1 8 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



dog which dwelt about the camps of the primitive people was 

 found in the reserve food supply which they afforded their 

 thriftless masters. When the hunting was successful the 

 poor brutes had a chance to wax fat, and even in times of 

 scarcity they managed to pick up enough food to keep them 

 alive. When their masters were brought to a state of famine 

 they were doubtless accustomed, as are many savages at the 

 present time, to eat a portion of their pack. In the early con- 

 ditions of humanity there was no other beast which could be 

 made to serve so well this simple need in the way of proven- 

 der. The dog is, in fact, the only animal ever domesticated 

 which can be trusted through his own affections alone to 

 abide with his master in the endless changes of camp and the 

 rapid movements of flight and chase which characterized men 

 before their housed state began. In a certain curious way 

 the use of dogs for food has served greatly to advance the 

 development of these captives. When the savage was driven 

 to feed upon his dogs he was naturally more willing to sacri- 

 fice the least intelligent and affectionate of them, delaying, to 

 the point of extremity, the time when he would kill those 

 which had endeared themselves to him. In this way for ages 

 a careful though unintended process of selection was applied 

 to these creatures, and to it we may fairly attribute, as many 

 considerate naturalists have done, a large part of the intellect- 

 ual indeed, we may say moral elevation to which they have 

 attained. 



When the place of the dog as the first and most intimate 

 companion of man was affirmed in the rude way above 

 described when the savagery to which he was at first made 

 free gradually enlarged to civilization, a number of special 

 uses were found for the peculiar capacities of the creature. 



