Man a Creator 47 



men themselves were not conscious of their 

 scientific foundations. But with the recog- 

 nition of the significance of Mendel's law, the 

 breeder went to work to produce desirable 

 modifications of existing animals and plants, 

 so that they would more completely serve men's 

 purposes. It seems worth while at the outset 

 to get some clear notions of what has been done 

 by breeders in their efforts to obtain new types 

 of animals and plants, both by those who 

 worked in the dark before the laws of heredity 

 were at all known and those who are working 

 now with better scientific foundations. 



The origin of many domestic breeds and 

 races, both of plants and animals, is obscure. 

 We are not sure whether the dog is derived 

 from one particular species of the wild dogs, 

 like the wolf, or hyena, or if the several races 

 that we know today are hybrids of several 

 species of wild ancestors. The dog has been 

 man's companion from earliest time. As soon 

 as we find man's fossil bones along with his 

 crude implements we find also the bones of the 

 dog. He was domesticated so early that we 



