THE MAMMALIA— MAN AND BEASTS. 
45 
All tho other animal appetites, which were given for the preservation of the indi- 
vidual, such as Hunger, Thirst, and the desire of Sleep, when opposed, load to an 
immediate physical debility on the part of the animal. Those passions, on the 
contrary, which were given for the continuation of the species, increase in proportion 
to the obstacles presented to their gratification. Hence it is only by depriving them 
of the organs from which those passions derive their source that we can bring them 
under our power. 
In fact, the Bull, the Ram, and other Ruminants, ran be domesticated solely after 
having undergone this mutilation. We may thus perceive the error of holding out 
the Ox and the Sheep as models of patience and submission. So far from this being 
really the case, the Bull and the Ram c.an only be used for propagation ; and we have 
merely succeeded in domesticating the females of these races. 
This operation is not necessary for Horses, although such as have undergone it 
arc generally more tractable than tlie others. The Dog loses by castration his entire 
vigour and activity; and this appears to be its usual effect upon other Caniassiers, 
for wo find tliat the domestic Cat is affected in the same manner as the Dog. 
It thus appears from the preceding observations, that we can only obtain an 
authority over animals by moans of their natural wants and propensities, by giving 
them a now direction, by developing, or else by annihilating them altogether. 
The very small number of animals which wo have hitherto succeeded in rendering 
practically meful, when compared with the total number of species, renders it ex- 
tremely probable that \vc have not yet carried the art of domestication to its extreme 
limit, and that hereafter we shall discover the means of training new species to our 
use, as well a.s more perfect methods of educating the old. 
It may easily be gathered from what has been alre.ady said, that the arts of taming 
present very different results when applied to animals of different species. There 
can be no comparison, for example, between the Dog and the Buffalo. The former 
is devoted in his attachments, submissive, and grateful; the latter wants docility, 
and indeed every benevolent affection. Between these two extremes, w’e may range 
in their order of susceptibility, the Elephant, the Hog, the Horse, the Ass, the 
Dromedary, the Camel, the Lamas, the Reindeer, the Stag, the Ram, and the 
Bull. Wo shall defer the further investigation of the peculiar characters of all 
these animals, until we come to dcs<iribR the aniinals themselves. At present it is 
necessary merely to tako a rapid glanco over the several tribes of Mammalia, in 
reference to their different susceptibilities for domestication. 
It might have been expected that the Apes of the Old Continent, which combine 
a high degree of intolligenco to a structure the most favorable for the development 
of all their (|uaUtius, would have presented conditions well adapted for Training ; 
yet no male adult Ape has yet been induced to submit to Man, however kindly ho 
may be treated. Wo allude here to the Genera CercnpHhecus^ MacactiSy and 
CifTioccphalus ; for the Orangs, with the Genera Ililohates and Sitmnupiihev.uSf arc 
stni too little kiiown to jissert any thing poidtive concerning them. But in regard 
to the Genera first mentioned, their sensations are so vivid, their natural distrust 
80 great, and all their emotions so violent, that they c.aimot be brought to observe 
any degree of order, or to habituate themselves to any given situation. Nothing 
can satisfy their W'ants, which alter with every change of circumstances, and even 
with the movementH of the keeper round their cage. For which reason we can 
never expect any kind feelings on their part. At the time when they are rendering 
the most affectionate returns, they arc ready in a moment to tear their rooster to 
pieces; and this does not seem to proceed from any premeditated treachery, but all 
their faults arise from the excessive unsteafliiiess of their tempers. 
Yet it would ajipcar that by great severity, and by keeping them almost con- 
tinually in torture, they can be made to go through certain exercises. It is 
thus that the inhabitants of Sumatra succeed in training the Maimon (^Macaens 
nemestrinui) to climb trees when ordered, and to gather fruits; but these arts always 
perish with tlie individual. As this kind of training is conducted solely by force, it 
cannot be regarded as a real doraoslication. It is by the same means that we see 
some of these animals, and especially the Magots (^Macacus innus)^ learn to obev 
their master, to leap with skill and precision, and to perform those astonishing dances 
for which they .irc so well adapted by their organization and natural dexterity. But 
being subdued by force alone, they are ever ready to run away; and in warm cli- 
tnates where they can obtain food, and do not require shelter, they arc never known 
to return. 
