of action of that sympathetic motive which more than any other has
been the basis of the highest development of mankind. Ordinary men of
the low grade are content to slay, or otherwise rudely gain what value
they find in the wild creatures. Only the higher grades of men
perceive much of the charm in the inhabitants of the wilderness, or
desire to win them to their homes. If our conquests from the wilds
were limited to the grossly profitable life alone, we might say that
interest only had determined the work of subjugation; but as soon as
men escape from their primitive state, even while in their general
motives they are still essentially barbarians, they cultivate flowers
and derive a keen pleasure from their company. They domesticate birds
which are valuable only for the pleasures which their presence lends
to human abodes. This action clearly shows that the element of
sympathy, that love for the other life which in any way fixes the
attention, has had much to do with this work of bringing other beings
into association with our own lives.
Not only is the motive which has led our race to such extensive
conquests over the wild nature in itself sympathetic, but the
process of winning these creatures from the wilderness has served
effectively to extend and amplify this same impulse. One of the best
features of agricultural life consists in the great amount of
care-taking which it imposes upon its followers. The ordinary farmer
has to enter into more or less sympathetic relations with half a
score of animal species and many kinds of plants. His life, indeed,
is devoted to ceaseless friendly relations with these creatures which
live or die at his will. In this task his ancient savage impulses are
slowly worn away, and in their place comes the enduring kindliness of
cultivated men. When we compare the state of mind of the hunter with
that of the care-taking soil-tiller, we see the vast scope and
influence which this work of domestication has effected in our kind.
To it perhaps more than to any other cause we must attribute the
civilizable and the civilized state of mind.
Although no discreet person will venture to determine the relative
weight which should be given to the influences which have made for
civilization, there can be no doubt that the care of domesticated
animals has been one of the most potent of these agents. Not only has
this employment served to develop the motives of care-taking that
result in the postponement of the momentary satisfaction of indolence
or of hunger for the prospect of security or wealth to come, but it
has served to arouse and broaden the sympathies given men, that
humane spirit without which the best of our higher culture cannot be
attained. If this view be correct, we may find in it a good reason
for regretting the increasing development of cities, a reason which
is more definite than the most of those which have been urged against
the growth of great towns. Statistics seem to indicate that people
are as healthy, as long lived, and on the whole no more given to vice
and crime in a well-ordered urban life than they are on the farms. It
is certainly easier to give them the formal education of the schools
in the dense than in the scattered condition. There can be no doubt,
however, that the practically complete separation of the most of our
cities from all educative contact with the ancient companions and
helpers of men brings about an omission of an element in culture that
may entail serious consequences.
The question arises as to what can be done to diminish the evils
which come from the total separation of a large part of our people
from the humanizing influences due to the care of animals. How
general this separation is may be judged from the fact that so far as
I have been able to find in the manufacturing towns of Massachusetts
not one child in thirty ever knew what it is to care for any
creature, save those of its kind. And even in a well-conditioned
place like Cambridge, the proportion of those who have any educative
contact with animals probably does not exceed one in fifteen. I do
not reckon the mere chance playing with a dog or cat as serving the
need; the real service is when the person has a sense of
responsibility for the life of the animal. To bring about this
relation in the ordinary conditions of a town is usually impossible.
Something can, however, be accomplished by various expedients.
In the lowest state of townspeople it is out of the question to give
the children any pets whatever. Even caged birds cannot or should not
be accommodated in the cheaper grade of lodging-houses. Wherever the
animals are in separate houses it is often possible for children to
have some contact with sympathetic animal life. In these conditions,
our cocks and hens are the best creatures to rear. They are the most
attractive of all our domesticated birds; they do better than any
other forms of economic value in narrow conditions, and, what is of
importance for the end in view, they contribute a share of food, so
that a boy may have from them some experience with the economic
relation of animals to men.
Some persons who have observed the advancing process of destruction of
the natural world may have been brought to consider the change as in the
necessary and inevitable order which comes with the higher development
of man. They may welcome--indeed, some evidently do welcome--the chance
that the ancient system may utterly disappear, and all the earth become
fields and garden places tenanted only by those forms that man may have
chosen to be his companions. To many people who have a keen impression
as to the importance of man in the great economy, and no clear sense of
his relation to the natural order, this possibility is doubtless
attractive. It is not so to those who have gained a clear idea of the
place of man and the conditions of his ongoing.
