230 WRONG ASSUMPTIONS. [CHAP. i. 



the plains of Tuscany? Has it been as thrifty and 

 useful as in its native desert, or has the race barely heen 

 propagated arid kept going on as a curiosity and a show ? 

 Similar questions might be asked respecting numerous 

 other creatures. We would be extremely cautious in de- 

 pending too much on any analogy derived from plants, but, 

 we may ask, which tender herb from South America have 

 we succeeded in rendering hardy, capable of enduring 

 our damps and frosts ? Can we as yet even say that we 

 have completely and thoroughly acclimated the Potato? 



It is also apt to be assumed, without the least sup- 

 porting proof given, that Man is the originator, or, as 

 some writers rather profanely word it, the creator, of 

 numerous domesticated races, whose companionship is 

 almost necessary to his comfort, sometimes even to his 

 existence ; and it is argued from these, to say the least, 

 questionable premises, that as we have done so much 

 for ourselves already, we can continue to go on and do 

 more ; as we have made the Dog, the Sheep, the Pigeon, 

 and the Fowl what they are, we can of course proceed 

 in our work of reclaiming and creating (alas ! what 

 blind and presumptuous worms we are !) new races to 

 any extent ; we are not only destined to conquer the 

 world which lies before us, but we are to raise up a 

 new set of animals suitable for future purposes ! 



We do not wish to exaggerate this point unfairly, but 

 we do wish to exhibit it in the full force with which it 

 is made to bear upon that very important subject the 

 history of the creatures we now retain, and are likely 

 to reclaim to a domestic state. The same key-note is 

 taken up, with scarcely an instance of wavering, by a 

 whole series of writers on natural history ; and the strain 

 is continued with an increasing swell, and re-echoed from 



