LONDON INSTITUTION.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2939, 17 July 1878, Page 2

LONDON INSTITUTION.

Profeisor Bolleston on the 4th May gave a lecture at the London Institution on " The History of some of our JDomesti* I cated Animals." In introducing the , Bubjact, he dwelt on the civilj^tipn of the . human race, in connection with 1 the domes* tication of animals, showing,tfre civiliaa* tion advanced with the development ef domestication. It is difficult to conceive how man could hare made any progreM . in civilization till he had beasts of burden and trained animals to help hint in hunting. As an illustration of the evolution of domestication the subititu* tion was mentioned of the horse for the ox for a beast or burden, ai it was gradually found that it was more profit* able to keep the ox Jn good condition for food. The domestication of birds appears, from what evidence we have, to have commenced long subsequently to that of mammals. The study of the remains of domesticated animals found with the remains of humane-occupancies often eon* tributes to a knowledge of the origin of the people. For example; the. goat remains found in the lake dwellings point to the people having come from • warmer district,. and haying taken that useful milk-producer with them. We have no record, no tradition even, ai to who first attempted domestication; but there is, Professor Bolleston thinks, sufficient reason for believing that the dog was the first animal to be domesticated, the pig the second, and the ox the third.. The methods for elucidating the history of domestication are, for prehistoric times, the study of the remains of pile dwellings and other living places, burial places, and peat mosses. The stalls, sties, kennels, stables, and gardens of to-day supply knowledge of some of the effects of draining; Coins ansl*bnuineats supply useful historic evidence, bat the absence of representations of animals from those of any particular period most not be taken to imply they were not familiarly known/ la considering the .evolution of the domestication of the dog, it seems probable that as men^ased pitfalls for the capture of animals for flood, and these- pits would contain remnantsjotinetive to dogi, the dogs would noon 'Im* attached to the pits, would have an interest in their being well supplied, and would join the men i:i driving animals, and thus a comnr 3 interest caused a mutual attachment. In the concluding portion of the lecture, the effects of kindness in - training, were red to, and kindness to all animals ad\> cated. .