned indices afforded him sufifiicient guidance in his choice. In the exhibition about to be described there were but three persons present, myself, another spectator, and the showman. A score of cards were placed upon the ground, each bearing a numeral or the name of some distinguished person. These cards were in perfect disorder. I was allowed, indeed, repeatedly to change their position and to mix them up as I pleased. The pig was then told to pick out the name of Abraham Lincoln and brine it to his master. This he readily did. He was asked in what year Lincoln was assassinated. He slowly but without correction brought one by one the appropriate numerals and put them on the ground in due order. Half a dozen other questions concern- ing names and dates Vv^ere answered in a similar way. Each success was rewarded with a Qrrain of corn, and for his failures the creature received a reasonable drubbing. It was evident that the animal had to consider in making his choice of the cards. At times he was evidently much puzzled and would indicate his perplexity by squealing. It seemed clear that the master of this learned pig did not guide the movements of the animal by other indications than words. The questions, in some cases, had to be reiterated in a loud voice in order to insure attention. .Several times dur- ing the performance the pig rebelled, broke from the tent, THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 145 and was wath difficulty recaptured. The creature disliked this task in the manner of a lazy school-boy, and at the end of an hour of exercises seemed utterly overcome by his labor. He ran into the box where he was ordinarily confined, and when dragged forth, neither rewards nor punishments would quicken him to further work. The above-described exhibition made it plain to me that the pig can be taught to understand a certain amount of human speech and to associate memories with phrases sub- stantially as we do ourselves. It is perfectly clear that the performance which I witnessed was not a mere routine action, for I had a number of questions asked over again so as to make it sure that the creature acted *with reference to each separate inquiry. The behavior of the animal during the performance seemed clearly to indicate mental effort and not mere automatic memory. His attitude when trying to deter- mine which of two cards to take distinctly showed that he was intently viewing the figures and endeavoring to come to a decision. I am aware it has been suggested that learned pigs discriminate between the cards by peculiarities of odor which have been given to these bits of paper. I sought carefully to find if such was the case, and though I have a very keen sense of smell I found nothing which led me to suspect that this device was used. Even if such were the case, the ration- ality of the animal's action would be none the less clear. The showman assured me that he never used any such means in training pigs. He seemed, indeed, to treat the suggestion with contempt. Although experiments in the training of pigs show that they have rather remarkable intellectual capacities, the most human feature in their mental organization is found in the 146 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS keen sympathy which they exhibit with the sufferings of their own kind and the wilHngness with which they encounter dan- ger in protecting their comrades. It usually requires close observation for the naturalist to determine the existence of this motive among the other wild or domesticated mammals. In fact, the traces of it are very slight indeed, and are gener- ally to be attributed to the care of parents for offspring or of the males for their harem — a disposition which, though akin to the defence of the kind, is nevertheless of a special and peculiar nature. Even among our domestic dogs, whose sympathies have been developed in a remarkable degree and who will sacrifice their lives to defend or rescue the human beings with whom they are familiar, there appears to be but little disposition to support members of their species who may be assailed. With pigs, however, as is well known to all those who have observed their habits, the characteristic cry of distress of their fellows proves very exciting and stim- ulates all the adults, both male and female, who hear it to hasten in defence of their kinsmen. It is a noteworthy fact that while most other animals when in danger utter no dis- tinct or continuous cry, the pig gives voice in a vociferous and insistent manner, as if he had a right to expect the sympathy and help of his species. The cry goes with the custom of defence which in this species has attained a bet- ter foundation in the sympathetic motives than in any other mammal below the level of man. It is perhaps due to their relatively high intellectual