The American Apes with prehensile tails, .such as the Atelcs and Sapajous, are 
niuch more tractable, as they combine a great fondness for caresses and some attach- 
ment, to a high degree of intelligence and social instinct. With the Lemurs, there 
^fe so many difficulties in training from their excessive timidity, that all attempts of 
this kind must prove abortive. 
This last observation is also applicable to the Insectivora, which, in addition to other 
difficulties, are possessed of an organization and limbs little favorable for training. 
All the Cirnassiers of solitary habits, such as tlie Lion, the Panther, the Martins, 
the Civets, the Wolves, and the Boars, are easily ai.cessible to kindness, but fear has 
lu) power over them. While at largo, they keep at a distance from all danger; and 
'vhen confined, ill treatment only serves to enrage them. But if you satisfy all their 
"■ants as soon as these become urgent, if they receive nothing but kindness at your 
hands, and if no sound of your voice or motion of your limbs bo threatening, soon 
'vill those powerful animals showthn satisfaction which tlioy feel at your approach, and 
6 ‘vo tho most unequivocal proofs of their aflbetion. Often the apparent mildness 
®f the Ape is followed by some treacherous act, hut the external signs of a Carnas- 
Rier never deceive. If ho bo incliiiaJ to do mischief, every look and gesture betrays 
intention, and it is tlie same when he is mildly disposed. Lions, Panthers, and 
Vigors, after having been tamed, may even bo harnessed lo n carriage, and they will 
'■eadily obey their keepers. Wolves trained for tho chase liavo been known faitlifuliy 
follow tho pack of Hounds to which they belong. Every one has witnessed the 
f^ats which Boars may be induced to execute. Yet we have not succeeded in bringing 
these races to perform any actual service. Had this boon effected, thoir superior 
strength would doubtless have rendered them valuable acquisitions. 
Hie Seals are sociable animals, and in addition are gifto-J with surprising sagacity. 
They seem of all tho Carnassiers the most susceptible of kindness, and may easily be 
induced to perform any thing that their structure permits. Among the Rodentia, the 
Beaver, Marmots, Squirrels, Dormice, and Hares, are so little gifted with intelligence, 
that when we say they feel^ the whole of their acquirements are summed up in one 
word. It is true that they may be made to go through certain exercises, because they are 
attracted by pleasure and avoid pain. But none of these animals will distinguish 
their keeper from any other person, however attentive ho may be to them; and in 
this respect the social are not different from the solitary species. This seems to pro- 
ceed from the excessive weakness of their memories. 
Passing onwards to tlic Tapirs, the Pecaris, the Cony (B’yraa?), the Zebra, and other 
Pacliydermata or Solipeda, w^c find animals associating together in herds, grateful for 
kindness received, and afraid of punishment, capable of distinguishing their keeper, and 
often becoming very strongly attached to him. 
Tins is also the case, to a certain degree, with the Ruminantia, but chiefly with 
the females ; for, without any exception, the males of this tribe are possessed of an 
excessive brutality, which punishment only increases, and kindness fails to improve. 
All that has here been adduced only shows the different means which may bo adopted 
in taming these animals, and in attaching them to our persons. Something more 
than this is required to produce actual Domestication, for it may be seen that ani- 
mals may be made to feel the influence of Man, and yet they may not necessarily 
become domesticated. 
Had wc been compelled, with each generation of animals, to begin anew the pro- 
cess of taming, we should not, properly speaking, ever have had domestic animals. 
At least their domestication would not have had its full effect, and the important 
consequences to the civilization of the human race would not have followed in its 
train. Such would have been the result, had there not existed a most important 
general law, which is found also to prevail in every department of animated life, — 
that the changes undergone by the first tame animals did not die along with them, 
but were transmitted to their offspring. 
