New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-24
PREHISTORIC FARMYARDS.
,>.rt,prerrNC SPECULATIONS AS TO THE
TANNING OF WILD ANIMALS b'
EARLY MAN.

TANNING OF w LID AMMAN"
EARLY MAN
From The Spectator.
The collection at the Zoo OF an the equ nu,
animals whether Zebras OF wiz Vs. - non
found on the globe gives ample Sup l - dn
lecture as to how the horse as we kho" II ~
y,alonod from this material Perhaps IL was NJ
developed from them at ALL but rom hae
digaDnrared from wild life even as the original
wild OK has disappeared from lhe ~ 80 ,I,,
West. But a survey of all domestIc ~. . tm1 he
leaves the IMPRESSION more strongly Ihd' w
original tribes first drew them from ul' " -
species with which they were In cohtdTl' ~
still done by the Lapps ana the Juh9Ie a.,
Of Assam and the process as 1t go Uu tat NE
affords scope for cOnjccturcS as 10 WHdt u,'
prehistoric farm" must have looked IKE. fI"p-
ably the farmyard Of one Of these carry con-
munitfeS did not contain many varieties 81 - 49,,
neither would the judges OF an ayr 1' -
| CHOW have had many 'claSScs' to deal win. y
is the very natural tendency OF carry eHor'S ~
domcstication in any form 10 be lihIt,u y" - -
reclamation Of single species. ms III IlS'II 10
dinicult enough. The ambition to possess a
variety Of domestic animals must De d "u.'i
later idea 1t is generally suggested from out-
side by travel or the iinnnIgralsoH at The
owners with a different class ~ beast Lie
Kafirs only took to owning horses very 6Iadu-
aIIv They we're content with their cows even
| as b.asts of burden: and TO this day the lapp
makes no effort to add 70 the prlmeNaI nero 81
reindeer either the ponies or IN" catue "nIch
his Morse neighbors have maintained, in regions
az hyperborcan, ever since lhey H'l6l"''u ~
the far North
TYPES OF REINDEER MATCRED.
The reindeer herds Of the Laps, the
Samoycds ana the East Siberian tribes continue
To flourish without the slightest attempt 10 I'M
prove or alter the wild breed The peculiar con
ditons and climate make variation or H"d!I'.l
ton unlikely. Hence, though the use Oh III,
reindeer may br as Old the use Of IN" morse, IL
| has left the type unaltered- an instance OF
primitive reclamation preserved IN zee "Ithh
/ th,. Arctic Circle. The second example IS SIM
lar in kind In Assam the Wild OK OF gay a.
/ is regularly taken up from the jungle ana
, dom,st.catrd The wild COWS are drcoyed by
balls Of salt and treated with this luxury til
I they m.ngle with those which have been prcVi-
| ou-ly dom,sticatcd. and are gradually Incoipp-
/ rated i'm the herds which are driven out into the
jungle To feed and brought home to bee MIXED.
In the case Of thu Indian buffalo ana the Bur
| ucsc elephant the tame and wild species are
also seen living in the same forests, ana recent
/ travel has discovered the wild snow camel on
. th. cold deserts over which the tame carnelS
have for ages transported the goods Of the Far
! East to the markets Of the West Except the
/ buffalo and gayal, non" # these animals couId
. ho expected to Dee much modified by human IN
/ reference. The reindeer. elephant ana snow
camel are specialized 10y Nature for particular
conditions, and as it is precisely for use in th"S"
. conditions that they are maintained, no one
. would attempt To Introduce differences. NO one
would try To- make better elephant or more
uscfu, reindeer. because Improvement for their
particular life is scarcely conceivable. Inc
]
made vastly larger and stronger than when Wild
though the connection with the original stock
, is plain.
other creatures are not 50 specialized and
were altered probably in no great time But
first it was necessary to catch your hare II
is not difficult and is certainly interesting, 10
picture the early and ambitious wOuld-be pas
torast considering which Of the animals in his
native wood Or on the mountains near II would
pay best to catch, and how he was to tame
them He certainly went through some such
| mil In fbr
there were at least two large wild bovine ami
mails one a bison. the aurOChS. the other a real
Wild bull not bison. Whoever the first cattle
tanners were they certainly decided to catch the
latter and had nothing to do with the bison. for
they tanned the one and left the other severely
alone.
even the young Of the dreaded urus in the Her
cyuau or Calydonian forests: nor is it easy To
conjecture how they were able To ketp in their
possession herds Of animals naturally fierce, ana
Of which the male descendants are to this day
the most dangerous and uncertain of any do
mestcatcd animal The difficulty of retaining
the reclaimed stock is greatly increased because
all grazing animals in the absence of inclosure.
which il not universal even in civilized Europe.
have to be- led out to feed daily. when they hay"
every chance Of resumng the wild state. But 1t
is difficult To suppose that our cattle N those Of
the East were first obtained i'm any other way.
There exists i'm the Malay states small wild
OK tire anoa, which is perhaps the survival or
one Of the wild species from which the smaller
Eastern breeds are descended. But 1t * no evil
dence that a domestic species is not descended
from wild ancestor if this ancestor is not now
existing. We should have known nothing of the
wild bull Of Europe were 1t not for the records
OF books and bones. and should not have had
these if the breed instead of existing down to
historic times had persisted some four thousand
years earlier. as they may well have done from
the plains Of India.
PIGS FIRST DOMEST GATED IN EUROPE.
Pigs were probably European 'rcclama;.on."
In the tropical East no one wanted them. for
they were neither wholesome as flesh nor giVers
IF milk. But in every case in Europe and Asia