organization that the excessively domesticated pigs are liable to suffer from attacks of mania. This is most com- monly exhibited by the sows, which at times will destroy their young shortly after they are born. The sight of their THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 1 4/ progeny seems to infuriate them in a curious manner. One sow which I owned killed three successive litters ; another fine animal of the Berkshire breed, a very amiable, indeed affec- tionate, creature, was carefully watched at the time she first bore young, precautions being taken to prevent her from harming them ; she would willingly allow them to suckle, provided she did not see them, but the moment she laid her eyes upon them she was seized with the strange fury. Although this singular perversion of the natural instincts of maternity sometimes occurs among the pigs which are allowed to roam together in herds, it seems to be far more common in those conditions where the animals are confined in pens without contact with their kind, and where they have no chance to recognize the young as members of their species or to acquire that interest in them which they would gain in the society of the herd. It is also clear that this maniacal habit is inherited ; according to my observation it is common among the Berkshire, and relatively rare in other less special- ized varieties. The intelligence of the pig is also shown in the readiness with which the creature changes its habits to meet varied environments. Thus the pigs which range the woods in the western and southern parts of the United States have learned to catch the crawfish which abounds in the shallow streams in those parts of this country. They will wade up a brook, turning over the stones and driftwood as they go, catching with a quick movement the crustaceans which they have thus dislodged from their cover. Along the shores of the Bay of Fundy, the pigs, accustomed to follow the tide out, picking the chance food which is thus exposed to them, have learned carefully to avoid the risk of being caught by the returning 148 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS waters. With the first splash of the turning tide they hasten inshore until they have attained safe ground. One of the best evidences of the mental state of these animals is found in their actions when assailed by dogs or other beasts of prey. Pigs, though wary and sensible of danger, seem exempt from the extreme fear which leads to panic, and fight, even before being brought to bay by long chasing, in a discreet and valiant manner. Where a number of them are attacked by dogs or other enemies, they will form a circle with their heads out, each supporting the other in such a manner that the ring cannot readily be broken. Their thick-skinned forequarters and stout tusks provide them with excellent instruments with which to resist an assault. The sagacity of the pigs is probably, in part at least, to be attributed to the fact that in their native state they are com- munal animals, all the species of their family being accus- tomed to live gregariously, so that for ages they have had the training which every social organization, however simple, affords. They are, moreover, omnivorous feeders, accus- tomed to subsist on a great variety of food — a habit which seems in all cases to promote the development of the intel- lio^ence in animals. Although the pigs by their nature afforded the best oppor- tunity for developing an intellectual animal which has come to us through our domesticated creatures, no effort whatever has been made by selection to develop the latent mental capacities of this species. It is perhaps the only form of those which man has subjugated which by his treatment he tends to degrade. In the time to come, when men will be held to a better accountability for the treatment of their THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 149 captives, the condition of these animals will afford a fair field for the reformer's care. The geologist who is acquainted with the mammalian life of the Middle Tertiary period readily notes the fact that the variety in genera and species appears to be much greater than it is at the present time. A great number of forms, differing somewhat widely from those now in existence, then abounded in the Americas and the Old World. It may at first sight seem unfortunate that man did not have the chance to essay his domesticative arts on that older and apparently richer life. A closer examination, however, leads us to see that the species of that time, though more numerous than those of the present, were on the whole less fitted for our use than the fewer but more completely differentiated kinds with which we have had to deal. The multitude of kinds which we find in the Mesozoic period indicates that the life was in