THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTICATION 231 



ness life may be made to contribute to the needs of man; 

 and, second, how far it is possible so to develop the intelli- 

 gence of the lower animals in general as to make them 

 better fitted for companionship with our kind. This last- 

 named line of experiments needs to be undertaken not 

 only with reference to varieties now wild, but also upon 

 our most domesticated forms, for, as before remarked, we 

 have not begun to explore the possibilities of intellectual 

 gain, even in those species which have been the longest 

 associated with us. 



In considering a list of the creatures which might well 

 be made the subjects of trial with a view to their domestica- 

 tion, we find ourselves at once embarrassed by the exceeding 

 wealth of our opportunities. It is impossible within the 

 limits of this article to treat, even in the catalogue way, a 

 vast number of forms which commend themselves -for ex- 

 periment. Something of the richness of the field, however, 

 may be judged by noting some of the more conspicuous 

 forms, as we shall now proceed to do. Beginning with the 

 insects, the lowest forms in the animal series which have 

 proved in any sense domesticable, we note that wide as is 

 this realm of life it offers but few opportunities such as the 

 domesticator seeks. Of the million or more species in the 

 group, only two, the honey-bee and the silkworm, have been 

 won to man's use, and there is not another wild form which 

 the naturalist can suggest as likely to prove a valuable cap- 

 tive. The only use which we are probably to find for these 

 creatures is where, by some form of culture, we may induce 

 predatory or parasitic species more effectively to do their 

 destructive work on noxious forms of the class. So well 

 fitted is this group for purposes of self-defence that however 



