6526 



Reason and Instinct. 



remarkable, as well as much the most common, example of the sort. 

 I need not expend time at this point of our essay, in describing what 

 the dog, under human care and kindness in training, has become 

 intellectually, and — one feels strangely tempted to add — morally. To 

 the question what the dog was antecedently to man's acquisition of 

 power or influence over him, and what the subsequent physiological 

 changes induced in him, we give as an answer the following extract 

 from Dr. Prichard : — " The least domesticated races, and those which 

 have become wild, as the dingo or Australian dog, — the nearest 

 approach to the original type which can be discovered, — differ little 

 in the shape of their skulls and in other characters from the wolf ; 

 while the more cultivated breeds, or those which have their faculties 

 most developed, and their habits most changed by domestication, 

 deviate in the same proportion from this form, and in particular exhibit 

 a much more vaulted and arched forehead, and a greater development 

 of the brain. The skull of the Australian dog differs but little from 

 that of a wolf. In both the head is very flat, and the cavity which 

 contains the brain has comparatively very little space. The Danish 

 dog and the mastiff resemble, in the shape of their heads, the Australian 

 dog ; and they display as little development of Intellect or Sagacity. 

 In the terrier and hound the skulls are much more arched, and afford 

 a much larger space for the brain. In the shepherd's dog the bones 

 of the skull rise perpendicularly to one half of their vertical extent, 

 and then become arched over the space occupied by the brain. In 

 the spaniel and water-dog the capacity of the cranium is relatively 

 much greater than in the shepherd's dog ; and in all these there is a 

 great development of the frontal sinus, which is so considerable as to 

 give the outline of the forehead a direction almost perpendicular to the 

 nasal bones." 



As instances of the degrading tendency of man's influence upon 

 brute creatures, both as regards their mental and their psychical, or 

 rather, perhaps, their physiological development, I may quote the horse, 

 the pig, the ox and the sheep. Now I do not mean to assert or to 

 imply that various proofs of the possession of very considerable Intel- 

 ligence have not been given by many individuals in each of these 

 several families of animals, the sheep perhaps only excepted. But 

 still, generally speaking, the patience of the ox, the stupidity of the 

 pig and the mere docility of the horse are the attributes which are most 

 usually ascribed to these several creatures ; and on the whole, I am 

 inclined to suppose it will be conceded that where great Intelligence 

 lias been displayed by either horse, ox or pig, it has been in cases 



