TJ/e JS'atnrali^ 
this was a foiiiiiion point of blending 
instead of that point of lowest life, where 
animals and jilants cannot be distin¬ 
guished. It is not at all unlikely that 
most of the readers of this magazine 
have seen the Drosera rohindifolia and 
noted its curious acts; and to those 
who at some future time may observe 
it, es[)eeially in its native haunts, I 
would say that it will well repay them 
to watch and note the curious phenom¬ 
ena attending its existence. 
Origin of the Domestication of 
Animals. 
• nv C. S. MASON, KASTON, PA. 
When we consider the immense dif¬ 
ficulties which man must ha ve encount¬ 
ered in subduing such stubborn ani¬ 
mals as the wild bull, so swift as the 
horse, so llerce as the dog in its natur¬ 
al state, we see the greatness and p.ow- 
er which he posseses. We may well 
wonder how he could tame these wild 
creatures and not only teach them to 
become useful allies and useful servants 
but to become trustvvorthy friends. It 
has been said, and well said, too, that 
a n i in a 1 s co u 1 d e X i s t w i t h o u t m a n, w li e r e - 
as man could not exist without animals. 
If we read of th'e beginning of the world 
we find the last statement correct, for 
after having made all manner of beasts, 
God made man. What need had the 
animals of man ? Nothing; they could 
get along without him. It is true that 
those which have been domesticated 
and cared for have gained, while those 
who have never felt tlie power of man 
have been the losers. Butman! Does 
lie need the animals? IMost assui'edly. 
He is a dependant creature at least. 
People, howerer, are apt to forget the 
innumerable difliculties which may 
have long interfered with the entire 
subjugation of these animals which we 
Com pa 
call domestic. This has taken many 
long years of patience and toil. Still 
in mastering these dumb creatures and 
compelling them to do his will,man has 
shown himself to be the ruler of the 
brute creation. That all beasts must 
become subservient to his will. For 
exanpile, go to any show of ijerforming 
animals. They are made to go througli 
various evolutions at the word of com¬ 
mand, and they know as well as human 
beings when they fail, and slink away 
disgusti'd at their failures. IMany con¬ 
jectures have arizen among scientific 
men as to what order of animals were 
first trained and used by man. iMost 
all agree, however, in placing the dog 
first. Pi'of. Steevstru[) of (Copenhagen 
[iroves very cleai ly and foivibiy in a 
clever way that the dog co-existed and 
shared the u{)s and downs of life with 
prehistoric man. After having ojiened 
a bone cavern he noticeil that some of 
the bones were gnawed in a peculiar 
maiinei-. He ju'ucured similar bones 
and gave them to his dogs to gnaw,and 
strange to say,when he examined tliem, 
saw they were mutilated in the same 
manner as those taken from tiie cavern. 
To give due credit to Canis familiar is, 
he was and is a great help to man. 
But for him man could hardly have 
tended his flocks and herds which were 
his sustenance. The dog is a noble 
friend. After the dog, in the order of 
theii’ usefuiness, comes the horse, ox, 
goat, sheep, pig, reindeer, rabbit, birds, 
fishe sand cat. These are all contem¬ 
porary with man, as is proved by the 
finding of their remains in the same 
mounds or heaps (kitchen middens or 
shell heaps) as his. These remains 
show that they were similar in form 
and general characteristics as those of 
the same kind of tlie jiresent dav. 
Some of our modern breeds differ from 
their predecessors, the difference being 
caused by dieting and cross-breeding. 
A different arrangement of some of its 
organs, its having hair or not, or any¬ 
thing different from the [larent stock 
makes another breed. 