There is reason to expect that the modern gains in the cheapness and
speed of transportation may before long bring about a material change in
the housing of the laboring classes of our cities, so that they may be
able to dwell in somewhat rural conditions. In this way we may hope to
see these people once again brought where they may receive a fuller
share of the influences which have served so well to lift our race to
its elevated moral station. Working to the same end is the spirit which
is leading many manufacturers to place their establishments in the
country, where they can control the mode of life of the employees and
their families. Against the growth of the factory towns with their
sordid conditions, we may with pleasure set these rural workshops where
the capitalists are doing the best they can to better the mode of living
of the people who are under their charge. In this good work it may well
be possible to include a share of contact with the soil and with
domesticated animals. In this system of isolated factories we may
perhaps hope to find the way out of the perplexities which the present
condition of our industries have imposed on our civilization.
Up to our present half-century the process of winning animals and plants
to domestication, and of improving them after they had been thus won,
has been in its nature a matter of haphazard. Here and there, as men
have seen creatures which promised in captivity to afford either
pleasure or profit, they have endeavored to convert them to use. In some
cases the effort has been made with some patience and steadfastness of
purpose. If the creature yielded quickly to the needs of a new life
which it was sought to impose upon him, he became a member of man's
family. If its wilderness motives were strong, the effort to domesticate
was soon abandoned. The greater part of these efforts to win animals and
plants into alliance with our race have been made with the creatures
which were native in the wildernesses about our ancestral
dwelling-places. Occasionally from distant lands important gains have
been made, especially among the food-giving plants; but all the animals
of any importance which have been adopted by the Aryan people were
originally natives of the lands in which that race has dwelt.
It is a remarkable fact that no sooner does a wild animal or plant
become intimately associated with man, than it at once departs more or
less widely from its ancient type. Our conquests from the vegetable
world have to a great extent so far lost their original character that
we can no longer determine the species from which they sprang. Botanists
cannot find the wild forms which have given us the cabbage, wheat, and
most other small grains, and a host of other important varieties. So,
too, the origin of our dogs is as yet unsolved and bids fair ever to
remain a mystery. In addition to this changed character which we observe
in the forms of domesticated animals and plants alike, we note that the
mental characteristics of the former undergo vast alterations. The
creatures, in a way, take the tone of civilization, and to a great
extent abandon those ancient habits of fear and rage which were
essential to their life in the wilderness. The intellectual condition of
our dogs shows us that the creatures may be progressively educated--in a
word, that man may put into them something of his human quality. In the
case of the dog, the longest possessed and most familiar to our
households of all our captives, the mental change which has come, partly
by selection, from association with man has gone so far that the species
may be fairly said to have replaced its pristine motives with those
which it has derived from ourselves. In many cases it has become, so far
as its ways are concerned, even more man than dog.
Although the physical and mental educability of animals when brought
into companionship with man is an old subject of remark, and one of the
most interesting features which they exhibit, it was not until the
doctrine of descent by variation of species from other related forms
became established, that we had a chance to see the vast possibilities
of accomplishment which are presented to us by our domesticated
creatures. It is true that the breeder's art is old and that men have
felt the subjugated animals to be almost like clay in the potter's
hands, but except in a small and rather careless way with the dogs,
little attention has been given to the development of the intelligence
of these captives. The success which we have obtained with this animal
has been accomplished by a selective process, but one which has been
almost as blind in its operation as the choice which acts in the natural
world. For thousands of years men have preferred the dogs which
manifested a sympathy with them, and the result is a creature which,
though derived from a very brutal ancestry, has in its way as intense
affections as human beings. Now and then they have chosen deliberately
to develop some mental peculiarity of the animal which would be of
service in hunting, and the effect of this care is to be noted in the
considerable variety and perfection of mental development which the
sporting dogs exhibit. In the main, however, the interest of our dog
fanciers has been limited to the physical features of the species;
nothing like a deliberate effort to ascertain how far the development of
their mental parts could be carried has ever been essayed. In no other
field of human endeavor of anything like equal importance has there been
so little understanding applied to the tasks.
Now that we are beginning to know something of the laws of inheritance,
it is high time for us deliberately to consider what our relations to
the organic world are hereafter to be, and how we can guide ourselves in
these relations by the light of modern learning. It is in the first
place clear that the subjugation of the earth which necessarily
accompanies the development of civilization, inevitably tends to sweep
away a large part of the organic life which is not adopted and
protected by man. Already, with the mere beginnings of this culture, we
find that several of the large beasts and birds and a number of plants
have been destroyed. New as civilization is on this continent, it has
already brought the moose and the buffalo to a point where they are on
the verge of extinction, and in the Old World the wild ancestors of the
horse and the bull have quite disappeared from the wildernesses. Within
a few centuries the greater birds, the Dinornis and Epiornis, as well as
the interesting Dodo, have vanished from the southern isles which they
inhabited. In the century to come we can foresee that this process of
effacement of the ancient life will go on with accelerated velocity.
