The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-24 00:00:00

SHIPPING—This Day.

LONDON, Dec. 24.—Wind this day at noon—South.
Westerly; light breeze, and cloudy weather.

(BY MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.)

GRAVESEND, Thursday Morning.
Arrived, Dec. 23—Isolotilla, from Soderham; Rebecca,
and Mary ElizAbeth, from St. Michael's; Alice, from
Mauritius • C.lspin, from Guernsey, Alexandria; from
Lisbon; Seine, from Boulogne.
Sailed, Dec. 24—Lord Russell (steamer), for Dunkirk;
Orwell (steamer), for Nassau.
DEAL, Thursday Morning.
Anchored—Johanna Ettina, from London, for Genoa;
Alexandra, from London, for Akyab.
Passed—Neablern, from Demerara for London; Earl
Grey, from the west, for the north; City of Bombay, from
Calcutta, for London.

The French Academy has decided that the rucep-1
tion of M. de Came, who replaces M. Riot, shall take place
on the third Thursday in January, and that of 111. Dataare,
who replaces Duke Pasquier, three weeks after.
The Brussels journals announce that the Court
balls for the present season are to take place on the 6th,
13th, and 27th January, and 3d February.
The puke de Brabant left Brussels on Sunday
for Nice, where his Royal llighness intends to pass the
winter.
A letter from Genoa states that an Austrian bri-
gantine, the Castello, 218 tons burden, laden with
corr., was wrecked three nights since by running against
the new pier at the entrance of the port. The crew, consist-
ing of eight men, were saved, but there is every reason to
fear that the captain has peri3hed. The accident appears to
have been caused by some mistake, as, though the night
was dark, the sea was not rough.

At a meeting of this society on Tuesday evening—Mr.
Crawfurd in the chair—a paper was read by Mr. F. Galton
" On the first steps towards the domestication of animals."
He stated that the object of the paper was to discuss the
character of ancient civilisation as indicated by the domesti-
cation of animals—whether there was a golden age of ad •
vanced enlightenment, or whether extraordinary geniuses
have existed who taught their contemporaries to domesticate
animals; or whether it was posaible that the instinct of
savages, combined with the qualities of the animals domes-
ticeed, sufficed to originate every instance of established
domestication. The latter view of the question was the one
taken by Mr. Gallon, who proceeded to consider the condi-
tions necessary to domestication, and to notice varieties of
instances in which wild animals lave been tamed by savages.
The conditions under which he considered wild animals may
become domesticated, when briefly stated, were—that they
should atourid in a wild state, that: the natives should be
hunters, that the animals should be hardy, that they should
have an inborn liking for man, that they should be comfort-
loving, that they should be found useful to the savage.,
that they should breed freely, aed that they should be gre-
garious. In support of these positions Mr. Galton adduced
tht3 evidence of several travellers, combined with his own
experience, and he mentioned many curious instances of the
taming of animals by savage tribes, either for their use or
for show, or merely as pets. The Indians of North
America were stated, on the authority of Sir John
Richardson, to bring up young bears, the women giving
them milk from their own breasts; and the women in
the interior of South America are said by Mr. Wallace
to suckle and rear young monkeys. Mr. Galton is of
opinion that the gregariousness of all our domestic
species is the primary reason why many of them are extinct
in a wild state. The wild herds, he observed, would inter-
mingle with the tame ones, some would become absorbed,
the others would be killed by hunters, who used the tame
cattle as a shelter to approach the wild, Besides this, com-
fort-loving animals would be lees suited to fight the battle
of lite with the rest of the brute creation, and it was there-
fore to be expected that those varieties which are best fitted
for domestication would be the soonest extinguished in the
wild state. He believed that every animal had its chance
of being domesticated, and these which fulfilled the condi-
tions before named were demonstrated long ago. It would
follow, therefore, that the animal creation pOssesses no more
animals worthy of domestication, at least for such purposes
as savages care for. The elephant appeared to be an ex-
ception to the rule that domestication has always been per-
formed by savages. The African elephant is untamed, and
is not even alive; but three of the conditions of domestica-
tion are wanting in Africa, for the elephants are not there
sufficiently abundant, nor is the character of the country
such as to admit of their easy capture, and the animal
would be useless to savages, especially in an open country
like Africa. In conclusion, Mr. Galton said he saw no reason
to suppose that the first domestication of any animal, ex-
cept the elephant, implies a higher civilisation among the
people who established it than that of barbarian hunters.

He could not believe it to have been t!le result of a precon-
ceived intention, followed by elaborate trials, to administer
to the comfort of man. Neither could he think it arose
from one successful effort made by an individual, who might
thereby juetly claim the title of benefactor of his race ; but,
on the contrary, that a vast number of half unconscious at-
tempts had been made throughout the course of ages, and
that ultimately by slow degrees, after many relapses and
continued selection, our several domestic breeds became
firmly established. _ _

Professor OWEN said he agreed generally with Mr. Gal-
ton respecting the conditions required for the domestication
of animals, though there acre a few exceptions to the rule.
He noticed, in the first place, that the period of the domes-
tication of the turkey and of the guinea-pig in Europe was
distinctly marked, as those animals were introduced into
the Old World from America; and yet, as they were most
probably previously domesticated by the Mexicans, that
fact could not be considered a proof that they were not
originally tamed by man in a savage state of life. The
domestic cat, however, was an exception to the condition
that domesticated animals were in their wild state grega-
rious. There are, he observed, two species of wild cats, one
of which inhabits a district extending from Scotland across
the north of Europe into China and Japan ; the other is the
wild cat of Persia; and it is from the latter stock that the
majority of our domestic cats have sprung. He conceived
that the domestication of the cat indicated an advance in
civilisation greater than was exhibited by savage tribes, for
the use of the cat in destroying rats and mice could not be
experienced until there was an accumulation of grain or
other food to be preserved. With respect to the elephant
he did not agree with Mr. Galion in his explanation of the,
cause why there were no tamed elephants in Africa. It
was well known the Carthaginians employed trained ele.•
phants in war, and the abundance of those animals in Cen•
tral Africa was proved by the large quantities of ivory
imported from that continent, which greatly exceeded the
ivory obtained from Asia. Thus, it could neither be owing
to the incapacity of the African elephant for domestication
nor the smallness of their numbers that negroes did not
tame the elephants of Africa.
Mr. POOLE and Mr. GOODWIN considered the question

from an archaeological point of view, from which they
were inclined to believe that the domestication of animals,
especially by the Egyptians, was not caused either by their
utility to man or by the other conditions insisted on by
Mr. Galion. Many of the crew tires that were tamed and
worshipped were rather hurtful than useful to man.
Mr. Markham, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Bates, from per-
sonal observation among the savage tribes of South Ame-
rica and in the East, were of opinion that the domestication
of animals was never undertaken by tribes in a perfectly

•
savage state.
Mr. CRAWFUIID expressed the same opinion, and with
regard to the African elephant, he contended that the cause
of its not having been tamed and rendered useful in that
country was to be attributed solely to the stupidity and
want of capacity of the negroes.
Mr. GALTON briefly replied, and the meeting adjourned.