DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 267 



tion of each particular tribe. There they spontaneously re- 

 main, and never, like man, disperse themselves over the whole 

 surface of the earth. But when obliged by man, or by any 

 great revolution of nature, to abandon their native soil, they 

 undergo changes so great, that, to recognize and distinguish 

 them, recourse must be had to the most accurate examination. 

 If we add to climate and food, those natural causes of alter- 

 ation in free animals, the empire of man over such of them 

 as he has reduced to servitude, the degree to which tyranny 

 degrades and disfigures nature, will appear to be greatly aug- 

 mented. The mouflon, the stock from which our domestic 

 sheep have derived their origin, is comparatively a large ani- 

 mal. He is as fleet as a stag, armed with horns and strong 

 hoofs, and covered with coarse hair. With these natural ad- 

 vantages, he dreads neither the inclemency of the sky, nor 

 the voracity of the wolf. He not only, by the swiftness of 

 his course, escapes from his enemies, but he is enabled to 

 resist them by the strength of his body and the solidity of his 

 arms. How different is this animal from our domestic sheep, 

 who are timid, weak, and unable to defend themselves! With- 

 out the protection of man, the whole race would soon be extir 

 pated by rapacious animals and by winter storms. In the 

 warmest climates of Africa and Asia, the mouflon, which is 

 the common parent of the sheep, appears to be less degen- 

 erated than in any other region. Though reduced to a do- 

 mestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair ; but 

 the size of his horns is diminished. The sheep of Barbary, 

 Egypt, Arabia, Persia, &,c., have undergone greater changes; 

 and in proportion as they approach toward either pole, they 

 diminish in size, in strength, in swiftness, and in courage. 

 In relation to man, they are improved in some articles, and 

 vitiated in others. Their coarse hair is converted into fine 

 wool. But with regard to nature, improvement and degen- 

 eration amount. to the same thing; for both imply an altera- 

 tion of the original constitution. 



The ox is more influenced by nourishment than any other 

 domestic animal. In countries where the pasture is luxuriant, 

 the oxen acquire a prodigious size. To the oxen of ^Ethiopia 

 and some provinces of Asia, the ancients gave the appella- 

 tion of Bull- Elephants, because in these regions they ap- 

 proach to the magnitude of the elephant. This effect is 

 chiefly produced by the abundance of rich and succulent 

 herbage. The Highlands of Scotland, and indeed every high 

 and northern country, afford striking examples of the influ- 



