Ell
8 Conservative *
. M t t
nuts of blood-hors
es do uofc inherit the individual training
of their sires , neither are the children of
scholars or musicians born with a
knowledge of books or the ability to
piny on musical instruments. What is
inherited in both cases is some particular -
ular disposition or endowment , n super
ior aptitude for the things in which
their progenitors excelled. Indeed , this
heritnge is handed down in horses with
surer nud steadier increase , or , at least ,
with smaller loss nud depreciation than
in huuiau beings , since they are mated
with sole reference to this result ; and
| | | there is no room left for the play of per-
soual fancy and caprice , or for social ,
sentimental , or pecuniary considerations ,
which exert a baneful influence upon
marriage from a physiological point of
view , and contribute to the deterioration
of the race. This is strikiugly percept
ible in some portions of Europe , where
the struggle for existence , and especial
ly for high social position , is exceedingly
intense , and a large dower suffices to
cover up all mental aud physical de
ficiencies in the bride.
The scientific swine-breeder keeps
genealogical tables of his pigs , and is as
jealous of any
Pedigree. " . . .
taint in a pure porcine
cine strain as any prince of the blood is
of plebeian contamination. In both
cases the vitiation bars succession , the
one condition of which is purity of
lineage. It is by the sel'ection uot only
of the finest stock , but also of the
choicest individuals for breeding , that
animals are "progressively improved"
both bodily and intellectually. This is ,
perhaps , most clearly observable in
hunting dogs and race horses , which
have undergone quite remarkable modifi
cations within the present century
owing to the extraordinary pains taken
to develop and perfect their peculiar
characteristics. In some instances un
usual births or freaks of nature are pre
served , and by persistently propagating'
themselves form the starting point of
new species. A striking example of this
perpetuation of individual peculiarities
is the short-legged and long-backed
Ancon sheep , a comparatively recent
product of nature rendered permanent
by the care of man. A pointer , grey
hound , or collie inherits and transmits
to its offspring not only race attributes ,
but also acquired aptitudes in the same
manner and to the same degree as a
human being does who is distinguished
for some special faculty. There are
prodigies of dogs which do not beget
prodigies of puppies , just as there are
men of genius whose children are by no
means eminent for their intellectual en
dowments.
If the conceptual world of the lower
animals is limited and fragmentary , so
is that of savages and of ignorant and
uncultivated men , who live for the most
part in the present and the immediate
past , and have a relatively narrow range
of thoughts and experiences. Long-
lived animals , such as parrots , ravens ,
and elephants , have an advantage over
short-lived animals in the development
of intelligence. Civilized man , how
ever , not only lives his own individual
life , aud profits , like other animals , from
the wisdom of his parents nud the in
fluences of his environment , but , also , by
means of written records , lives the life
of the race , of which he enjoys the
selectest fruits garnered in history.
It must also be borne in miud that dogs
are and always have been bred for spec
ial purposes , such as pointing , retrieving ,
running , watching , aud biting , but not
for general intelligence. Mr. Galton ,
who calls attention to this fact , suggests
thnt it would be interesting ns a psycho
logical experiment to mate the cleverest
dogs generation after geueratiou , breed
ing and educating them solely for in
tellectual power and disregarding every
other consideration.
In order to carry out this plan to per
fection and to realize all the possibilities
involved in such
Dogmas. .
a comprehensive
scheme , it would be necessary to devise
some system of signs by which dogs
would be able to communicate their ideas
more fully and more clearly than they
can do at present , both to each other and
to man. That the invention of such a
language is not impossible is evident
from what has been already achieved
in the training of dogs for exhibition , as
\xroll na from t.Vin ovfATif. fn wliinVi
have learned to understand human
speech by mere association with man.
Prof. A. Graham Bell believes that they
may be taught to pronounce words , and
is now making scientific experiments in
this direction. The same opinion was
expressed two centuries ago by no less
an authority than Liebnitz , who adduced
some startling facts in support of it.
The value of such a language as a means
of enlarging the animal's sphere of
thought and power of conception , and
of giving a higher development to its
intellectual faculties , is incalculable.
Every dog trained as a hunter or herd
er is a specialist , and is prized for one
fine capacity attained in some degree at
the expense of mental proportion and
symmetry ; in miscellaneous matters
outside of his province he may be easily
surpassed by any underbred and
mongrel but many-sided village cur.
Modern scholarship shows a like ten
dency to psychical alogotrophy or one
sided intellectual growth. As science
deepens its researches , each department
of investigation becomes more distinct ,
and the toiler in the mines of knowl
edge is forced to confine his labors to a
single lode if he would exhaust the
treasures it contains. He sees clearly so
far as his lantern casts its rays ; but all
outside of this small luminous circle is
dense darkness.
If n race of superior beings had taken
charge of man's education for thousands
of years and con-
Mnii.
ducted it on the
same principle as that which has guided
ns in domesticating aud utilizing the
lower animals , what maimed specimens
of humanity would have beeu the result ?
Slavery has always tended to produce
this effect ; but the slave , however de
graded his condition , speaks the same
language as his master , thereby profiting
from his intercourse with those who are
placed over him , and sharing in the gen
eral progress of society more fully than
any dumb animal could do.
The influence of domestication on the
mental development of animals depends
upon the purposes which the domestica-
tor has in view. If he regards them
merely as forms of food , and his sole
aim is to increase the amount of their
adipose tissue and edible substance and
thus get the maximum of meat out of
them , then domestication tends to
stupify them. The intellectual training
of the pig would naturally diminish the
quantity of lard it would produce. So
far as man is concerned , this latter
function is the chief end of the porker's
existence , and it must not be tried and
found wanting in this respect , whatever
may be its mental deficiencies. It must
be fat-bodied whether it be fat-witted or
not , and the natural qualities which do
not contribute to its gross weight and
enhance its ultimate value as victuals
are systematically discouraged and de
pressed.
In view of the treatment that the pig
has received for centuries at the hands
of man , it is remarkable
r
markable that the
animal has retained so much of its
original cunning and love of cleanliness
as it now possesses. That a creature so
fond of bathing in pure running water
should be condemned to a filthy sty is
an act of unconscious cruelty discredit
able to human discernment. If the sow
that has been washed returns to her
wallowing in the mire , it is as a last re
sort in hot weather ; she would much
prefer a clear pond or limpid stream if
she could get access to it.
Being fed and protected by its owner
in its domestic state , the hog no longer
needs to exercise the faculties which
were essential to the self-preservation
of its wild progenitors. The stimulus
arising from the struggle for existence
ceases , and , as it is reared solely to be
eaten , its association with man does not
call forth any new powers. In China
and Polynesia , where the dog is esteemed
chiefly as food , it is a sluggish and
stupid beast. On the other hand , the
pig can be trained to hunt , and not only
acquires great fondness for the sport ,
but also shows extraordinary sagacity
in the pursuit of game. It has an un
commonly keen scent , and can be taught
to point better than the pointer. Curious
ly enough , when the pig is used for hunt
ing purposes , the dogs , usually so eager