Chap. XXIV. EFFECTS OF USE AND DISUSE. 291 



Cats in China, horses in parts of Russia, sheep in Italy and else- 

 where, the guinea-pig formerly in Germany, goats and cattle 

 in India, rabbits, pigs, and dogs in all long-civilised countries 

 have dependent ears. With wild animals, which constantly 

 use their ears like funnels to catch ever}^ passing sound, and 

 es2:)ecially to ascertain the direction whence it comes, there is 

 not, as Mr. Blyth has remarked, any species with drooping 

 ears except the elephant. Hence the incapacity to erect the 

 ears is certainly in some manner the result of domestication ; 

 and this incapacity has been attributed by various authors ^^ 

 to disuse, for animals protected b}^ man are not compelled 

 habitually to use their ears. Col. Hamilton Smith'^^ states 

 that in ancient effigies of the dog, " with the exception of one 

 " Egyptian instance, no sculpture of the earlier Grecian era 

 " produces representations of hounds vnih completely drooping 

 " ears ; those with them half pendulous are missing in the 

 " most ancient ; and this character increases, by degrees, in 

 *' the works of the Roman period." Godron also has remarked 

 " that the j)igs of the ancient Egyptians had not their ears 

 " enlarged and pendent. "^^ But it is remarkable that the 

 drooping of the ear is not accompanied by any decrease in 

 size ; on the contrary, animals so different as fancy rabbits, 

 certain Indian breeds of the goat, our petted spaniels, blood- 

 hounds, and other dogs, have enormously elongated ears, so 

 that it would appear as if their weight had caused them to 

 di'oop, aided perhaps by disuse. With rabbits, the drooping 

 of the much elongated ears has affected even the structure of 

 the skull. 



The tail of no wild animal, as remarked to me by Mr. Blyth, 

 is curled ; whereas pigs and some races of dogs have their tails 

 much curled. This deformity, therefore, appears to be the 

 result of domestication, but whether in any way connected 

 with the lessened use of the tail is doubtful. 



28 Livingstone, quoted by Youatt ' Jahrbuch der deutschen Viehzucht,' 



on Sheep, p. 142. Hodgson, in' Jour- 1866. 



nal of Asiatic Soc. of Bengal,' vol. xvi., '" ' Naturalist's Library,' Dogs, vol. 



1847, p. 1006, &c. &c. On the other ii, 1840, p. 104. 

 hand, Dr. Wilckens argues strongly ^° ' De I'Espece,' torn, i., 1859, p. 



against the belief that the drooping 367. 

 of the eai-s is the result of disuse : 



