birds will be won from the species which have the habit of dwelling
mainly or altogether upon the ground. These, as experience shows, can
be more readily brought to the uses of man than the species which are
free by their strong wings to wander through the realms of air. There
are very many of these ground birds the domestication of which has
never been fairly essayed. There are perhaps a hundred species which
in one part of the world or another might afford valuable additions to
our resources, those of ornament or of economy, and yet within three
centuries only one of these, the turkey, has been brought to the
domesticated state. The greater part of our game birds, such as the
quail, pheasants, and partridges, though they appear on slight
experiments to be untamable, could probably by continuous effort be
reduced to perfect domestication. For ages they have been harried by
man in a manner which has insured a great fear of his presence. We
have indeed through our hunting instituted a very thorough-going and
continuous system of selection which has tended to affirm in these
creatures an intense fear of our kind. Only the more timorous have
escaped us, and year after year we proceed to remove with the gun the
individuals which by chance are born with any considerable share of
the primitive tolerance of man's presence. It is not to be expected
that the chicks of these species will at once accept relations with
our kind. The domestication of many of these forms is to be desired,
not only on account of the excellent quality of their flesh, but
because of their beauty and the charm which their quick intelligences
afford them. Whoever has watched them in their care of their young or
their other social habits has observed features which indicate a
possible development under domestication perhaps greater than that
which we have attained in any other of our feathered captives.
It seems most important that experiments in the further domestication of
birds should be first addressed to certain, large ground forms which are
now in more or less danger of extinction. The newly instituted industry
of ostrich farming has probably insured this the noblest remnant of the
old avian life from destruction; but the emu and the cassowary are still
among the diminishing and endangered forms which unless taken into the
human fold are likely soon to pass away. The brush turkey and the bower
bird of Australia, two of the most curious inhabitants of that realm of
strange life, appear to have qualities of mind and body which would make
them readily domesticable and which would cause them to be among the
most interesting of our feathered captives.
Among the aquatic birds there are many species which are as promising
subjects for domestication as any which have been made captive; these if
subjugated would prove great additions to our resources of ornament and
use. Thus the eider duck, so well known for its wonderful soft down
which is plucked from the breast to make a covering for the eggs, though
a marine species, would prove domesticable at least on the seashore of
high latitudes. There are many other varieties of the family, such as
the canvas-back which is so highly esteemed for its flesh, that would
likewise afford very interesting subjects for experiment.
The wading birds are characteristically very wild and range over a wide
field; yet the flamingoes, the herons, and their kindred could probably
be brought into at least as near an approach to reconciliation with man
as their relations the storks. The comfortable relations which have been
established between the last-named species and humankind in northern
Europe is probably in nowise due to the peculiarly tamable nature of the
bird, but rather to the fact that certain superstitious fancies on the
part of the featherless biped led him to protect the feathered visitor
of his roofs and chimneys. Should it be desirable to break up the habit
of migration in these or other birds which are now accustomed to range
up and down the meridians, there seems no reason to doubt that the
change could be accomplished with the same ease that it has been in the
case of the tamed geese and swans. Experience has shown that with these
forms, which probably have not been associated with men for more than
three or four thousand years, the migratory instinct, which appears one
of the strongest of motives, has utterly disappeared. Not only do they
no longer heed the cries of the wild birds of their kind as they fly
away on their annual journeys, but they have, through the changes in
form induced by their quiet life, lost the power to rise far above the
earth. They are even more effectively tamed than are their captors.
Owing to their singularly perfect protection against the cold, and also
perhaps to the quickness of their wits, birds are more readily
transferable from one clime to another than are any other animals. The
feathered tenants of our barnyards are, except perhaps the aquatic
species and the turkey, all from the tropical realm. Experiments with
various other wild forms go to show that there are very many other
tropical species which will prove to have an equal tolerance of high
latitudes. If this be true we may fairly look to the domestication of
the varied bird life of the equatorial regions for the enrichment of our
northern lands. Even when it may not be desirable to bring these species
to the state of complete subjugation they may be introduced on something
like the terms which have been given and accepted in the case of the
so-called English pheasant, which has brought to the high north of
Britain and some parts of this country an element of grace which is
afforded by no indigenous form of North America or Europe. There are
hundreds of beautiful tropical species which await reconciliation with
men; they have that quality of sympathy which affords the natural
foundations for the contract, but this has in no case been availed of
except when the creatures, in addition to their aesthetic charm, have
possessed some economic value. There as elsewhere in the matter of
domestication the commercial motive has controlled our action.
