64 
FIRST CLASS OF THE VERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 
points as to the causes which have served to retard the progress of his domestication. 
The imbecility of the Ass, and his imperfect education, may partly be owing to the cir- 
ctimstancc that the domestic species were continually united with the wild animals during 
many centuries. This practice was one chief cause of the slow progress of do- 
mestication among the ancients. Indeed, their rural system of large commons allowed 
a liberty almost absolute to their herds. Those animals passed the spring in the 
valleys, the summer on the mountains, and the winter on the plains. It was, there- 
fore, impossible to prevent tbe wild individuals, which then existed on several points 
of the globe, from accidentally uniting with several domesticated individuals of their 
own species or genus. This may probably explain the fable of the Mares of Boctica, 
said to have been fecundated by the West wind. Wild Horses were very numerous 
in Spain, and the ignorant herdsman, seeing products formed, with whose origin he 
was unacquainted, easily resolved the problem by referring it to a miracle. With 
the Ass, however, it was the constant practice of the Romans, according to Varro 
and Pliny, to select the Wild Asses (oiiagri) as Stallions. Luitprand, Bishop of 
Cremona, who wrote in 968, mentions that the domestic Asses of Cremona differed 
but slightly, in his time, from the Wild Asses of Asia Minor. 
The attempts of the ancients to produce Hybrids or crosses between different spo* 
cies were so common, that they had proper names to denote the Hybrids betwoen the 
Dog and the Wolf, as well as those between the Sheep and the Goat. They also had 
names for the cross between the Pig and the Wild Boar, and between the Sheep and 
the Moudon. To obtain a £ne race of Mules, the Romans united the Mare with the 
Wild Ass. Columella remarks, “ that the Mule, the immediate descendant of the 
Wild Ass, remains wild, difdcult to tame, and slender like its father ; but that the 
Stallion of this species is more useful in the second generation than in the first. For 
when a Marc is united with an Ass descended from a Wild Ass and a domesticated 
female, the savage nature of the IMule appears to have been softened down by the 
influence of time, and the product of this union combines the beauty of form and the 
mildness of its sire, with the courage and swiftness of its grandsire." Tliis impor- 
tant observation, of Columella strildugly exemplifies the influence of domestication, 
as well as the transmission of certain physical and intelligent qualities in the course of 
generations, and is the more valuable, as wo may at the present day search Europe in 
vain for a Wild Ass to repeat this interesting experiment. 
Those Chapters in the writings of Varro, PUny, and Columella, which treat of the 
production of Mules, contain minute directions as to the precautions which were 
necessary in their days to bring about an unnatural union between different species. 
The Ass, intended ultimately to propagate, had to be taken from its mother the mo- 
ment it was bom, and placed under a Mare without its perceiving the change. The 
IMare, on the other hand, had to bo deceived by keeping her in the dark, and her own 
foal had also to be removed. She would then suckle the Ass’ foal intended for propa- 
gating, and treat it as if it were her own offspring. In this way, the foal selected 
to be a Stallion formed an attachment to Mares from its infancy. It had to be 
constantly introduced into the society of Marcs even while yet at the breast, that it 
might be habituated to their approach at the e.irliost age. The above mentioned 
authors go on to describe that I’accouplcmont doit se fairo dans un lieu etroit, ferme, 
obscur, avee une jument liee, qui a dejh porte, et dont Ics desirs ont ete d’avance irrites 
par un ane commun qui les cvcUlc sans Ics satisfairos. 
These precautions clearly show that domestication had not yet induced that kind 
of depravity which is its consequence, nor bad it yet been sufficient to corrupt the 
manners of the Ass and Horse as at the present day ; for wo know that these Hybrid 
unions, formed between different species, can now be procured without the necessity 
of resorting to the slightest artifice. It must, however, bo recollected, that such 
unions can only arise among domestic animals of nearly-allied species, or between 
animals of which one sex at least is domesticated. 
