41 
see in this specimen — in the wild ope—a peculiar, abrupt, blunt end 
to the tail, which tapers to a point in the tame one. Yet, the wild¬ 
cat is as perfectly untamcable as the zebra, while its near ally, the 
common domestic cat, has been tame in men’s dwellings from the 
remotest periods noted by inscriptions on the oldest monuments of 
Egypt, and the wild condition of it is only recognized in a nearly 
extinct African species. Or, let us look to such gentle and nearly- 
allied creatures as the hare and the rabbit; the latter, one of the 
oldest aud most easily-kept pets, breeding in confinement with the 
utmost readiness ; while no amount of skill aud pains bestowed on 
the other, has advanced one step in domesticating or inducing it to 
breed in ordinary confinement; although an animal, eating the same 
food, and inhabiting the same country as the other. 1 might multi¬ 
ply these examples, till nearly all our most useful domestic animals 
would be shown to have been domesticated almost or cpiite from time 
immemorial without difficulty, while their nearest allies have resisted 
in many cases the most ingenious efforts persevered in for centuries 
to tame them. I do not believe, then, that any very large addition 
is to be expected to our lists of domestic animals, but my principal 
reason for dwelling on the point is, to disclaim on the part of the 
Acclimatisation Society any intention of expending labour or money 
on attempts at domesticating animals, and keeping them in confine¬ 
ment. Our object, on the contrary, is to select aud import into the 
country, from various parts of the world, all those useful animals 
which the nature of the climate and vegetation satisfy us would 
thrive here, and feed aud tend themselves in the wild or semi-wild 
state. So that, as the few horses which got loose in South America 
after the Spanish Conquest, have produced wild droves of countless 
thousands in the plains of the interior, so our foreign animals, brought 
to a country equally suited to them, will increase (without domestica¬ 
tion), and become permanently established with us. And lest it should 
be asked, what then do we require with such an establishment as 
that commenced at the ltoyal Park, with its paddocks, stables, shel¬ 
ters, aud fences, and staff of keepers 1 I will mention, that those are 
all necessary for the carrying out of our objects, inasmuch, as all 
beasts and birds require to be tended for a time with great care after 
landing from a long voyage, until they again recover fully their 
health, and the use of their limbs or wings ; and that in the ease of 
many kinds, it is necessary to increase our numbers by breeding 
before turning any loose, lest by any accident the species be lost. 
Premising that it is the intention of the Society to devote the 
whole of its powers each year to the importation of only a few kinds 