a state more experimental than that to which it has attained. A host of forms on their way towards the speciali- zation which has now been attained have been removed from the sphere, in the manner of a scaffolding from a completed structure. That which has been left remains because it has successfully accomplished the task of reconciliation with envi- ronment, or, in simpler phrase, because it has learned to do things which were useful and profitable in a more perfect manner. As an illustration of the fact that the animals of to-day are better fitted to be the help-meets of man than were their ancestors of an earlier time, we may note the state of the horse at the time when that genus was undergoing its devel- opment in the region about the upper waters of the Missouri. As may be imagined, the long and difficult passage from the 150 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS five-toed to the single-toed form was slowly accomplished, and to its doing went a great many temporary forms, which .served, we may say, as stepping-stones for the ongoing. So far as we can judge, these intermediate forms were small, rather frail creatures, which pi-obably could not have been made to serve any purpose useful to man. It was not until the mechanical system of the large single toe with the wonderfully developed nail, which makes up the foot and hoof of the horse, had been attained, that the creature becomes fit for the wonderful work we have persuaded him to do in our civilization. A comparison of the skulls of the Tertiary mammals and those of our own day indicates that in certain of the important series, and presumably in them all, the brain has increased in size from the earlier to the later times. This increase in brain capacity has doubtless been attended by a decided gain in the measure of intelligence, a gain which has doubtless served to make the modern representatives of the series fitter for man's use than their ancestors were. For, while the number of our very useful domesticated forms may seem at first sight to be dull of wit, none of them are really low in the intellectual scale as we apply it to the brute ; in fact, a considerable measure of intelligence is absolutely required as a condition for true subjugation. This is seen by the fact that nothing like a real adoption into our social system has €ver been accomplished except with a few of the higher orders of mammals and birds, species which have an intellectual capacity that we recognize as akin to our own. Thus, so far as we can see, man's appearance on this stage was, so far as it relates to the possibility of companionship with the lower life, exceedingly well timed. He came at a period when the life was ready to give him and to receive from him a large THE FLOCKS AND HERDS 151 measure of help. If his advent had been much earlier, he micrht have had less trouble in his contests with the larger carnivora ; but if there had been a lack of beasts to obey his will, it is doubtful whether he could himself have won his way above that primitive life. DOMESTICATED BIRDS Domestication of Animals mainly accomplished by the Aryan Race ; Small Amount of Such Work by American Indians. — Barnyard Fowl : Mental Qualities ; Habits of Combat. — Peacocks : their Limited Domestication. — Turkeys : their Origin ; tending to revert to the Savage State. — Water Fowl : Limited Number of Species domesticated ; Intellectual Qualities of this Group. — The Pigeon : Origin and History of Group ; Marvels of Breeding. — Song Birds. — Hawks and Hawking. — Sympathetic Motive of Birds : their .Esthetic Sense ; their Capacity for Enjoyment. It is an interesting fact that about all the work of domes- tication which has been done by man has been accomplished by the peoples of Asia and mainly by the Aryan race. The American Indians tamed the llama and alpaca and a few species of native plants ; even where their habits were pre- vailingly sedentary they domesticated no birds. It was left for Europeans to make use of the wild turkey. Our primitive people had the same chance to tame ducks and geese as the folk of the Old World. They appear, however, to have lacked all capacity for such endeavors. The same lack of disposition to capture and tame wild creatures is noticeable among the characteristic peoples of Africa ; all of which serves to show that the domesticating art, at least as applied to animals, is peculiar to the higher-grade folk of the Old World. Of all the birds which have been domesticated, our com- mon barnyard fowl has been by far the most useful to man. It has become in a way interwoven with his life to a degree found only in a few of our barnyard animals. Next after the pigeons and the pigs it has been most deeply impressed by DOMESTICATED BIRDS 153 the breeder's art. The wild species whence it sprang is a small