164 Anecdotal Natural History. 



sightly. Its skull is equally useless as a specimen, 

 the teeth being blunt, worn down and decayed. 



There is no animal, however gigantic, however 

 fierce, however powerful, of which man is not the 

 master. In proportion to his bulk, man is perhaps 

 the weakest of living beings, and yet he is master 

 of the strongest. 



Not only can he destroy them that is com- 

 paratively a simple task but he can take them from 

 their own savage life, and force them to become his 

 servants. 



So he has taken possession of the horse, the camel, 

 and the ox, and made them bend their backs to the 

 burden and submit their necks to the yoke. 



He has reclaimed the dog from a predaceous life, 

 and taught some of them to guard the flocks which in 

 the wild state they would have devoured, and to be 

 the friends and companions of their masters. Others 

 he has taught to chase prey, not for themselves but 

 for him. 



He has taught the falcon to chase birds for him 

 in the air, and the otter and cormorant to catch fish 

 for him in the water. They not only do his work, but 

 are proud of doing it, and contemptuously reject the 

 society of their relatives who live only for them- 

 selves. 



No better example of the universal mastery of man 

 can be found than in the tame elephant. What is a 

 man, that he should make the mighty elephant obey 

 his orders ? The creature could crush him in a 

 moment, and in a fit of blind fury will do so. But 

 when it is in its senses, the elephant acknowledges 

 man as its master, and becomes his obedient 

 servant. 



Man rules by two means, Fear and Love. There 

 are some beings which, from no fault of their own, 



