200 THE CAUSATION OF DISEASE. 



alike in its instincts and bodily conformation. The product 

 of artificial selection, confined for long periods, and fed 

 upon artificial food, what wonder that this pampered creature 

 should suffer from acute flatulent distension if let loose upon a 

 field of fresh clover ! Yet I imagine that such an accident rarely, 

 if ever, occurs in the wild state. The instincts of animals 

 may, however, be rapidly corrupted by domestication. Jumbo, 

 the great elephant, was said to be very fond of alcohol, and 

 almost all our domesticated animals may be educated into liking 

 articles of diet quite unlike those they feed upon in the natural 

 state; thus, most of the vegetable feeders, e.g., horses and 

 pigeons, can be taught to eat meat, and I frequently see a pet 

 lamb which eats fat, tea-leaves, and many other strange things 

 with great eagerness. 



