DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



151 



There is nothing, either in history or 

 legendary lore, to support the assertion 

 that any wild race has ever been domesti- 

 cated, although a feat which conferred such 

 benefits on mankind would certainly have 

 been deemed heroic. No new race has been 

 added to our domestic animals in historical 

 times. 



Was domestication only possible in the 

 days when the world was young and man 

 an uncivilised savage ? 



But then Sir Harry Johnston tells us that 

 the natives of Central Africa never thought 

 of domesticating wild animals. 



Many species of animals have been more 

 or less tamed, but there is no authentic 

 record of the domestication of the wild cat, 

 ass, or boar among quadrupeds ; or of the 

 common fowl, turkey, or duck among birds ; 

 and it adds to the mystery that it is very 

 doubtful whether the horse, the dog, or the 

 camel is to be found in a wild state, except 

 where it is known that they, or their prede- 

 cessors, have come from domestic animals. 1 



The difference between wild and domestic 

 animals of allied breeds lies more in their 

 disposition and character than in their 



1 Homer's " horse-tamers " would now be called " horse- 

 breakers." 