In forming our societies as we are in time to do, account must be
taken of the sympathetic value of its elements, reckoning among these
the animals which the system brings in contact with men. Much of the
culture which has served to lift our race above its ancient savagery
has been derived from the influence of domesticated animals; in
proportion as these creatures have sympathetically responded to our
care we have been thereby educated and our spiritual development
advanced. So far as in our further choice of animals which are to be
associated with ourselves we are guided by a desire to extend this
work, we may well turn our attention towards the birds, for in that
group we may find a greater number of species which have attained the
physical beauty which attracts and the mental qualities which may
endear them to mankind. They can give us nothing that can ever come so
close to us as the dog--the unique gift of the wilderness--but they
may afford a host of forms to enrich our lives.
The mammals, because they are, in qualities of body and mind, nearer to
us than the members of any other class of animals, afford the most
promising field from which to make selections for future domestication.
In an economic sense it seems unlikely that any very great profit can
be attained by the subjugation of any of the mammalian species which
are still wild. Civilized people have been so long in contact with the
life of all the continents, and have ever been so hungry for gain, that
they have already essayed about every experiment in subjugating the
larger wild beasts which appears to be very promising. Still there are
certain cases where there have been no trials and others where the
failure to tame particular species has been due to hindrances which
systematic labor may possibly overcome. It will therefore be well to
glance at the array of the wild forms which afford some prospect of
success in the hereafter, including under the title of successes those
kinds which may contribute not only to immediately measurable wealth,
but the aesthetic satisfactions as well.
Beginning with the lowlier group of mammals we find in the base of the
series the ornithorhynchus and its allies, creatures which have nothing
to recommend them but their exceeding organic peculiarities that render
them attractive to the naturalist, but which are not likely to win them
a place in the affections of men in general. As these species are most
inoffensive as well as interesting, and as they are now confined to a
portion of Australia, they might well be made the subject of some human
care which would stop short of domestication. They might be transplanted
to other continents and thereby given a larger field for variation as
well as a chance to exhibit their features in a wider field. Among the
pouched mammals, especially in the species of kangaroo, there are forms
which commend themselves as very fair subjects for taming. They are of
considerable size, their flesh is palatable, and their hides useful for
leather; they breed rapidly, live on a poor herbage, and are, for wild
animals of like strength, very inoffensive. Moreover, though relatively
invariable both in mind and body, they exhibit sufficient individual
peculiarities to indicate that the breeder's art could, in a short time,
bring about considerable changes such as have been effected in other
species, changes that would increase the value of these animals. As far
as aesthetic or sympathetic relations are concerned, the pouched mammals
have nothing to give us; they are, as befits their lowly estate, among
the least graceful of their class; they are also little interesting in
their mental qualities, being about the stupidest of our kindred.
Among the ordinary herbivorous mammals there are several which should
be domesticable which have not yet been properly subjected to
experiment looking to that end. The American bison, commonly but
improperly termed the buffalo, is a strong creature, one which is
easily nourished. In its present condition, it is about as promising a
subject for the breeder's care as were the ancestors of our horned
cattle. Although there have been sundry trials of this animal as a
beast of burthen, they have been of a rude as well as a brief kind, no
care having been taken by selection to improve the qualities which
evidently commend themselves to our use. The flesh of this species is
quite as good as that of the wild bulls of the genus Bos, and the hides
have a peculiar value on account of their somewhat woolly character.
There is reason to believe that, bred in the region of the high north,
about Lake Saskatchewan for instance, with proper selection this hairy
covering could be developed much as has the wool on the sheep. This is
indicated by the considerable variations in the quality of the coat
which go to show that the feature is still in a very plastic state, a
state that may be said to invite the assistance of man in order to
bring it to the full measure of its possibilities. If this covering
could be developed, the result would be to give us a domesticated beast
of large size with a hairy covering having the character of a fur; such
would be a great addition to our resources.
As there is a large extent of country in the high latitudes of North
America, Asia, and South America, where the climate is too severe and
the herbage too scanty to serve the needs of our ordinary cattle, in
which a hardy feeder with a well-clad body such as the buffalo might
do well, it seems most desirable to essay the experiment of
domesticating the bison before it is too late, before the brutal
instincts of our kind have quite made an end of the noblest animal
which is native in the Americas.
