124 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



EFFECTS OF REVERSION TO THE WILD STATE IN 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS. * 



By Hon. J. D. Caton. 



A uniformity of form, colour, and habit in individuals among 

 the various species of wild animals, is almost universally observed, 

 and the loss of this uniformity under the influence of domesti- 

 cation, if less universal, is very general. How long it took to 

 produce these changes in the Horse and the Ox, the Sheep and the 

 Goat, we cannot know, for these were subdued to domestication 

 before events were recorded which might tell us of the struggle. 

 That some animals were more readily influenced by domestication 

 than others, we know. How readily the wild Turkey changes in 

 form, colour, and habits under the influence of domestication 

 I have demonstrated by my own careful experiments, an account 

 of which I gave in the 'American Naturalist' for June, 1877. 

 That the domesticated Reindeer of Lapland have become parti- 

 coloured, while their wild brethren of the mountains all about 

 them retain a uniform colour, I have shown in ' The Antelope and 

 Deer of America' (p. 330), and in 'A Summer in Norway' (p. 223). 

 The Deer in the parks of England and Ireland have become 

 unstable in colour, although they have been subjected to the 

 influence of domestication for a much shorter period than have 

 the Reindeer of Lapland. These are the most striking instances 

 among the Quadrupeds, which occur to me, to enable us to com- 

 pare the wild with the domesticated animals, although the Wild 

 Horse and the Wild Ass are still met with in Asia, and the 

 Wild Ox still existed in Scotland till within very recent times 

 at least, but it may be well doubted whether the wild cattle of 

 Scotland are the progenitors of our Domestic Ox. The domesti- 

 cated Buffalo, as seen in Southern Europe and Asia, and in 

 Northern Africa, has degenerated less both in colour and form 

 than most other quadrupeds under domestication, and his wild 

 habit still possesses him to a certain extent. 



The Wild Boar submits to domestication with remarkable 

 docility, and human care changes its form, colour, and habit in 

 a very short time and in a remarkable degree. Human care, 



* From the 'American Naturalist,' Dec. 1881. 



