DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS. 339 



the sheep, or the goat ; of the goose, the peacock, the 

 pheasant, the fowl. It is evident, therefore, that, by a 

 benignant arrangement of Providence, certain species 

 of animals and vegetables may be transported from their 

 native seats, and made to accompany man in his cosmo- 

 politan migrations. If it were not so his dominion 

 over the earth would be inconveniently limited. If to 

 his new country the emigrant could transport none of 

 the domestic animals by which he was wont to relieve 

 his labour or support his frame, and none of the vege- 

 table productions with whose beauty and usefulness he 

 was familiar, it is easy to understand how much his 

 happiness would be lessened, and how seriously the 

 progress of civilisation would be retarded. Of course 

 there are limits to man's power over nature : all his 

 science and care can be usefully applied only under cer- 

 tain conditions. A polar bear or a reindeer may be 

 transported to the torrid zone, but they will evidently 

 pine or speedily perish. In accommodating itself to 

 new climatic conditions no animal is so cosmopolitan as 

 man ; but it is as the companions of his migrations that 

 our domestic animals are now in countries far distant 

 from those in which they had their origin. As he has 

 come from the east, Asia is the birthplace of by far the 

 greater proportion of those which he has subjected to 

 his dominion : this much is certain. If we inquire into 

 the dates at which they were respectively domesticated, 

 we must be contented with general statements. M. 

 Isidore Saint -Hilaire thus sums up his learned re- 

 searches : 



Among the forty-seven animals actually possessed by 

 man, we find domesticated 



1. From the remotest antiquity, fourteen animals ; 

 namely, eleven mammalia the dog, the sheep, the goat, 

 the horse, the ass, the ox, the zebu, the pig, two camels, 

 and the cat ; two birds the pigeon and the fowl ; and 

 one insect the silk-worm. 



2. From Grecian antiquity, four animals : namely, 



