DOMESTIC ANIMALS 95 



had not yet learned to work the common metals, but made 

 his axes, spear and arrow heads of flint, he had already 

 domesticated the dog. The ancestral wild form of the dog 

 is not known. It is probable that it no longer exists in a 

 wild state, but it must have been an animal much like our 

 wolves and the jackals of Asia. 



Why the dog was easily domesticated. People who live by 

 hunting often capture young animals and take them home 

 as pets. Wild pups caught in this way were easily fed by 

 savages 011 the remnants of their own meals. As dogs fol- 

 low their master without any trouble on the master's part, 

 savage tribes found their dogs a very convenient food sup- 

 ply, when game was scarce. Some Indian tribes, Esquimaux, 

 and the savages of Australasia are as fond of dog flesh to-day 

 as we are of mutton, beef, and pork. 



Every country has its dogs. As the dogs learned to eat 

 almost everything which their masters ate, they were en- 

 abled to follow man into every climate from Greenland to 

 New Zealand. To this very day dogs are the only domestic 

 animals of the Esquimaux in Greenland. They draw his 

 sleds, furnish him warm skins, and also meat. 



Intelligence of the dog. That the dog is the most intelli- 

 gent of our domestic animals hardly needs proof. He not 

 only knows his master, but also a number of other persons. 

 Among his human acquaintances are some whom he likes 

 and others whom he hates. Of his master's praise or blame 

 he shows a very keen perception. If he is caught blunder- 

 ing and laughed at, all his actions show that he feels 

 ashamed. But it is by his conception of property, and by 

 his devotion to his master, that he rises high above other 

 animals. Some other animals can be taught to follow the 



Willows, aspen, cottonwood, white elm, box elder, soft or silver maple, 

 sugar maple, linden or basswood, haekberry, scarlet oak, bur oak, canoe 

 birch, white ash, butternut, bitternut or swamp hickory, iron wood. 



