DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS 217 



to those living inland." Another worm, of which the habits are 

 much the same, abounds on the shores of Mota Island, in the 

 New Hebrides, and is also eaten. 



HEDGEHOG-SKINNED ANIMALS (ECHINODERMATA). The "roe" 

 of Sea -Urchins (Eckinoidea) was prized as a luxury by the 

 ancient Romans, and is still eaten on the shores of the Adriatic, 

 as well as in other parts of the world. The " sea-eggs " men- 

 tioned in the quotation from Darwin's account of the Fuegians 

 given at the beginning of this chapter (p. 211) are animals of 

 the kind. The collection of sea-urchins (chiefly Hipponoe escu- 

 lentd] for food is an important but decaying industry in Barbados, 

 amounting in value to ^4000 per annum. 



The dried bodies of Sea-Cucumbers (Holothuroidea) constitute 

 what is commonly known to commerce as Beche-de-Mer or Tre- 

 pang, an important article of food to the Chinese, The most 

 extensive fishery is on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the 

 annual return of which is worth some ,23,000 to Queensland, 

 These animals abound in the West Indies, of which the marine 

 resources are not sufficiently developed. One desideratum is a 

 properly-organized trepang fishery. 



ZOOPHYTES (CCELENTERATA). This group of animals is un- 

 important as a source of food, but Sea-Anemones (cul de mulef] 

 are eaten in France, Sicily, and along the shores of the Adriatic. 



DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS 



The domestication of certain animals by man has been one 

 of the most important factors in the evolution of civilization, 

 enabling the prehistoric huntsmen and shore-dwellers to pass 

 into the more civilized pastoral stage, from which gradual tran- 

 sition is easy to the still more civilized agricultural stage. 



Although the Dog can claim to be the earliest domesticated 

 animal, our greatest debt is obviously due to various Hoofed 

 Mammals (Ungulata), which include all the larger inhabitants 

 of our farmyards, the Camels of the Old World, and the Llamas 

 of the New, while Elephants belong to an order which is not 

 distantly related. The most important domesticated birds belong 

 to two orders, (i) Ducks and Geese (Anseres), and (2) Game- 

 Birds (Gallinae), including, more particularly, Fowls (descended 

 from an Indian stock) and Turkeys (natives of North America). 



