149 



The historians of De Soto's travels speak of herds of wild cattle 

 beiiis found in Florida. They probabW allude to the buffalo (Bos 

 Amcricanus), which without doubt extended its range to the prairies 

 of the west coast. 



The last mentioned authors and other early writers also speak of a 

 wild dog as inhabiting Florida. They cannot mean the wolf or the 

 fox, for these are included in their lists of the animals of the then 

 new country. It is possible that the singular species of dog now 

 used by the Seminolcs of Florida was once wild. 



Domesticated species found in a uild state. 



There are hundreds of cattle in Florida which are now perfectly 

 wild and have been in this condition since the first Indian w^ar, at 

 which time they escaped from their owners. They generally inhabit 

 what is termed tiie "Turnbull Swamp," a wide expanse of waste land 

 which lies about the head of Indian Kiver. But I have seen them in 

 the interior, near the head waters of the St. John's Kiver. They are 

 rapidly becoming exterminated, however, as the settlers consider 

 them common property and shoot them whenever they can. 



Hogs are also found wild in some sections, but not iu any great 

 numbers. The usually black color of the domestic hogs of Florida 

 has been noticed by Darwin in his fifth edition of "Origin of Species" 

 (p. 26) on the authority of Prof. Wyman. He says that the light 

 colored hogs contract a disease from eating the paint-root (Lachnan- 

 thes tinctoria) which causes their hoofs to drop off, whereas black 

 ones are not affected by it. I have carefully inquired into this matter 

 and have not only observed for myself, but conversed with many in- 

 telligent men upon the subject. I find that a slight error has been 

 made iu the statement. The color of the hair or bristles has nothing 

 to do with the health of the animal, but its hoofs must be black in 

 order that it may eat the paint root with impunity. I have seen black 

 pigs having white feet lame from this cause, and this is the usual 

 opinion of all the pig raisers with whom I conversed. Yet this does 

 not materially affect Mr. Darwin's argument, which is that the mere 

 oxistence of a certain plant causes the hogs of this sectiou to assume 

 a dark color, for if the hoofs are dark the wi)ole animal is usually 

 dark. That the case may be made seemingly stronger I will say, that 

 in some sections of Florida, where the paint root does not grow, 

 white hogs are as numerous as black ones. 



I find that there is another reason why the settlers select hogs 

 which are of a dark color. This is that they stand a better chance of 

 escaping from bears than white ones, as they are less conspicuous, 

 especially in the night. Now I can go a step farther and show that 