It seems inevitable that man should play the part of a destroyer. It is
his place to break down the ancient order determined by what we call
natural forces and in its stead to set a new accord in which the economy
of the earth will be in a great measure controlled by his intelligence.
Even those who most keenly sympathize with the wilderness life, are not
likely to object to the changes which are necessary to open the way for
this new dispensation. They may fairly ask, however, that hereafter the
displacement of the ancient life shall be brought about with foresight
and with the exercise of the utmost care in minimizing the sacrifices
which we are called on to make. Naturalists may fairly ask men to
remember that each of these species which we are forced to destroy
represents the toil and pains of unimaginable ages, and that when these
creatures are swept away they can never be recovered. Whatever new
species may come, by processes of evolution from the life which remains
after we have done our will with the wilderness, we shall never see
again the forms which have passed away.
It is the worst feature of the destruction which man is bringing upon
the organic species that the assault is most effective on those
varieties which are most interesting both from an intellectual and an
economic point of view. To take only the case of the great birds which
have recently been swept from the earth, we see clearly that we have
with them lost precious opportunities for enlarging our understanding of
nature and have at the same time been deprived of the chance to
domesticate creatures which would most likely have proved of much
economic value. With each of these species which disappears we lose what
may be a precious chance of adding to the small store of animals or
plants which may contribute to the well being of our kind. These
considerations make it plain that it is our duty by our civilization, to
do all in our power to save these species and at the same time to essay
their domestication, for only when under the protection of man can they
be regarded as insured from destruction.
The task of bringing wild creatures into our domestic fold is one of
very varied difficulty. Many plants are easily reconciled to the
conditions of our fields and gardens: they may be said to welcome the
care of man which insures them some protection from the fierce
contention with other life or with the elements to which they are
exposed in their natural conditions. Only here and there is it necessary
by careful breeding to develop domesticated habits to the point where
the forms will endure culture. Where the task is, however, to make avail
of some natural peculiarity which promises to be useful, but is not yet
of economic value, it may require a hundred generations of careful
selection to develop and fix desirable features. We are, however, in all
cases sure in these half-animate species, the plants, that they will
prove perfectly obedient to our will. It is otherwise, however, with
wild animals. Here we have to deal with intelligences in which the most
striking characteristic is an abiding fear of the master, and a general
indisposition to submit to any other control than that of their native
wild instincts. The measure in which this wilderness habit, bred of long
contention with enemies, prevails in animals varies greatly. Some, as
for instance the elephant, at once reconcile themselves to human
association, and directly on being made slaves accept the mastery of
their captors. Others, such as the zebra, remain for a lifetime
possessed of their original savage nature. A large part of the labor
which has been given to the work of domesticating by the breeder's art
the score of mammalian species which man has won to his use has been
devoted to this task of expelling the wilderness motives from these
forms. The cases in which he has failed to accomplish this end are those
in which the savage humor has persisted for so long a time that he has
been forced to abandon his effort to subdue the stock.
It seems likely that at the present time we have acquired from the
wilderness nearly all the animals which are capable of adoption by
such brief and individual experiments as have won to us the species
which constitute our flocks and herds. Our future gains will have to
be made by far more deliberate and continuous endeavors. These tasks
of the hereafter will have to be undertaken in a way which will insure
a continuity of effort such as can only be attained by permanently
organized associations which may continue their essays if needs be for
centuries. The work should be done with two distinct ends in view:
first, to determine what members of the wilderness life may be made
to contribute to the needs of man; and, second, how far it is possible
so to develop the intelligence of the lower animals in general as to
make them better fitted for companionship with our kind. This
last-named line of experiments needs to be undertaken not only with
reference to varieties now wild, but also upon our most domesticated
forms, for, as before remarked, we have not begun to explore the
possibilities of intellectual gain, even in those species which have
been the longest associated with us.