creature, laying but few eggs and with but a slight tendency to accumulate fat. From this parent stock varieties have been bred which attain in some cases to eight or ten times the weight of the ancient form. They have, moreover, lost the fierce combative spirit which characterizes their - ^^ ancestors and which by selection has been preserved and intensified in our breeds of eame-cocks. The Original Jungle Fowl {Callus bankiva) and Some of His Domestic Descendants It is an interesting fact that our barnyard fowl is the only species of a large family of birds which has been truly domes- ticated. The kindred pheasants and grouse, though abound- ing in the Old World and the New, and much disposed to abide about the cultivated fields, appear to be rather untam- able. However well cared for, the wilderness motive seems never to have been eradicated. The domesticability of the cock, as is that of most other wild animals, is doubtless to be explained by the conditions of the life in which it has dwelt for ages before it was introduced to the society of man. In its 154 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS wild state this bird had already to a great extent lost the power of flight, using its wings only for escaping from four- footed pursuers or to attain the branches of the trees in which it sought safety in the night time. With this measure of loss of the flying power, the creature abandoned the habit of rang- inof over a wide field, and thus was made more fit for domes- tication. Moreover, in their wilderness life these birds dwelt in more established communities than their kindred species. The most of these wild forms do not keep together through the year, but scatter after the young are able to shift for themselves. The Indian species of Galhis, however, from which our cocks and hens descend, have organized their life so that the individuals remain associate in a friendly way throughout the year. A part of the fitness of this creature to cast in its lot with man arises from the fact that they have very sympathetic natures. This is shown by the way in which the cocks will fight for their hens, even against their dreaded enemies, the hawks; and by the manner in which the mother, overcoming her natural fears, will do battle for her brood. It is shown also in the curious mingling of gallantry and kindliness with which the cock will call a hen to give her some choice bit of food which he has captured. As he grows older and becomes Philistinish, we may note that, after the manner of unfeath- ered bipeds, he is often disposed to indulge his selfishness, and summons his flock only to see him devour the morsel. Even in old age, however, the males of the varieties which are nearest the parent stock maintain their helpful motives and will struggle with infirmity to beat off a bird of prey. The sympathetic and affectionate quality of our barnyard fowl is perhaps best indicated by the singular variety and DOMESTICATED BIRDS 155 denotative value of their various calls and cries. Those who know these birds well will find no difficulty in recognizing about a score of diverse sounds, each of which indicates a particular turn of their mind. Almost all of these different notes have slight variations of expression which fit particular situations. Thus the crow of these birds, which may seem to the unob- servant a very unvaried sound, discloses to those who have lovingly studied them at least half a dozen distinct modifi- cations. In the fledgling male who just begins to feel the spirit of his kind, and who goes through his performance in the adolescent way, it is a cheap and often pitiful call. From the open roost in the trees, where the birds are gradually aroused by the slow-coming day, we can often hear the note of the half-awakened cock, as full of the sense of slumber as the speech of a sleeping man. As the creature gradually awakens, his cry becomes more resonant until it has the true morning ring. Brave as is this note of the full day, it is not to be compared with the crowing of a game-cock, the most splendid braggart sound of all the animal world. The really sympathetic notes of our fowls are uttered in their ordinary intercourse. Here the gradations of sounds have a range and fineness which, it seems to me, we can observe in no other creature below the level of man. Atten- tion, astonishment, fear, commonplace distress, exultation, and agony are all set forth with cries which we, in a way, recog- nize as appropriate. Although some of these sounds relate to the larger experiences of the creatures, the most instructive of them are uttered in their ordinary intercourse, where they clearly maintain a kind of consensus in the flock by unending small bits of emotional speech, the notes being shaded in a wonderful way. These fine variations of utterance can some- 156 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS times be observed to be related to slight differences of situa- tion. Thus the cackle of a hen when she leaves her nest after laying an ^g> >uld be brought to see the beauties of the primitive con- •ions which they now rarely have a chance to behold. Yet re might be accomplished if men of wealth could be in- ' Liced to turn their generous spirit towards this object. There many parts of this country where reservations are most d<.