Domesticated Animals: their Relation to Man and to his Advancement in Civilisation

Abstract

THOUGH the literature upon domesticated animals is of immense extent, we are unable to call to mind any work in which the subject is approached from quite the same general standpoint as in this suggestive book of Prof. Shaler's. The greater part of the volume consists of a series of essays on the dog, horse, poultry, &c, and even insects, so far as any insects can be said to be domesticated, reprinted with some amplifications from Scribner's Magazine, and written in a far more philosophical manner than is customary on such a subject. The leading idea, the connection between the practice of domesticating animals and social evolution, has of course not been neglected by sociologists; but it is discussed, together with the causes which have led to the selection of forms for domestication, and their consequent mental and physical modifications, in a manner well suited to attract the general reader who is a lover of animals, and to give an idea of the important part which their domestication has played in human progress. It is for him, rather than the man of science, that the work is intended; it is not detailed in treatment, and is in part covered by the writings of Darwin and Romanes. A good example of Prof. Shaler's method is afforded by the line of argument in which he points out that the invention of the horse-shoe made possible the disciplined use of the horse in Western Europe, and its differentiation into breeds. This led to the development of the war-horse, which played an important part in the warfare between Christian and Mohammedan States, as at the Battle of Tours, and promoted the institution of organised armies, and consequently of centralised States. Referring to the necessity of horses in military operations, he makes the curious deduction that China is unlikely ever to become a menace to outlying countries, because she cannot, and may never be able to, provide the horses necessary for the use of invading armies.

Domesticated Animals: their Relation to Man and to his Advancement in Civilisation.

By Nathaniel South-gate Shaler, Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University. Pp. 264. Illustrated. (London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1896.)