Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-06-14
Loss or INSTINCT.
Highly Bred Animals Lose Their
Natural characteristics.

Highly Bred Animals Lose Their
Natural characteristics.
1t is admitted by every one that our
principal domestieated animals have
gained very greatly In brain power
owing to mans training and compan-
ionship, says correspondent of the
London Live Stock Journal. OF course
It is possible to exaggerate the degrees
of mental advance made by horses, cat
tie and dogs, for instance. We may
make too much of acts performed In
obedience to our orders or under our
guidance. In other words, we may
temporarily forget or fail to notice that
unthinking repetition Of laboriously
acquired rudiments sometimes bears a
very close resemblance to spontaneous
acts of intelligence. "a memory like
that of horse" has passed into an ag-
rIcultural proverb. The trainer may
forget some of the steps In the process
of breaking in, but his dumb pupil does
not That is startlingly seen when a
raw and willing animal energies out Of
faulty or peculiar hands.
But If our principal domesticated an
Imals have made some ascent to meet
the higher intelligence of man they
have unquestionably lost the fine edge
Of certain faculties. Taking them as
group we may say that sight, hearing
and smell are not so keen, taste is de-
veloped in new directions and the ami
mails have very largely lost the striving
for self preservation so characteristic
in the feral state. Brain power simu-
lating that of man has been gained,
the animals have been made specialists
In sense, but the instincts so acute in
q state of nature have suffered a form
of atrophy owing to want Of exercise.
1t is no answer to say that the scent
ing powers of the bloodhound, for ex-
ample, are keener than those of the
wolf or fox or that the pointer is quite
the match of reynard in winding"
game. The domesticated animals re-
ferred to are the result of lopsided de-
velopment They are "all nose," so to
speak.
1t consequently follows that the ex-
perienced breeder receives with due
caution the advice sometimes freely
rendered in connection with feeding
and parturition troubles, Leave the
creatures to nature" He knows that
the more highly developed and domes-
ticated of the creatures have been led
considerable distance away from ma
ture and that 1t might be risky to let
them struggle in the paiddle course
between the feral and the artificial.
The degree Of assistance to be given
must depend upon circumstances and
the temperament of the animal. No
two cases are exactly alike. 1t must
also be borne In mind that an advanced
state of domeStication has tended to
increase the size of fetus and to rem
der the newly dropped young more
helpless than their smaller prototypes
In the wild or semiwild state. The d.
gestive organs and internal cavity gen
orally of most of our domesticated
breeds Of cattle are larger than those
of the bison or of the long horned cat
tie of Spanish origin once so numerous
on the American plains, the more COM
pact INTERVALS" being needed for rapid
movement in the open. Putting the
general position in broad terms, it may
be said that the more farm animals
become the servants or the fancy of
man the more they lose those charac
teristic adjustments and self preserv-
ing instincts which are the possession
of their relatives in the wilds.