SIGNIFICANCE AND EFFECTS OF DOMESTICATION. Domestication implies taming and accustoming to the presence of loan, to a greater or r.oss ex tent, and a change from the wild habit ; hut the mere taming of an individual does not constitute domestication. Cultivation through a series of generations is necessary to fix domestic traits; and this is usually accompanied by a system of selection and breeding to develop and render per manent the qualities which are especially desir able. Domestication also implies a certain amount of care of the species. protection from severe weather, from wild animals, and from one another, and the providing of food or of the con ditions under which it may be obtained. Do mestic animals are also trained to some extent, and are confined or kept within hounds, and. in general, their activities and lives are under con trol, as distinguished from the freedom and the self-dependence of the wild state.
The changes in food, environment, habits, func tion, and breeding bring about many modifica tions in the outward form. external appearance. temper. and general character of animals, which soon distinguish them from their progenitors. The hair or wool becomes of a softer texture, the color of the coat or feathers changes, and the general conformation of the animal is greatly altered. The changed habits of life, as well as the food and the daily work or exercise, tend to the development of some' parts of the body more than others, the emphasis of sonic characteristics and the suppression or elimination of others. Thus the skull of hogs which have not been re quired to root for their food has become shorter and the snout much blunted, and the intestines of the improved breeds of hogs are much longer in proportion to the size of the animal than those of the will or earlier domesticated forms. This undoubtedly means that the modern pig. which is highly fed to hasten its growth. can eat a larger quantity of food in a given time, and it may in dicate that he can digest it more thoroughly than his ancestors.
It may be said, in general, that under domesti cation, animals mature earlier, become more fer tile. often more prolific. and present a greater
tendency to variation than in the wild state. There are exception's in which these changes are not all apparent, and it should be noted that differ greatly in the extent to which they respond to and are altered by domestication. Sometimes the changes induced in appearance and charaeteristics have been comparativudy as in the case of the camel. the elephant. and the ostrich; while in other C41.1.A they have amounted to the evolution of forms %Odell in a wild state would be regarded as new species.
.Xs a rule, the species which under tion haNC proved 1114/.4 useful to man have possessed high fertility. giving numbers, and marked tendency to variation, giving opportunity for impro‘ement and development in some par ticular direction by selection and breeding. These are prime requisites to rendering a species of great adaptability and usefulness; and the ab sence of them in some has restricted the scope of their usefulness. The camel, for instance. ap pears in its native state to hare possessed quali ties which suited it admirably to inan's uses ill a rattler limited region; and, not. exhibiting a inarked tendency to vary. it has not been changed much by man, nor have any traits been arti ficially developed to a high degree. llis range of usefulness will probably remain in its present bounds, and become more and more restricted as civilization advances in the regions wbere he IlOW his greatest usefulness. Cattle. on the other hand, tend strongly toward variation, and breeds showing wide differences in size, tendency to beef production, milk production, and the rich ness of the mill:, have been developed. As be tween the cat and the dog, the former possesses great fertility and but apparently only slight tendency to variation. and hence in all the years that the eat has been domesticated man has clot developed from it an animal of much spe cial use beyond that as a pet : while the dog varies so greatly that a number of races have been developed by selection and crossing which dilTer greatly in character, and many of them haVC been turned to use in a variety of ways.