COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE EARTH. 151 



improvement, although our domestic animals 

 afford us daily proof to the contrary. Man 

 himself, with all his advantages of speech, length 

 of life, hereditary training, etc., which animals 

 do not possess, does not progress so rapidly, 

 especially in a savage state of society, that we 

 could reasonably expect to observe a rapid 

 visible improvement in the intelligence of even 

 our domestic animals. It is enough if they show 

 themselves capable of improvement when the 

 opportunity is given them. In this, as in many 

 other cases, we reason from preconceived data, 

 prejudices, and misunderstood or inconclusive 

 facts ; and we cannot be surprised if our con- 

 clusions should also prove to be erroneous. 



Even the ox, though commonly supposed to 

 be a very unintelligent animal, is trained by 

 the Hottentots to tend cattle and sheep, and is 

 also employed in war. It is, however, said 

 (though on somewhat doubtful authority) that 

 the American bison is so stupid that if a herd 

 comes up with one of its own number who 

 has strayed away, he is liable to be mistaken 

 for an intruder and gored to death. If this be 

 true, it shows a very low amount of intelli- 

 gence as compared with that of ants ; but 



