Chap. I. UNDER DOMESTICATION. 19 



Indian fowl (Gallus bankiva). In regard to ducks and 

 rabbits, the breeds of which differ considerably from 

 each other in structure, I do not doubt that they all 

 have descended from the common wild duck and rabbit. 

 The doctrine of the origin of our several domestic 

 races from several aboriginal stocks, has been carried to 

 an absurd extreme by some authors. They believe that 

 every race which breeds true, let the distinctive cha- 

 racters be ever so slight, has had its wild prototype. 

 At this rate there must have existed at least a score of 

 species of wild cattle, as many sheep, and several goats 

 in Europe alone, and several even within Great Britain. 

 One author believes that there formerly existed in 

 Great Britain eleven wild species of sheep peculiar to it ! 

 When we bear in mind that Britain has now hardly one 

 peculiar mammal, and France but few distinct from those 

 of Germany and conversely, and so with Hungary, 

 Spain, &c, but that each of these kingdoms possesses 

 several peculiar breeds of cattle, sheep, &c, we must 

 admit that many domestic breeds have originated in 

 Europe ; for whence could they have been derived, as 

 these several countries do not possess a number of 

 peculiar species as distinct parent-stocks? So it is in 

 India, Even in the case of the domestic dogs of the 

 whole world, which I fully admit have probably de- 

 scended from several wild species, I cannot doubt that 

 there has been an immense amount of inherited varia- 

 tion. Who can believe that animals closely resembling 

 the Italian greyhound, the bloodhound, the bull-dog, 

 or Blenheim spaniel, &c. — so unlike all wild Canidse 

 — ever existed freely in a state of nature ? It has 

 often been loosely said that all our races of dogs have 

 been produced by the crossing of a few aboriginal 

 species ; but by crossing we can get only forms in some 

 degree intermediate between their parents ; and if we 



