INTRODUCTION. 



When a nation has passed from a savage or semi-savage condition — 

 from that of the hunter or hsherman, caring but little for anything 

 beyond what may be sufficient for the brief but precarious maintenance 

 which is found in the chase — to the more civilized and civilizing state 

 of a pastoral people, a great change is manifested in its character. The 

 most noteworthy feature in this transformation is the high value that 

 begins to be attached to those animals which, in the former stage of 

 civilization, were pursued and destroyed in a wild state, but have now 

 by kindness, and other means founded on motives of economy, become 

 domesticated and soon form the wealth and well-being of their owners. 

 From them the pastoral people derive their subsistence, in the form of 

 food and clothing j and on them they rely for most essential services 

 during life. In return, the welfare of these animals is carefully 

 studied ; their increase in number and in individual value is a matter 

 of social as well as political importance; but the experience necessary 

 for this successful increase and amelioration can only be acquired by 

 long and close observation, the needful training for w_hich exalts and 

 expands the human mind. 



Wandering with their flocks and herds to new pastures, when 

 impelled by the seasons, by the multiplication of tribes and families, 

 or by changes of a terrestrial character, these nomads, ever seeking 

 for the prosperity and safety of the animals on which they depended 

 for existence, were, in prehistoric times, the pioneers of civilization. 

 Their dumb companions in these pilgrimages became, as it were, a 



