DOMESTICATION. 231 



will be remembered that previously our attention was con- 

 fined to cases in which this loss is to be attributed to changed 

 experience alone, without tlie aid of selection, or to primary 

 means unassisted by secondary. In this connection I ad- 

 duced the cases of the Rabbit and the Duck ; I shall now 

 adduce the cases in whicli artificial selection has probably 

 assisted mere disuse in obliteratinu; natural wildness. 



The most remarkable of these instances is perhaps -that 

 supplied by the Cat, inasmuch as the nearest congener of 

 this animal — the wild cat — is the most obstinately untame- 

 able of all animals. The case of the Dog, however, is in this 

 connection scarcely less remarkable, seeing that fierceness 

 and distrust are such constant features in the psychology of 

 all the wild races. Probably, too, if there were such an 

 animal now in existence as the truly wild Horse, we should 

 find its disposition to resemble that of the Zebra, Quagga, oi' 

 Wild Ass, the latter of which, though not so untractable as 

 either of the former, is nevertheless a very different animal 

 in this respect from our proverbially patient donkey. Simi- 

 larly, as Handcock observes, " In the wild state kine possess 

 acuteness of sight and smell, and a spirit of fierceness in 

 defending their young, which disappear when, by domestica- 

 tion, we have reduced them to a condition in which the 

 former of these qualities would be of no value, and the latter 

 dangerous to themselves and others." This consideration 

 led Handcock to add the shrewd remark, " Upon the whole 

 it seems to be established as a principle that, where there 

 is no room for the exercise of pure instinct, either by man's 

 interposition or otherwise, it will languish, like all the 

 natural senses."* 



So much, then, to prove that instinctive wildness is 

 eradicated from all species which have been sufficiently long 

 exposed to the influences of domestication. I shall now give 

 a few facts to show that the power of domestication thus to 

 reduce or destroy the innate tendencies of wild animals 

 extends to still more special lines of psychological forma- 

 tion. 



Mr. Darwin saysf " All wolves, foxes, jackals, and species 

 of the cat genus, when kept tame, are most eager to attack 

 poultry, sheep, and pigs; and this tendency has been founds 

 incurable in dogs which have been brought home as puppies 



* Zoological Journal, p. 320. f Origin of Species, p. 211. 