There is another inhabitant of the high north of this continent which
deserves the notice of those who are disposed to attend to the questions
concerning the extension of man's control over nature; this is the
ovibos or musk-ox. Like the buffalo, only in much higher measure, this
singular creature is fit for very cold countries; his fitness being in
part assured by his admirable covering of long hair as well as by his
capacity for taking on fat during the short summer in sufficient store
to last him through the trials of the winter season. The kinship of the
musk-ox to the group of the sheep is near enough to warrant the belief
that the hair could be improved by selection, and that from the process
we would be likely to obtain an animal much larger than our largest
sheep and yielding fleeces of peculiar value in the arts.
Among the northern carnivora there are several species which deserve
attention for the reason that they may be brought to some degree of
domestication which may enable us to make better use of their hairy
coverings. Among these we may mention the foxes, the polar bears, and
the seals. The first-named group affords at present about the dearest
furs of our markets. The silver-gray variety, which at present seems to
be a frequent individual variation, could doubtless be affirmed by
selection, and probably could be brought to a higher state of perfection
than it has as yet attained. The animals are, if we may judge from their
kindred, not untamable; at least they could be brought to live in a
sufficient state of captivity to permit selection. In time they might be
quite domesticated. Many of the islands of the high north and south are
well fitted for such experiments.
As is well known, the polar bears have a wonderfully developed hairy
covering; their coats, indeed, are among the richest that exist. These
animals subsist mainly on what they capture from the sea, so that it
might be possible to keep them at a small expense. They are, however, of
all their kindred the most indomitable; it would probably require a
long and costly effort to reduce them to anything like domestication.
Moreover, being strong, free swimmers, it would not be easy to maintain
them in captivity. Still, selecting such a well-inundated place as Bear
Island of the North Atlantic, it would be most interesting to make the
experiment, first of accustoming them to some human control, and then to
a selection which might serve to lift the quality of the kind. It would
be less difficult and perhaps more advisable at first to make a trial of
a similar sort with the black bear, which in less arctic conditions
flourishes and carries a fine pelt. The only difficulty would be in
finding a sufficient supply of food for such captives, for although they
will eat fish they have no skill in capturing them such as is possessed
by their more degraded, or perhaps we should say their less advanced
kindred, the polar bears. Still, as the form is even more omnivorous
than man, it might be practicable to feed them.
By far the most important of the carnivora in an economic sense are the
seals which dwell in the high northern waters. These creatures afford
the most interesting subjects for experiments in domestication from an
economic point of view that remain to be made. Of all the predatory
animals the seals seem to have the largest share of intelligence and
the greatest amount of sympathetic motives. No other wild animals,
except perhaps the monkeys, appear to be so human-like in their
qualities of mind as these creatures of the sea. So far, except when
they have been captured and kept for purposes of show in menageries,
man's relations to the seals have been purely destructive; he has
incessantly hunted them. Yet certain species of them remain singularly
willing, we may say desirous, of claiming friendship with their
persecutors. As elsewhere noted, wounded seals behave in a curiously
appealing way towards their assailants. When in captivity certain of
the species show a remarkable friendliness and a capacity to receive
training. No other wild animals, except perhaps the elephants, exhibit
so great a fitness for profiting from contact with man.
Although our knowledge as to the habits of seals is still very
imperfect, it appears likely that the greater part of the species have
the habit of resorting to certain places during the breeding season, and
that the individuals after the manner of certain fishes return at that
time to their native shore. If this be true, as there is good reason to
believe it is, it should not be a matter of grave difficulty, provided
the maritime nations would abet the experiment, to establish seal
colonies composed of the several promising forms at fit points in the
circumpolar seas. There is reason to suppose that with ordinary decent
treatment the animals would become to a great degree accustomed to men,
and that it might be possible to accomplish selection enough of the
individuals which were left to breed, to develop the already valuable
characteristics of the fur. In the present disgraceful condition of our
relations to these animals it will be but a few years before we shall
have to lament the extirpation of several species, including the most
interesting members of the group.
