12 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



of the wolf ; the whelps of this species, it is supposed, were 

 captured by primitive men and brought under domes- 

 tication. Savages, like children, are much given to bringing 

 the young of wild animals to their homes; if the condi- 

 tions are favorable they will care for these captives, even 

 if the charge upon their resources is tolerably heavy. 

 With most primitive people, however, life is so vagari- 

 ous and starvation so recurrent that they are not apt to 

 retain their pets long enough to establish domestkated 

 forms. Thus, among o.ur American Indians, though they 

 show fondness for wild creatures as much as any other 

 people, no species save the dog ever became permanently 

 associated with their tribe. It is, however, possible, that 

 in some sedentary group of savages the work of domesti- 

 cating the ancestors of the dog, even if they were wolf-like, 

 was accomplished. 



The difficulty of this view is that even with the high 

 measure of care which the conditions of civilization permit 

 us to devote to the effort, it has been found impossible to 

 educate captive wolves to the point where they show any 

 affection for their masters, or are in the least degree useful 

 in the arts of the household or the occupations of the 

 chase. They are, in fact, indomitably fierce and utterly 

 self-regarding. It seems unreasonable to believe that any 

 savage would have found either pleasure or profit from 

 an effort to tame any of the known species of wolves. 

 Moreover, the fact that dogs show little or no tendency to 

 revert to the form and habits of their brutal kindred, or 

 to interbreed with them, is clearly against the supposition 

 that there is any close relation between the creatures. 



Yet other speculative inquirers have sought the origin of 