-^fj aJDle and where the price of land is so low that an area of thif thousand acres could be acquired for that number of dol. .irs. A capital of one hundred thousand dollars would, the present rates of interest, afford the revenue necessary for he puy of a keeper and half a dozen guards, a sufificient force -o maintain a due watchfulness against depredations. More- over, the use of such land as an asylum would not prevent a careful exploitation of its timber resources, which in many cases would give a suf^cient return to provide for the polic- ing expenses, as well as for incidental costs incurred in bring- ing upon the land species from the neighboring country which it might be desirable to introduce. At a cost of not more than a million dollars it would be possible to secure and maintain a well-chosen system of guarded wildernesses which would preserve the characteristics of the original plant and animal life in all the region of this country lying to the east of the Rocky Mountains. It would be essential in any such privately founded system of wilderness reservations to have the control of the establish- ments in the hands of some authorities which were of an enduring nature. In our American experience it has become 262 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS certain that such trusts cannot be safely reposed in the state or national governments, or in the hands of trustees chosen for the particular function. The only authorities which commend themselves for the execution of such a pur- pose are those of our universities. In these institutions we find boards which are chosen for the attainment of intel- lectual ends ; in certain cases the choice is made by the vote of an intelligent body of alumni, or in other ways guarded by that body, so that the chance of lapse in the quality of the contract is reduced to a minimum. Several instances could be given showing that such trusts, even when they do not directly pertain to the teaching work of these institutions, have been long and faithfully maintained. We may there- fore look upon our universities as the natural repositories oi confidences which pertain to the continuous intellectual work of man. There is no other kind of association where inter- ests of the sort which would have to be cared for in the reservations of the wilderness are so likely to receive contin- uous attention. In these homes of learning, while business considerations enter, personal greed is naturally absent. The method which may be chosen for the control of wilderness reservations, though a problem of much impor- tance, is of course secondary to the matter of their establish- ment. This work should at once command the attention of those persons who are of the foresightful class who see beyond the interests of the day, and take account of the needs of the generations to come. Such men will do well to begin the work by organizing a society which shall endeavor to arouse public attention to the destructive effects of man's occu- pation of the earth by his civilizations. The people need, to be tauoht the true meaning of the indigenous life in THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTICATION 26 o relation to the problems of the origin and destiny of our own and other life, to the future exercise of the domesticating art and to the most refined gratifications. It may be noted that, beginning with the apparently simple and eminently popular questions as to the origin and economic history of the animals which have been subjugated by man, we have been naturally led to the consideration of much larger problems, those relating to the place of man in the order of nature, and his duty by the life of which he is an integral part. There can be no question that the sense of this duty which mastery of the earth gives or should afford is to be one of the moral gifts of modern learning. So long as men considered themselves to be accidents on the earth, imposed upon it by the will of a Supreme Being, but in nowise related in origin and history to the creatures amid which they dwelt, it was natural that they should exercise a careless and despotic power over their subjects. Now that it has been made perfectly clear that we have come forth from the maze of the lower life, that all these tenants of the wilderness are sharers in the order which has brought