180 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



what could be expected from Medor's surly ances- 

 tors. " 



' ' Then even with much care the tame jackal never 

 acquires the dog's gentleness V 9 queried Louis. 



1 ' Never. Some, more tractable than others, grow 

 a little more gentle, but without ever becoming en- 

 tirely submissive. They always retain something of 

 their primitive wildness and cannot be left wholly 

 free without committing misdeeds or even running 

 away from home." 



"If thorough taming is impossible, I don't see how 

 the dog can come from the jackal." 



"Complete domestication does not take place so 

 quickly as you think, my dear friend. A long suc- 

 cession of individuals is necessary, transmitting 

 from one to another the desired aptitudes, and in- 

 creasing them by turning to account such gain as 

 may be noted in the best examples of each new gen- 

 eration. Let us assume that in ancient times man 

 had taken into his keeping the half-tamed jackal, 

 such as we could to-day possess ourselves of. How- 

 ever surly it may remain, the animal will be better 

 after several years' education than it was at the be- 

 ginning. With continued care the good qualities ac- 

 quired, though weak, will, as we say of the snow- 

 ball, increase by rolling. In fact it is a rule, as well 

 with beasts as with us, that the son inherits the 

 father's qualities, good or bad. Thus the jack- 

 al's little ones, brought up with man, will from their 

 birth be half -tamed, as were their parents. As char- 

 acter is far from being the same in a whole family, 



