56 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



settled here and brought the first domestic animals 

 with them?" asked Jules. 



"That is just how it happened, and hence the 

 Asiatic origin of our oldest domestic animals." 



"Doubtless the sheep was with the new-comers?" 



"Very likely; for its habits to-day show the sheep 

 to have been dependent on man a very long time. 

 No species has undergone so radical a change from 

 its primitive character; and this indicates a very 

 early domestication. 



"In the beginning, when it wandered wild on the 

 grassy plateaus of Asia, the sheep must have had 

 means of defense against its enemies, since other- 

 wise the species would have become extinct. It was 

 not enough for it to crop the greensward; it must 

 also have been able to hold its own when menaced, 

 or at least to escape from danger by flight. The 

 other domestic species shared the same risks as a 

 necessary concomitant of freedom ; but all knew how 

 to defend themselves, and all, under man's protec- 

 tion, have nevertheless kept the use of their own 

 means of protection. Left to itself, the dog, by its 

 courage and its murderous jaws, valiantly copes 

 with any assailant; the horse flees at full gallop or 

 breaks the enemy's bones with a vigorous kick; the 

 cat climbs trees and from her lofty fortress braves 

 the foe ; bulls group themselves in a circle, the weak 

 ones in the center, the strong at the circumference, 

 with horns pointing out, and woe then to any crea- 

 ture that dares to approach ; the goat overthrows the 

 aggressor by butting with lowered head. What 