us to our estate, and that each one of them, plant and animal alike, is the record of the impulses which lead beings upward, we can no longer keep the old careless attitude. We are compelled to deal with the organic hosts as we deal with the creatures of our folds and fields. We have to look upon them all as a member of the great household of man, made such by the intellectual conquest of the world to which he has attained. We may trust the sense of this large duty to extend abroad under the influences which have developed it in the minds of a few men, or we may hasten its development by a propaganda such as is carried on by the societies for the prevention of cruelty to 264 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS animals. If this latter course is taken the teaching should be on a higher plane than that which we have yet had from those generally admirable associations. Bad as is the ill treatment of domesticated animals, the suppression of that evil will not bring us materially nearer the true attitude that we need to assume in face of our responsibilities to the natural world. We need to see the greatness of the responsibility which has been imposed upon us by the action of the guiding power that has made us lords of the earth. INDEX Animals, rights of, 204. separation of city folk from, 223. educability of, 227. Antelopes, 247. Aryan race, relation to domestication, 152, 220. relation to rights of ani- mals, 208. Ass, 93. Bears, possible domestication of, 243. Beasts of burden, 103. Beaver, 246. habits of, 246. domestication of, 247. Bee (honey), 191. " in North America, 195. Big Bone Lick, Ky., 129. Birds, 152. free-flying species of, 182. tree species of, 182. vocal powers of, 183. aesthetic nature of, 187. conditions of domestication of, 233, " future domestication of, 235. Bison, 106. " domestication of, 241. Buffaloes, 105. African, 106. -Bulls, 105. Camels, origin of, 119. Camels, limited nature of, 120. " lessening value of, 124. Cattle (horned), value of, no. " variations of, 113. Cats, origin of domesticated forms of, 51. " their love of well-known places, 51. " compared with dogs, 52. " their return to wild state, 55. " no large species domesticated, 56. Cochineal, 201. Dogs, origin of, li. fossil species of, 15. " savage selection of, 17. " civilized conditions of, 18. " shepherd breed of, etc., 19. hunting varieties of, 25. intellectual qualities of, 29. evils of fancy breeding, 31. lack of constructive faculty, 40. modes of expression, 44. " effect on human sympathy, 48. " possible new varieties of, 50. Domestication, relation to culture, 2. " relation to sympatiiies, 4. " slow institution of, 7. " mainly by Aryan people, 152. " problem of, 218. hap-hazard nature of, 225. " conditions of, 229. Domesticability, on what depending, 107. 266 INDEX Donkey, 93. " limited use of, 94. Elephants, native freedom of, 107. " origin of, 127. " ancient species of, 128. " present limitation of, 130. " use in war, 130. " domesticability of, 131. " intelligence of, 132. " possible improvement of, 137. " future care of species required for preservation, 249. Falconry, 184. Fishes, limits of domestication, 232. Fowls (barnyard), 153. mental qualities of, 154. " voices of, 155. " domesticaljility of, 156. " game variety of, 159. Giraffe, 249. Goats, 115. " limited relation to man, 116. " little variation of, 117. " limited intelligence of, 118. Guinea hen, 164. Hawking, 184. Horse, economic value to man, 57. " origin of, 58. " hoof of, 61. " field in which developed, 65. " domestication of, 66. " use in war, 67. " effect of mounted men on early peoples, 69. " future use in military campaigns, 70. " value in agriculture, 74. " mental qualities of, 75. " ready variations of, 78. Horse, Norman variety of, 82. " geograpiiic varieties of, 83. " Arabian variety of, 85. " Indian ponies, 86. " care of, 87. " shoeing of, 91. " influence on man, 100. Hybrids, utility of, 96. Insects, 190. limited value to man, 190. Kangaroo, 240. Mammalia, value of class as source of domesticable animals, 149. future domestication of, 238. Mammals (tertiary), 150. Mammoth, 129. Man, his place in nature, i. sudden appearance of, 6. • as a destroyer, 229. Martha's Vineyard prairie chicken, 257. Milk, value of, as food, no. Monkeys, little use to man, 250. value for inquiry, 250. Mule, 95. limitations in use of, 95. only hybrid serviceable to man, 96. mental qualities of, 98. Musk ox, 241. Organic hosts, 253. Ostrich, 168. " possible improvement of, 108. Pack animals, 104. Parks, national, etc., 256. Pea-fowl, 162. habits of, 163. " intelligence of, 164. Pets, influence of, 223. Pig, origin of, 140. " value of flesli, 140. INDEX 267 Pig, progressive domestication of, 142. " intelligence of, 143, 148. " variations in habits of, 147. Pigeons, 175. " origin of, 176. breeds of, 177. " mental