Domesticated Animals

Part 1

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DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

THEIR RELATION TO MAN AND TO HIS ADVANCEMENT IN CIVILIZATION

NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER

DEAN OF THE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1908

COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION, 1

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 Emotions in Dogs.--Future Development of this Species.--Comparison of Dogs and Cats as regards Intelligence and Position in Relation to Man, 11

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.--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 Domesticability.--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 Domesticable Animals to the Time of Man's Appearance on the Earth, 103

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 AEsthetic Sense; their Capacity for Enjoyment, 152

USEFUL INSECTS

Relations of Men to Insect World.--But Few Species Useful to Man.--Little 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 Useful 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 Development 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 Wilderness 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

PAGE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

AFRICAN ELEPHANT, Frontispiece

SHEEP-DOGS GUARDING A FLOCK AT NIGHT, 10

Part 2

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, 111

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, 17

BULL-DOG, 22

FOX-HOUND AND PUPS, 25

POINTER RETRIEVING A FALLEN BIRD, 26

POINTER AND SETTER, FLUSHING GAME, 27

DUTCH DOGS USED IN HARNESS, 30

KING CHARLES SPANIEL, 33

THE POUNCE OF A TERRIER, 35

POMERANIAN OR "SPITZ," 38

POODLES, 39

COLLIE, 41

A HUNTER, 60

HORSE OF A BULGARIAN MARAUDER, 67

MARE AND FOAL, 68

PLOUGH HORSES, FRANCE, 73

Part 3

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

THE ORIGINAL JUNGLE FOWL (Gallus bankiva) AND SOME OF HIS DOMESTIC 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

SOME RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE POULTRY YARD, 173

SWANS, 174

THE ORIGINAL WILD ROCK DOVE (Columba livia) AND SOME OF ITS DOMESTIC DESCENDANTS, 175

Part 4

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 creatures 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 innate 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 domesticated 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 animals. In the first place, each creature which is adopted into the household or the fields usually brings as its tribute a substantial contribution to the resources which tend to make the society commercially successful. When we consider the enlargements of resources and the diversification of industries 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 conditions, 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.

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