Il8 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



favor. Between the meagre-bodied merino, with its skeleton- 

 like frame and heavily wrinkled skin bearing a vast burden 

 of long wool, and the heavy Hampshire-downs or South- 

 downs, there is really an immense difference in bodily quality; 

 yet these variations represent only a century or two of care- 

 ful experiment on the part of the breeders. It seems not 

 improbable that in the present state of this developing art it 

 would be possible, in a hundred years, to reverse the con- 

 ditions of these two varieties. 



Sheep and goats, like the other herbivorous species which 

 are the common tenants of our fields and forests, belong to 

 the great class of dull-witted mammals in which the intellec- 

 tual processes appear to be almost altogether limited to 

 ancient and simple emotions, such as are inspired by fear 

 or hunger. They are characterized by little individuality of 

 mind, and although the needs of men have not led to any 

 experiment in developing their wits, as in the case of dogs, 

 there is no reason to believe that they afford much founda- 

 tion for such essays. The present rapid variations in the 

 physical characteristics of our sheep which are induced by the 

 breeder's skill, make it evident that we are far from having 

 attained the maximum profit from these creatures. The 

 goats also give promise, when selective work is carefully 

 done upon them, of giving much more than they now afford 

 to the uses of mankind ; but from neither of these forms is 

 there reason to hope, at least on our present lines of experi- 

 ment, for any considerable gain in the intellectual qualities. 



We have already noted the fact that the sheep is espe- 

 cially adapted to serve man in high latitudes, where he has 

 to provide against the winter's cold. The camel is an even 

 more striking instance in which the value of the creature 



