ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 49 
wild race, or races. From the point of view of their 
origin, domesticated animals may be divided into three 
classes. In the first class we have those which but seldom 
or never breed in captivity, and of which the domesticated 
race has constantly to be replenished by the capture and 
training of wild individuals. Apparently, the only two 
mammals coming under this category are the Indian elephant 
and the hunting-leopard. The latter can, however, only by 
courtesy be termed a domesticated animal, and may accord- 
ingly be dismissed from further notice. With regard to 
the elephant, the most curious feature is the readiness with 
which wild individuals submit themselves to servitude, and 
the aptitude they display for learning their allotted duties. 
Fortunately the elephant is an extremely long-lived animal, 
and therefore it has time to learn much during its period 
of captivity, while the necessity for fresh captures is pro- 
portionately diminished. Modern naturalists insist—and 
rightly so—on the inferiority of the intelligence of the 
elephant as compared with that of many domesticated 
creatures—the dog, for instance. But it is generally for- 
gotten that, in consequence of its not usually breeding in 
captivity, there is no domesticated race which has acquired 
the experience and docility of years of servitude. And it 
is a subject for reflection to consider what might be the 
intellectual capacity of this animal had it been in continuous 
domestication for as long a period as the dog. 
In the second class come those animals of which the 
ancestral wild stock is either still existing, or was so within 
the historic or prehistoric period. In this category come 
the horse, ass, ox, goat, and probably the cat and dog. 
The third class includes those domesticated animals of 
which the wild stock is not only extinct, but is likewise 
totally unknown. . 
