46 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



an absurd extreme by some authors. They believe that 

 every race which breeds true, let the distinctive characters 

 be ever so slight, has had its wild prototype. At this 

 rate there must have existed at least a score of species of 

 wild cattle, as many sheep, and several goats, in Europe 

 alone, and several even within Great Britain. One author 

 believes that there formerly existed eleven wild species of 

 sheep peculiar to Great Britain! When we bear in mind 

 that Britain has now not one peculiar mammal, and 

 France but few distinct from those of Germany, and so 

 with Hungary, Spain, etc., but that each of these king- 

 doms possesses several peculiar breeds of cattle, sheep, 

 etc., we must admit that many domestic breeds must have 

 originated in Europe; for whence otherwise could they 

 have been derived? So it is in India. Even in the case 

 of the breeds of the domestic dog throughout the world, 

 which I admit are descended from several wild species, 

 it cannot be doubted that there has been an immense 

 amount of inherited variation; for who will believe that 

 animals closely resembling the Italian greyhound, the 

 bloodhound, the bull-dog, pug-dog, or Blenheim spaniel, 

 etc. — so unlike all wild Canidse — ever existed in a state of 

 nature? It has often been loosely said that all our races 

 of dogs have been produced by the crossing of a few 

 aboriginal species; but by crossing we can only get forms 

 in some degree intermediate between their parents; and if 

 we account for our several domestic races by this process, 

 we must admit the former existence of the most extreme 

 forms, as the Italian greyhound, bloodhound, bull-dog, 

 etc., in the wild state. Moreover, the possibility of mak- 

 ing distinct races by crossing has been greatly exagger- 

 ated. Many cases are on record, showing that a race may 



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