It is a well-known fact, that the young of all animals bear a great resemblance to 
their parents. This fact is equally true in regard to the human race, and seems not 
merely to be confined to their physical qualities, but to extend also to their moral and 
intellectual capabilities. Yet there are certain subordinate points in which animals 
depart from their original tj-pe, and these arise from the circumstances under which 
they have lived — such as the quantity or quality of their food, confinement, shelter 
from the inclemencies of the weather, the attentions or punishments of Man. It 
therefore follows, that those qualities wliich parents may transmit to their young are 
capable of being influenced by arcidontal ciicumstanccs, and hence we arc able to 
modify animals and tbeir descendants within cert.nin limits, or, in other words, to form 
domestic races. Thus we liavc given rise to numerous varieties of the Horse and the 
Dog. Each breed or race possesses some qualities which adapt it for certain purposes 
in preference to any other race, and these are transmitted to itji descendants as long 
as a course of opposite circumstances do not arise to disturb the effects of the former. 
For these reasons, we are obliged to adopt various means lo preserve the purity of 
tlic several races, or else to obtain, by the crossing of races, new or intermediate 
qualities to those already formed. 
We may also observe, that those races which are the most domesticated, and the 
most attached to Man, are precisely such as have received tho action of the greater num- 
ber of means for attaching them to his person. The Dogs, for example, upon whom, 
whether male or female, caresses have so powerful an effect, are undoubtedly the most 
domesticated of all animals; while the Hull, which U only attaclied to us through its 
food, and whose females are alone subjected lous, is certainly the least domesticated. 
This difference between the Dog aud the Bull U farther increased by the difference 
in the fecundity of the two species. The Dog submits to our influence a much greater 
number of generations, in a given lime, than the Bull. We are, of course, ignorant 
of the circumstances which induced the Dog to attach itself to Man, at the commence- 
ment, and also the manner in which he was reduced to his present state of submission ; 
but every thing leads us to believe that his original disposition must have been exceed- 
ingly favorable to domestication. From the great facility with which the Elephant 
is tamed, w’c may conclude that if he were induced to breed in captivity, a race of 
domestic Elephants might be formed, rivalling the Dog in submission and attachment. 
Hitherto this has not been fairly tried; no attention has been paid, until very lately, 
to the breeding of captive Elephanis; and oven in those warm countries where their 
services arc most necessary, wild Elephants are caught and tamed, while no efforts are 
made to transmit these acquired characters to their descendants. 
An excessive fondness for society seems, however, to bo another quality necessary 
to form a true state of domestication, besides that power just explained of transmitting 
to posterity their acquired instincts. There was originally a natural sociability of 
disposition in all the domesticated animals which assisted our efforts. Had they all 
resembled the Wolf, the Fox, and tho Hyicna, in their fondness for solitude, had 
they always avoided tho piesence of their own species, — it ia difficult to suppose that 
wo ever could have been successful in our attempts. Pcrliaps, indeed, wc might 
have succeeded, by long continued perseverance through a course of geuorations, in 
forming a rare, domesticated to a certain point only, which would acquire a habit of 
living along with us, until our luxuries would become almost necessary to it, as has been 
done in the case of the domestic Cat ; but the ditferenco bvtwecn this sullen state of a 
mere toleration of Man and a real domestication is very great. \Vo may also rest 
assured, that, hud not these animals originully presented some striking partiality for tho 
society of the human race, the attempt to domesticate them would never have been 
made. It tlius appears evident that the possession of great intelligence, of a general 
mildness of character, and a susceptibility lo rewards or panishnients, are insufficient 
of themselves to produce domestication. Without dispositions naturally social, the 
animals now d<?mestieated never could have boon induced to attach themselves to Man, 
and to place themselves und.*r his protection. 
Tliere arc m.my social unlinals which cannot ho domesticated; hut it is an observa- 
tion which holds true witiiout one single exception, that all the domesticated animals 
form troops or herds, more or less numerous, whether they arc observed in the wild 
state, or whether we consider only those portions of them which, being loft to them- 
