1870. 



2^W ENGLAND FARMER. 



123 



THE DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS. 



F all the arts by 

 ■which man Las 



Ali] advan, 

 l*"" 1 izatif 





^.'i 



acquired do- 

 minion over na- 

 ture, the do- 

 mestication of 

 animals is the 

 most interest- 

 ing and impor- 

 tant. Man has 

 advanced in civ- 

 ilization and in 

 the arts that accom- 

 pany civilization, but 

 it isa singular fact that 



the domestication of wild 



Es^;;?^-' animals, which must have 

 been one of his first steps in that 

 direction, seems to have been at 

 some period anterior to all record- 

 ed history carried to a certain 

 point, at which it has ever since remained al- 

 most entirely stationary. Scarcely a single 

 species of wild animal has been reduced to a 

 domestic state within the period of human 

 records. 



Most of the domestic animals now known 

 seem to have been reduced to tameness in the 

 primitive seats of the human race in Asia, and 

 to have accompanied man in his migrations 

 over the rest of the inhabitaed world. It is 

 probable that the diflferent beasts of burden, — 

 the horse, the ass, the various species of the 

 ox, the camel and the elephant, — have been 

 tamed at different periods of times, yet they 

 were all tamed at periods anterior to the 

 records of history. The same remark may be 

 made respecting animals that are valued only 

 for their flesh, their skins, and their fleece — 

 and the universal favorite of man, the dot^. 

 St. Hilaire, the celebrated French naturalist, 

 remarks "that there are one hundred and forty 

 thousand animal species at present known, but 

 man has reduced only forty-three to a domes- 

 ticated condition, and ten of the forty-three 

 are wanting in France, and eight in all Eu- 

 rope." 



The animals that have accompanied man 

 have adapted themselves to the various cli- 

 mates and condition to which they have been 

 exposed as readily as man, their master ; and 

 there can be no doubt that many which are 



now in a wild state might be reduced to a do- 

 mestic state, and rendered useful to man. 

 There are six species of the horse, only two 

 of which have been domesticated, and so far 

 as we know, the other four are as susceptible 

 of being tamed as the two which have been. 

 The eight or ten domestic animals which are 

 found in South America and Asia, and which 

 are not found in Europe, are probably as 

 capable of being acclimated there, as those 

 which have already been so acclimated. The 

 Llama, the Alpaca, the Vicuna and the Tapir 

 might add to the meat-producing and fleece- 

 bearing animals of Europe. The Eland of 

 Africa, a fine large animal weighing from eight 

 to fifteen hundred pounds, is a gentle, quiet 

 animal, apparently predisposed to domestica- 

 tion. All travellers, and among the rest Dr. 

 Livingstone, speak of it as preferable to beef 

 for food, and disposed to fatten very readily. 

 The Yak, or horse-tailed ox of Tartary, is 

 valuable for travelling, for carrying burdens, 

 for its milk and its fleece. It is by no means 

 to be supposed that all the animals capable of 

 being useful to njan have been subjected to his 

 dominion. 



In 1849 a Report was made by St. Hilaire 

 to the Minister of Agriculture in France upon 

 the domestication and acclimation of useful 

 animals, which was published, and led in 1854 

 to the Society of Zoological Acclimation. 

 They have introduced quite a number of new 

 animals Into France and placed them in such 

 parts of the country as were supposed best 

 adapted by climate to their habits and consti- 

 tutions. They have also introduced several 

 kinds of birds which are not only beautiful for 

 their plumage, but valuable as food, especially 

 the Hoc*o, more resembing the turkey than 

 any other bird. This Society is extending its 

 attention to fish at the present time, and also 

 to useful plants. 



This Society has a wide field open before it, 

 and it is to be hoped that its labors will lead 

 to results of great value as well as interest to 

 the world. The facts which they will discover 

 and make known in zoology will be of great 

 Interest, and will aid man in completing his 

 conquest over the animal world, which, as yet, 

 is very far from being accomplished. 



Our own country, from its great variety of 

 climate and soil, possesses some special advan- 

 tages for the introduction and acclimation of 