The Rurainantia, it has been already cxphiined, arc those over whom domestica- 
tion has had the least influence. Yet among the Romans, it was found necessary to 
employ only the most robust and powerful men, of a loud and menacing voice, to con- 
duct their Herds of Oxen. Before yoking an Ox for the first time to the plough, 
it was requisite to tie him strongly to his manger, to put the yoke on his neck, to 
enfeeble him for four days by hunger and forced watches, and then to coax him with 
cakes, salt, and wine. At the present day these precautions are wholly superfluous ; 
and in any of our modern farms, a girl of fifteen years of age can induce the strongest 
Bull to obey her commands, although he may have lived for many years at large in 
the meadows. 
There is a singular fact recorded by the ancients respecting the food of the Ox, 
which was long considered to be of doubtful authority. iElian and Avhenieus have 
related, on the authority of Zcuothonus, that in a lake of Pzeonia, certain Fishes 
were produced, which the Oxen ate with as much pleasure they would have eaten 
hay, provided the Fishes were presented living and palpitating. When dead, the Oxen 
would not touch them. The singularity of this assertion, which would servo to break 
down the usual distinctions between the digestive functions of Herbivorous and Car- 
iMvorous animals, has, however, been removed by modern writers, several of whom 
relate, that in the cold countries of the North of Europe bordering on the sea the 
Oxen and Horses arc fed on Fish. In respect to Horses, there can be no doubt as 
to tbe fact, for tbe Horses which were brought in 1788 from Iceland to France, by 
lil. de Calonne, had no other food than Fish on the passage, as well as during their 
stay at the port of Dunkirk. M. du Petit- Thouars, who was garrisoned at the latter 
place, reported this fact to M. de la Malle, on whose authority it is inserted here. 
Torfiius (Hist. Norveg.) relates the same fact for the Norwegian Horses. 
The more recent experiments of M. Magendie have fully confirmed this omni- 
vorous property of the Domesticated Animals ; and it is perhaps one of the most 
curious consequences of their association with Man. Wild Animals apjicar, however, 
to possess this quality to a certain extent. AI. Roulin reports that th« Martin 
(taira) of Columbia will eat bananas and gretm maize, as well as Quadrupeds, Reptiles, 
Birds, and Insects. M. de la Malle has known a Polecat to devour pears, peaches, 
apricots, grapes, and other fruits of our garden trees, besides its ordinary animal 
food. These facts appear fully to verify the observations of Ailian and /enothemis. 
Another consequence of domestication, in modern times, may be remarked in the 
permanent secretion of milk with the Cows, Ewes, and She-Goats. The wild races 
only suckle their young (hiring the interval necessary to habituate the digestive organs 
of their progeny to other food. We have already seen that the domestic species, 
transported into the New World, have lost this property of their ancestors in acquir- 
ing their independence, and only preserve their milk as long as the calves end kids 
are kept along with their dams. We have a further proof of the imperfect domesti- 
cation of the Ass, in the circumstance that the secretion of milk in the female Ass 
does not remain permanent, but continues only during the time that the foal remains 
with its dam. 
An interesting pass^e of Aristotle appears to show, that one of the most im- 
portant consequences of domosrication, the permanent secretion of milk, which is 
at present maintained by an irritation of the Mammm almost mechanical, was first 
induced by a stimulus procured from some plants of the Nettle family ( Urticece). 
He adds, in reference to tbe She-Goats, that even when they have not been fecun- 
dated, it was customary to rub their udders with Nettles so violently as to excite 
pain. At first milk was drawn mixed with blood, then a quantity of purulent matter, 
and finally a milk as pure, as healthy, and in a quantity as copious, as tint rendered 
by a She-Goat which had just produced. 
The progress of domestication may, however, be seen more especially in the 
Dog, who has in all ages been the companion, the guardian, and we almost say the 
intimate friend of Man. Being possessed of a superior genius, and habituated 
to the society of his master, domestication has been truly wonderful in developing 
his natural capacity. The ancients were acquainted with but few varieties of the 
Dog, as far as we can gather from the descriptions of authors, and the figures on 
the monuments of antiquity. They had tbe Watch Dog, the Coursing Dog, the 
Shepherd’s Dog, and the little Maltese Dog, supposed to have somewhat resembled 
the French Bichon. The intelligent qualities of these varieties had been but slightly 
developed ; and the ancient Greeks and Romans were wholly unacquainted with those 
Dogs which set game, such as the Pointers and Spaniels, upon whom a modern 
education can produce results so surprising. The Water Spaniel or Poodle Dog, 
whoso fame is now widely spread for the constancy of his attachment and the extent 
of his acquirements, was wholly unknown to them. 
