ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 405 



could be made to minister to his needs or his pleasure. 

 The young of almost any species can be rendered friendly 

 and fearless by kind treatment. Naturally those most 

 easily tamed and most useful when reared received the 

 most attention. Of the young born in domestication, 

 those most tractable or most helpful would be most cher- 

 ished. Thus during the lapse of ages by a process of selec- 

 tion, conscious or unconscious, distinct breeds were formed, 

 many of these differing from the original stock more than 

 distinct species differ from each other. Varying needs 

 brought greater and greater differences among breeds ; thus 

 all dogs are domesticated wolves of different species, but 

 the distinctions between St. Bernard dogs, Eskimo dogs, 

 greyhounds, pugs, lap-dogs, and the tiny hairless Pelon 

 dogs of Mexico are far greater than the differences sepa- 

 rating different kinds of wolves.- 



317. Formation of new races. With the advance of civili- 

 zation unconscious selection has developed into conscious 

 choice, and new and improved races can be planned and 

 developed with almost absolute certainty of success. Se- 

 lective breeding has been called "the magician's wand," 

 by which the breeder can summon up new forms useful to 

 man or pleasing to his fancy. In general, new varieties are 

 formed by crossing old ones, each of which has certain 

 desirable traits. These may be combined in certain of the 

 young, or other qualities, new or unforeseen, may appear. 

 These are retained as the basis of the improved race, while 

 those individuals not possessing the desired characters 

 are discarded. By pursuing this method for a certain 

 number of generations the new type may become more or 

 less perfectly established. In this regard almost any desired 

 result is possible with time and patience. Those species 

 most widely domesticated have, in general, developed the 

 greatest number of distinct races or breeds. Among these 

 are the dog, the horse, the donkey, the ox, the sheep, the 

 goat, the hog (descended from the wild boar), the rabbit, 



