4 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



much to break up this old brutal way of life ; it led to a 

 higher sense of responsibility to the care of the household ; 

 it brought about systematic agriculture ; it developed the art 

 of war ; it laid the foundations of wealth and commerce, and 

 so set men well upon their upward way. Moreover, the use 

 of domesticated animals of the better sort enabled the more 

 vigorous and care-taking races to gain the strength which led 

 to their advancement in power to a point where they were 

 able to displace the lower and feebler tribes. In other words, 

 the system of domestication has provided a method by which 

 those peoples who were fitted to develop the qualities wdiich 

 make for civilization could advance ; it has provided the 

 opportunity for selection. 



Of all the influences which have been exercised on man 

 by the care of his flocks, herds, and droves, perhaps the most 

 important is that which has arisen from the broader develop- 

 ment of his sympathies. The savage may be defined as a 

 man who cares only for his family and his tribe ; the civilized 

 man as one whose kindly interest extends to mankind and 

 beyond to all sentient beings. In the development of this 

 altruistic motive the care of the dependent species has 

 evidently been most efi^ective. We note that the peoples 

 who have attained the first upward step in the association 

 with domesticated animals are in their quality, so far as 

 tested by literature and history, much above the mere sav- 

 age. With the care of the flocks we find associated poetry, 

 the first notes of higher religious motives, and a largeness 

 of the sympathetic life which is favored by the nature of 

 the occupation. Where the nomadic habits of the original 

 shepherds pass into the more sedentary state of the soil 

 tiller, the element of personal care and the affection and 