qualities of, 180. Plants, danger of extinction of species of, 250. Refuge stations. (See Reservations.) Reservations (of wilderness), 256. " American, 256. " foreign, 259. cost of, 261. Rhinoceros, 249. Rights of animals, 204. " " origin of, 205. Savages, relation of, to animals, 219. Seals, possible domestication of, 243. vSheep, 115. value of wool, 115. variations of, 1 16. mental qualities of, 118. Silkworm, 197. Turkey, origin of, 165. " variations of, 166. mental qualities of, 167. Vivisection, 211. Water-birds, 169. " flight of, 169. " sympathetic quality, 171. Wildernesses, destruction of, 224. " reservations of, 256. Wool-bearing animals, 114. DOMESTICATED ANIMALS THEIR RELATION TO MAN AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVILIZATION Bv NATHANIEL SOUTHOATE SHALER Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University WITH MANY ILT.USTRATKINS BY Ch. Herrmann Leon, Edwin Lord Weeks, C. Delort, and Ernest E. Thompson One Volume, Octavo, $2.50 EVFRYBODY who knows Professor Shaler's remarkable talent for the huerestinc; explanation of Nature, and for science that is really nopula a'^.d ifot simply called so, can imagine how the author o -A^nects of the Earth," "Nature and Man in America, ' and ''Sea and .^.d^" will deal wkh the subject of our familiar domestic animals. 1 he hook which he nr publishes deals chiefly with the horse, the dog, the book wh ch ne now 1 domesticated birds, and it would be hard fi r. col ect^m. fuUer^ apt illustration, anecdote, ingenious clearing ''' J HiffiritDO^nt and otherwise entertaining reading on a topic so full oFaUracdon Tt ^^ 1 b read with continual surprise at the breadth of its observation and the ingenuity and probability of the theories advanced ^^^.e ilkiTatton of the book has been done by some master hands^ Delort of PaH^ the late famous artist in this field, drew the horses; Herrmann Leo^^the doS; Ernest E. Thompson, the Canadian ormthologist, the ^^^HhrtiS;SS ^t:^^^l^^^^^^^ The do. T^ nors. Flocks and Herds, Domesticated Birds, Useful Insects, The Rights of Animals, The Problem of Domestication. ASPECTS OF THE EARTH ^ rOPULAR ACCOUNT OF SOME FAMILIAR GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA With 100 Illustrations. One Volume, Octavo, $2.50 "The human interest of Professor Shaler's book is its distinctive note. His purpose is to show he relation of natural forces to the fortunes of man, and to throw hght upon the multitudlo? ways in which natural phenomena affect the welfare of the human race. The Istrattns are of special beauty and interest, the subjects having been so chosen as to bnng out the most interesting side of his iopic"-C/nc-a<^o Jourmil. " The subjects are as interesting as the way in which they are treated, and the illustra- tions are not only numerous but excellent. The chapter on American forests will also be found of peculiar value and significance. "-A^^«/ York Tribune. FROFESSOI^ SCALER'S WORKS T^/V Vf=€^ 5^^ AND LAND FEATURES OF COASTS AND OCEANS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE LIFE OF MAN With Many Illustrations. One Volume, Octavo, $2.50 " Prof. Shaler has presented truths concerning the working of the earth's machinery in a popular manner that supplies a long-existing demand, and his book should attract a large circle of seekers for valuable information. It is copiously illustrated in a style that gives additional significance to the lucidly written text." — Boston Saturday Evening Gazette'. " It discusses sea beaches, the depths of the sea, icebergs, harbors, tidal currents, etc., and offers to readers a great deal of scientific information in simple and readable form." — The Congregationalist. " The work is to be commended for its successful presentation in popular form of the latest results of the study of coasts and oceans." — Philadelphia Press. NATURE AND MAN IN AMERICA i2mo, $1.50 "His book is an admirable exposition of the latest views of modern science on the relation of organic life to its en\-ironment, treated not in the systematic and to many somewhat dry method of scientific treatises, but in the easy and charmingly colloquial style of which he is so easily the master." — New York Evening Fast. " It is one of the most stimulating and instructive books of the season. The chapters which deal with man and his future on this continent are full of interest for all who care to know what ligjit science can throw upon political and sociological problems." — Boston Advertiser. " Of especial interest is Prof. Shaler's discussion of geographic influences upon man in the United States, and his showing how the development of race peculiarities has been in large part due to the conditions of the stage on which the different pupils have played their parts." — Boston Traveller. 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