Mammif'erous Animdh. 295 



self for t!ic first time in a wild herd. The elepliant only allows 

 himself to be led by the cornac whom he has adopted ; the dog 

 itself, reared in solitude with its master, manifests a hostile 

 disposition toward all others ; and every body knows how dan- 

 gerous it is to be in the midst of a herd of cows, in pasturagv.^s 

 that are little frequented, when they have not at their head the 

 keeper who takes care of them. 



Every thing, therefore, tends to convince us, that formerly 

 men were only, with regard to the domestic animals, what those, 

 who arc particularly charged with the care of them still are, 

 namely, members of the society which these animals form among 

 themselves ; and that they are only distinguished in the general 

 mass by the authority which they have been enabled to assume 

 from their superiority of intellect. 



Thus, every social animal, which recognises man as a member 

 and as the chief of its herd, is a domestic animal. It might even 

 be said, that, from the moment when such an animal admits man 

 as a member of its society, it is domesticated ; as man could not 

 enter into such a society without becoming the chief of it. 



Should we now apply these principles to the wild animals, 

 which are of a nature that renders them capable of subjection, 

 we should see that there are still several which might become 

 doniesticated, were it necessary to increase the number of those 

 which we already possess. 



Although the apes and monkeys have the qualities of most 

 importance ibr domestic animals, the social instinct and intellect, 

 yet the violence and irritability of their character render them 

 absolutely incapable of all subjection, and consequently excludes 

 them from the number of animals which we are capable of asso- 

 ciating with us. The American quadrumana, the makis, and 

 the insectivora, are equally excluded ; for, were they social and 

 susceptible of domestication, their weakness would render them 

 useless. 



The seals, perhaps, more than any other carnivorous animals, 

 together with the various species of the dog tribe, would be the 

 best adapted to attach themselves to us^ and serve us ; and it is 

 astonishing that the fishing tribes of our species have not trained 

 them for fishing, as the hunting tribes have trained the dog to 

 the chase. 



u 2 