Looking upon the questions of man's future on the earth in a large
way, we see that there are reasons why the animals of the high north,
particularly those which obtain their food from the sea, should be
protected from extermination. There is a great area of country in that
part of the world which is not adapted to the occupation of any of the
species which have as yet been domesticated. If this portion of the
world is ever to prove fruitful in other ways than through its
mineral stores, it will be by the creatures which are adapted to its
climate and other conditions. At the present rate of increase in
numbers, the population of the world will, in the course of two or
three centuries, begin seriously to press upon the resources in the
way of food which the fields of the tropical and temperate zones can
supply; the chances of the arctic regions may then have much
importance to our successors. Moreover, in the case of the seals we
find the peculiar advantage that the animals are fed entirely from the
sea, so that the domestication of these forms would give to man a
means, the like of which he has never possessed, whereby he would be
enabled to harvest the food resources of the deep.
The beaver, particularly the North American form, offers a most
attractive opportunity for a great and far-reaching experiment in
domestication. On this continent, at least, the creature exhibits a
range of attractive qualities which is exceeded by none other in the
whole range of the lower mammalian life. No other mammal below man shows
anything like the same constructive skill in the contrivance of its
habitations, or is able so to modify its habits of building to meet the
varied needs of its life. When this country was first visited by man
near one half of its area was occupied by this species. It built its
dams and dwelling-places and, when necessary, excavated its canals along
all the lesser streams in the timbered regions of the northern
districts. As the destructive effects of civilization increased, the
animal has gradually, to a great extent, been driven away from its old
haunts, and where it remains it has, as the price of life, given up its
architectural habits and betaken itself to the older and simpler mode of
living in a chance manner much as is now the habit of the European
variety. As an illustration of this I may note, in passing, that before
the civil war, when all the recesses of the forests in the region about
Richmond, Virginia, had for more than a century been industriously
explored by hunters, the beaver was supposed to be extinct in the
district; yet during the civil war, as I am credibly informed, a colony
of these creatures became established near the town of Suffolk, and
there, amid the roar of a great conflict in which men ceased to seek the
lesser game, they recovered their habit of building dams, which we must
believe to have been discontinued for many generations. This capacity to
vary action with reference to changing needs is the best possible index
of the mental power of animals. Guided by the exhibition that has been
given us by the beavers, we are justified in considering them to be the
one group of mammals which has gained a distinct, rational constructive
power. This feature makes them decidedly the most interesting group for
investigations which may be expected to throw light on the problems of
animal intelligence. From the economic point of view the species has a
certain importance for the reason that it affords one of the most
valuable kinds of fur that has ever been marketed.
The domestication of the beavers to the point where they would tolerate
the presence of man should not, provided they could be protected against
the depredations of poachers, be a matter of any difficulty. The
colonies of these animals require only what is afforded by vast realms
of our wildernesses--flowing streams of moderate fall with timber upon
their banks. They are not particular as to the species, so that
swift-growing kinds of trees such as the poplars may be made to serve
their needs. The natural growth on a hundred acres of otherwise
worthless land would probably be sufficient to maintain a colony of
average size containing say twenty-five individuals. In the region about
the great lakes and for some distance to the northward and to the east
and west there are great areas amounting in the aggregate to some
hundred thousand square miles that would apparently be well suited to
the nurture of this form, and which in the present condition of the
country, as well as for the immediate future, cannot be turned to better
use. It may be remarked that the domestication of the beavers would
afford yet another means, in addition to those above noted, whereby we
might be able to win some profit from the great wilderness of the north,
which is, so far as our existing means of appropriating its resources,
of little use to mankind. The only evident way by which we may hope to
win profit from this part of our continent is by using it as a field for
rearing animals that have yet to be subjugated; none of our captive
varieties are fit for the service.
In the tropical parts of the world there are many mammalian species
which are worthy subjects for essays in domestication. This is
particularly the case in the continent of Africa where, except in the
lands about the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the native peoples have
never attained the stage of culture in which men become strongly
inclined to subjugate wild animals. Africa is richer in large
herbivorous species than any other of the great lands; many of these
forms are of large size and have qualities of flesh, of hide, or other
peculiar features which promise to make them valuable in an economic
way. Others, especially the antelopes, have a beauty of form and a grace
of movement which render them among the most attractive creatures of
their class. Even the hippopotamus, one of the grossest beasts of this
realm, affords in its teeth a valuable ivory, and its hides, if supplied
in sufficient quantity, would probably find a considerable use. It is
evident that in this "dark continent," where the influences which make
for human advancement have been so slight, we have the best field for
the selection of species that may hereafter be brought to the use of
man. There is evidently danger, in the advance in the civilizing
process, that the native forms which, owing to their fitness to the
physical conditions of the country, might be made useful to its people,
may be utterly destroyed by hunters.