dromedary appear to have a common ancestry in the Asiatic stock. Their distribution, says Keller, was "relatively late."

Species of horses were once common in Europe and Asia and there is much uncertainty as to their share in present breeds. The European forest horse was apparently the ancestor of the calm, heavy strains; while the Celtic horse is represented by the type known to Americans as the Shetland pony. The only wild horse known to us today (the e. przewalski of the desert of Gobi, once common in Europe) became the founder of the slender, nervous, Arabian type. Possibly there is another common ancestor of the last, but this is uncertain. In any case, the horse was first domesticated in Asia. The horse was pictured on Egyptian monuments as early as 1575 B.C., and Egypt was not its habitat.

The bezoar goat of west Asia was early tamed and came to Europe via the Egean Islands and was kept by the oldest lake dwellers. The wool sheep reached Europe in Mycenian times from east of the Black Sea. The African maned sheep was nearly domesticated in the Nile Valley. These Asiatic and African forms, Keller thinks, reached Europe via Crete in the days of the old civilization there, 2000 or 3000 years B.C.

Man uses these animals for various purposes: (1) companions, (2) food, (3) clothing, (4) transportation and (5) draft. Some animals combine many of these functions. The dog is a valued companion; is sometimes eaten or used to hunt other animals; provides clothing and in snowy countries is valuable for traveling. With reference to these uses animals vary greatly. By mating those showing the qualities desired, we have secured different types of horses from the heavy, slow Morgan of great

strength to the slender high-strung Kentucky thoroughbred. We have cattle producing large amounts of milk (Holstein) or a small amount of very rich milk (Jersey) or valued chiefly as beef (Shorthorns). We have chickens like the Asiatics (Brahmas), heavy birds, rather poor layers, but good mothers, gentle and rather sluggish; or the European breeds (Leghorns, Minorcas), small and so active that no fence stops them, excellent layers, but poor sitters and of little value for the table. By various combinations we have produced the American breeds (Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds) of medium size and combining in large measure the egg-producing qualities of the Mediterranean with the weight and disposition of the Asiatics. Moreover, we can have these birds in several colors: barred, white, buff, or with single, pea or rose combs. The sheep may be valued for mutton or wool.

Endless experiments are being made in crossing animals, and there is every reason to anticipate greater development in the future. We have long valued the mule, the hybrid resulting from mating the horse and ass. Mules are, however, infertile. It may be that be that by crossing

the zebra with the horse, we shall find a new type that will prove fertile. Such crosses are now known, but their worth is yet to be determined. Perchance we shall get a new type by mating the bison with cattle that will be worth while. Crosses of cattle with some of the humpbacked cattle of Africa in the southwest seem to promise an animal immune to ticks, which will be of great importance. In other words, we are now producing species, some of which we must discard, others we shall keep.

Of the vast horde of insects, there are two that have been of unusual value to man. The mulberry silk worm,

according to Chinese records, was kept as early as 2640 B.C., when the Empress Si-Ling encouraged the planting of mulberry trees and the culture of the worm. It reached Japan via Korea in the third century of our era. Somewhat later it was taken to India, thence to Persia. Aristotle was the first Western writer to mention it. At the beginning of the Christian era raw silk was well known in Rome and was worth its weight in gold. Justinian sent an embassy to China which brought some worms back in a hollow bamboo rod A.D. 550. These formed the basis of supply for the Western world for many years. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica the world now produces some 42,000,000 pounds of raw silk yearly: China with 13,000,000; Japan, 11,000,000; France, 1,276,000, being the chief sources of supply. To the sum total the United States as yet makes no contribution, owing largely to the high cost of labor.

The keeping of bees also antedates our records. They were as highly prized by the classical people as they are today by numerous savage tribes. Several species are used, one of the commonest being the dark-colored European bee. The Spaniards appear to have introduced the bee into Mexico in early days. It reached Pensacola by 1753, New York by 1797, and was known west of the Mississippi by 1797. The last century has witnessed a great change in the methods of culture. The old straw kep has yielded place to the modern hive. Most important is the use of some comb foundation. Apiaries of two to three thousand colonies are now reported. Over 100,000,000 pounds of honey are used yearly in the United States.

The conquest is far from complete. mals to some extent are domesticated.

Birds and mam

Beginnings are

being made in the cultivation of the forms of life in water. We now care for the oyster beds. Fishes are hatched by the millions at fish hatcheries and suitable waters are stocked therefrom. This entire industry is just at its beginning, and has enormous possibilities.

How can any one overestimate the benefit of domestic animals to man? By their milk or meat he has been fed. By their skins and fur he has been clad. Their speed has rescued him from danger; their strength has plowed his fields and pulled his implements. With their ligaments he bound his primitive weapons together. From their bones he made his tools and handles and began perchance his first attempts at making images. From them he learned many of nature's lessons. It is not too much to say that without domestic animals civilization is hardly possible. Some groups like the Chinese and Japanese have attained high culture to be sure, with little use of animals, but at what cost? The great poverty of the mass of the people is the answer. The absence of suit

able animals alone goes far towards explaining the relative backwardness of the Indian as compared to the European.

Man has been slow to realize that it does not always pay him to keep a cow merely because it gave milk. In part this has been due to ignorance, in part to the difficulty of discriminating, in part to the added expense involved in more careful methods. We may see just what this means by glancing at the dairy cattle in the United States. It is estimated that some 21,000,000 cows are kept which require for maintenance an area about equal to the state of Illinois. Estimating that a dairy cow which does not yield yearly 4,000 pounds of milk containing 160 pounds of butter-fat is kept at a loss we may

divide the cattle into three groups each containing 7,000,000 cows. The actual results are as follows:

Uncle Sam's Three Herds of Dairy Cattle

The first herd is kept at an actual loss of $7.25 per cow, while the first and the second herd combined yield a profit of only thirty cents each and the cows of the second herd must be milked 82 times for each dollar of profit. The third herd is really the only profitable one. When such facts are fully realized we may anticipate marked improvement in the quality of cows kept.

In at least one other way hitherto unmentioned are animals helping man. This is with reference to germ diseases. The beginning may be dated in the last decade of the eighteenth century when Edward Jenner, noting the pure complexions and smooth skins of the milkmaids wondered if the chance infection with cowpox prevented their taking the dreaded smallpox. Experiment proved this to be true. Now with the elimination of cruelty and needless suffering investigators the world over are trying experiments upon lowly forms of life to see if in some way control may be gained of the germ diseases which cause so much suffering and death among mankind. The results have been wonderful.

In the natural world there is no such thing as natural death in the sense of the long sleep coming after a long life with the gradual weakening of the vital powers. Death is the result of accident or assault by some foe in

6 FRASER, W. J. Three Herds Dairy Cattle, Rev. of Rev., March, 1915.