250 DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 



of this kind mutually assist each other in killing prey, indi- 

 vidual advantage is the chief* if not the only, bond of this 

 temporary union. 



Another kind of society is observable among domestic ani- 

 mals. Horses and oxen, when deprived of companions of 

 their own species, associate, and discover a visible attach- 

 ment. A dog and ox, or a dog and a cow, when placed in 

 certain circumstances, though the species are remote, and 

 even hostile, acquire a strong affection for each other. The 

 same kind of association takes place between dogs and cats, 

 between cats and birds, &c. If domestic animals had a strong 

 aversion to one another, man could not derive so many ad- 

 vantages from them. Horses, oxen, sheep, &-c., by browsing 

 promiscuously together, augment and meliorate the common 

 pasture. By living under the same roof, and feeding in com- 

 mon, this associating principle is strengthened and modified 

 by habit, which often commences immediately after birth. 

 A single horse confined in an iriclosure, discovers every mark 

 of uneasiness. He becomes restless, neglects his food, and 

 breaks through every fence, in order to join his companions 

 in a neighboring field. Oxen and cows will not fatten in the 

 finest pasture, if they are deprived of society. 



From the facts and remarks contained in this chapter, it 

 seems to be evident, that the principle of association in man, 

 as well as in many other animals, is natural ; and that this 

 principle may be strengthened and modified by the number- 

 less advantages derived from it, by imitation, by habit, and 

 by many other circumstances. 



CHAPTER XII. 



OF THE DOCILITY OF ANIMALS 



OF all animals capable of culture, man is the most ductile 

 By instruction, imitation, and habit, his mind may be moulded 

 into any form. It may be exalted by science and art to a 

 degree of knowledge of which the vulgar and uninformed 

 have not the most distant conception. The reverse is me! an 

 choly. When the human mind is left to its own operations 

 and deprived of almost every opportunity of social informa 



