ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 49 



wild race, or races. From the point of view of their 

 origin, domesticated animals may be divided into three 

 classes. In the first class we have those which but seldom 

 or never breed in captivity, and of which the domesticated 

 race has constantly to be replenished by the capture and 

 training of wild individuals. Apparently, the only two 

 mammals coming under this category are the Indian elephant 

 and the hunting-leopard. The latter can, however, only by 

 courtesy be termed a domesticated animal, and may accord- 

 ingly be dismissed from further notice. With regard to 

 the elephant, the most curious feature is the readiness with 

 which wild individuals submit themselves to servitude, and 

 the aptitude they display for learning their allotted duties. 

 Fortunately the elephant is an extremely long-lived animal, 

 and therefore it has time to learn much during its period 

 of captivity, while the necessity for fresh captures is pro- 

 portionately diminished. Modern naturalists insist — and 

 rightly so — on the inferiority of the intelligence of the 

 elephant as compared with that of many domesticated 

 creatures — the dog, for instance. But it is generally for- 

 gotten that, in consequence of its not usually breeding in 

 captivity, there is no domesticated race which has acquired 

 the experience and docility of years of servitude. And it 

 is a subject for reflection to consider what might be the 

 intellectual capacity of this animal had it been in continuous 

 domestication for as long a period as the dog. 



In the second class come those animals of which the 

 ancestral wild stock is either still existing, or was so within 

 the historic or prehistoric period. In this category come 

 the horse, ass, ox, goat, and probably the cat and dog. 

 The third class includes those domesticated animals of 

 which the wild stock is not only extinct, but is likewise 

 totally unknown. 



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