Aristotle and Xenophon have expressly declared, that animals can be made to 
understand nothing by word of mouth. Those who have witnessed the intelligence 
and dexterity of the modem Poodle Dog, will be able readily to appreciate the influ- 
ence of domestication when continued through a long period of time. These animals 
can be induced, at the word of command, to ring the bell, or perform many of the or- 
dinary duties of a servant, such as to shut and open the door, or deliver a letter. A 
black Poodle belonging to Robert Wilkie, Esq, of Ladythorn, in the county of North- 
umberland, would feign all the agonies of death in a very corret;t manner. When com • 
manded to die. he rolled over on one side, stretched himself at full length, and moved 
his hinder logs with a convulsive motion, first slowly and afterwards quickly, as if in 
extreme pain. After putting his head and body in motion with those affected con- 
vulsions, he would then stretch out all his limbs, or lie on bis back with the legs 
turned upwards as if he had expired, and remain motionless until the word of his 
master restored him again to his customary animation. 
These instances, and numerous others, which need not here be produced, clearly 
establish the important fact, that the education of the domestic animals has always 
followed a gradual progress, which may be ciclier slow or rapid, according to circum- 
stances. We may thence further expect, that future ^es, by bestowing more care 
as well as skill, and being aided by the influence of a longer perioil of time, may de- 
velop the intelligent powers of our domestic animals in a still higher degree. 
It appeal^, that with one species at least domestication has gone retrograde. The 
Dziggtai (^Eqvvs Hemionus) of Mongolia was once domesticated in Syria. Aris- 
totle declares (Nat. Animal, vj. 30), that “ in Syria animals are to bo foimd called 
Hemionus, a species resembling the mule in appearance, but being in reality different 
from it. These Hemionus are swifter than Mules. They produce among them- 
selves a constant race. Some animals, which still remain in Phrygia, where they 
were introduced in the time of Pharnaccs, the father of Pharnabazus, prove the 
truth of this assertion. Three animals now remain out of nine.” 
Although the later writers among the ancicoits generally confound the Hemionus 
with the different kinds of Mule, yet Ariatotle carefully distinguishes them. Thei'e 
was the Mule (ou^soj, or the Hybrid between the Ass and Mare; tbe 
Bordeau hinnus')^ or ilie Hybrid between the Horse and female Ass; and a 
cross of tho second degree (yivuoSi hinnulus^t between the Mule and the Marc- 
From all of these Aristotle separates “ the Hemionus (if^/ovof), which is not at all 
of the same species as the Alulc, notwithstanding its resemblance, since they propa- 
gate together, and continue their race.’ Theophrastus confirms this remark 
Aristotle; and more modern writers, such as Constantino Porphyrogenitus, 
Eustathius in his Commentary on the Iliad, remark, that tho Hemionus was formerly 
domesticated in that part of Asia Minor called l^apWagonia. 
Pallas has recently identified the Hemionus of Aristotle with the modern DzigS^* 
of Siberia. It is probable that this species may have been brought to Syria by som^ 
of the Tartar hordes, and that it remained there in domusiieatian until the era 
Aristotle; for after this time all notice of it disappears from the writings of 
ancients, and its place is supplied by the Horse and Alule. In certain parts of CcO' 
tral Asia, the Dziggtai is said to be domesticuted at tho present day. 
Thus, upon considering the domestic animals in reference to those phenom*?^^ 
which have attended their return from the domestic to the wild state, aiid upo^* 
investigating the records of antiquity, we are led to form several important 
sions which it may bo proper hero to recapitulate. 
In the first place, we find that tho numerous \'ariation5 of the domestic animalsi 
respect to the colour and quality of the hair, are brought back by a state of 
to a uniformity almost invariable- In the New World the common colour ^ 
hair is a chestnut bay for the Horse, a dark gray for the Ass, and black for the 
In the Old Continent it scorns to be gray for the Ass as in America, but a 
colour for the Horse, whicii here becomes white. Wc are hence entitled to infr’’ 
that all shades which diverge from these primitive hues are the evident 