In considering a list of the creatures which might well be made the
subjects of trial with a view to their domestication, we find ourselves
at once embarrassed by the exceeding wealth of our opportunities. It is
impossible within the limits of this article to treat, even in the
catalogue way, a vast number of forms which commend themselves for
experiment. Something of the richness of the field, however, may be
judged by noting some of the more conspicuous forms, as we shall now
proceed to do. Beginning with the insects, the lowest forms in the
animal series which have proved in any sense domesticable, we note that
wide as is this realm of life it offers but few opportunities such as
the domesticator seeks. Of the million or more species in the group,
only two, the honey-bee and the silkworm, have been won to man's use,
and there is not another wild form which the naturalist can suggest as
likely to prove a valuable captive. The only use which we are probably
to find for these creatures is where, by some form of culture, we may
induce predatory or parasitic species more effectively to do their
destructive work on noxious forms of the class. So well fitted is this
group for purposes of self-defence that however much man may interfere
with the course of nature, he is not likely to sweep any of their
multitudinous kinds from the earth, though experience clearly shows that
by the methods above mentioned they may be greatly reduced.
It is among the vertebrate forms alone that we find animals which by
their characteristics of body or of mind are well fitted to have an
economic or social value. There alone are the qualities of flesh or of
the external covering such as to make them in a high measure valuable,
and the instincts of a nature to fit them for association in man's work.
Even among these back-boned animals we find that the lower groups--the
fishes, the amphibians, and the reptiles--promise little in the way of
gains as compared with the higher groups, the birds and mammals; yet
even among these inferior creatures we find certain forms which give
promise of improvement under the care of man. Some of the fishes readily
learn to come to any one from whom they may expect food, and they
indicate in other ways that they are capable of a certain intellectual
advance. The frogs and toads readily learn to recognize a master.
Several of the larger members of the first-named forms could
advantageously be bred so as to be very useful as food. The common hop
toad of our gardens is an admirable helper in restraining the excessive
development of certain slugs and insects. The tortoises and turtles
contain a number of species which are edible, and many of the forms
invite the breeder's care. It is, however, when we ascend in the type of
vertebrates to the level of the birds that we find the great array of
creatures which are worth considering as members of our civilization.
Nearly all the birds except those of prey and those which haunt the
seas can easily be accustomed to man. A few of these species which
have been reduced to captivity have not become sufficiently reconciled
to the unnatural conditions to maintain their breeding habits. Even in
these cases, however, it seems likely that in spacious aviaries, at
least in climates to which they are accustomed, it will be possible to
secure the continuous reproduction of the kind, on which all
development by the breeder's art depends.
The ease with which most birds, except those of prey, may be reduced to
domestication is due to the remarkable intensity of their sympathetic
motives. In this regard the class is much more advanced than that of the
mammalia to which we ourselves belong. Accustomed as they are to
ceaseless and active intercourse with each other by means of their
varied calls, largely endowed with the faculty of attention, and
provided with fairly retentive memories, the birds are, on the average,
nearer in the qualities of their intelligence to man than are many of
the species in his own class. It was long ago remarked that the birds of
remote islands, such as the Galapagos, which had never seen man, were at
first not in the least afraid of him. It required, however, but a few
generations of experience to show these creatures that the unfeathered
biped was a singularly dangerous animal, and they at once and
permanently adopted the habit of avoiding him. This incident of itself
shows how quick birds are to learn certain large and important lessons.
We see also the reverse of this education in fear in the rapid way in
which birds become tame when they are secured from persecution. Wherever
shooting is stopped over a considerable territory the birds rapidly
become more tolerant of man's presence. Even among migratory species the
individuals appear to learn that certain places where they are
protected may be resorted to with safety.
Because of their freedom of flight it is in all cases difficult to
bring our perching birds into such relations with the domiciles of man
that they can be truly domesticated. The success, however, which has
been attained in the case of the pigeons, which have been so far made
captive by the change of their instincts that they never depart far
from their cotes, seems to indicate that this tendency again to go
wild is by no means ineradicable. In other instances it will probably
disappear as it has in this by long-continued care in breeding. Our
successes with the geese, ducks, and swans, all of which belong to
genera characterized by the migratory habit, show how readily in the
course of time the old native instincts may be subordinated to the
will of man. Although the degree of the difficulty which will be
encountered in taming many wild forms may be far greater than that
which has been met in those which we have domesticated, there is no
reason whatever to believe that in any case it will be insuperable.
While all the creatures of the wilderness may by the breeder's art be
induced to vary in the conditions of captivity, the birds have shown
themselves more plastic in our hands than any other animals. In almost
every brood we find individuals possessing marked peculiarities of
form or plumage. In their mental qualities also there is a like range
of variation. Seizing upon these, the fancier can guide the quick
succeeding generations so as to cause the form to depart in the course
of a few years very far from its original aspect. With each step in
this succession of changes the readiness with which the species
responds to selective care increases. The results which have been
attained in our barnyard fowl and with the pigeons show how admirably
these creatures are fitted to obey the will of man when he has a mind
to take charge of their destiny.