ORIGIN OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



239 



and only half-domesticated, as are the reindeer of the arctic 

 regions and the ostrich of the desert. 



A few strange cases of semidomestication can be mentioned, 

 such as the cheetah, or hunting leopard, the falcon, or hunting 

 hawk, and the quite general utilization of certain breeds of 

 snakes in the tropics to rid the houses of v^tmitL . To this can 

 be added the fact that we occasionally employ the weasel to 

 hunt out and destroy rats, as the Romans used the marten in 

 place of the cat to hunt mice. 



Besides these might be mentioned a small multitude of pets, 

 representing nearly all species of wild animals, almost any of 

 which may be tamed if taken when young, and most of which 

 have been so treated not once but many times since their con- 

 tact with the human race. 



And so the list might be extended almost indefinitely, were 

 the space available, to show fully how man has put to his own 

 uses the wild animals of forest, lake, and plain during his long 

 history- on earth and his determined campaign to enslave them 

 and bring them, so far as possible, into his service. 



Unwelcome domestication. Certain species have volunteered 

 to infest the habitations of man, attracted mostly by a liberal 

 food supply. Among these would be mentioned the rat and the 

 mouse, which are world-wide, both as house and as wild species. 

 The house fly is another pest that, together with the rat and 

 the mouse, is coming to be recognized not only as a common 

 nuisance, but also as a fruitful carrier of infectious diseases. 



Besides these, a great variety of insect pests especially haunt 

 the habitations of man because there they find abundant food 

 -apply and favorable conditions of life generally. 



Exercises. 1. Extend the study of particular species and follow out the 

 wild connections, relatives, habitat, and habits further than in the text, em- 

 ploying for this purpose the facts of zoology and all the information avail- 

 ible in histories, encyclopedias, and books of travel. 



2. Secure information about the uses to which the less-known domes- 

 ticated animals are put, using again all available sources of information. 



