THE CONDITIONS OF ANIMAL 

 DOMESTICATION 



MR BARTLETT recently stated an opinion that only 

 four species of wild animal were at present on the 

 border line of domestication. These are the elephant, 

 the gayal (the wild ox of Assam), the ferret, and 

 the yak. Mr Shaler, Dean of the Laurence Scientific 

 School at Harvard, has also published a series of 

 papers on 'Domesticated Animals/ most of which 

 appeared in Harper's Magazine. He deals rather 

 with the uses of domestic animals in the relation to 

 man, than with the conditions which determine the 

 domestication of some species, and the neglect of 

 others, but two phrases which occur repeatedly in 

 these chapters indicate the direction in which a part 

 of these conditions must be sought. The first is 

 * temperament ' and the second, ' previous communal 

 association* or social intercourse when wild. Those 



animals which live by preference in association 



223 



