Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/189

Rh Jews carry it on than that Christians should imperil the salvation of their souls by such practices, since the former, owing to their notorious obduracy, will doubtless persist in their religious perversity and be damned anyhow." If the Jews now "take a breed of barren metal" as naturally as a pointer takes to pointing or a hound to the trail of a fox, this tendency is due in part at least to circumstances which they did not create and could not control. The chief accusation brought against them by anti-Semitic agitators is that they are unwilling to follow industrial or agricultural pursuits, in utter forgetfulness of the fact that until a comparatively recent date they were forbidden by Christian legislation either to engage in mechanical employments or to own land.

The influence of domestication on the mental development of animals depends upon the purposes which the domesticator has in view. If he regards them merely as forms of food, and his sole aim is to increase the amount of their adipose tissue and edible substance and thus get the maximum of meat out of them, then domestication tends to stupefy them. The intellectual training of the pig would naturally diminish the quantity of lard it would produce. So far as man is concerned, this latter function is the chief end of the porker's existence, and it must not be tried and found wanting in this respect, whatever may be its mental deficiencies. It must be fat-bodied whether it be fat-witted or not, and the natural qualities which do not contribute to its gross weight and enhance its ultimate value as victuals are systematically discouraged and depressed.

In view of the treatment that the pig has received for centuries at the hands of man, it is remarkable that the animal has retained so much of its original cunning and love of cleanliness as it now possesses. That a creature so fond of bathing in pure running water should be condemned to a filthy sty is an act of unconscious cruelty discreditable to human discernment. If the sow that has been washed returns to her wallowing in the mire, it is as a last resort in hot weather; she would much prefer a clear pond or limpid stream if she could get access to it.

Being fed and protected by its owner in its domestic state, the hog no longer needs to exercise the faculties which were essential to the self-preservation of its wild progenitors. The stimulus arising from the struggle for existence ceases, and, as it is reared solely to be eaten, its association with man does not call forth any new powers. In China and Polynesia, where the dog is esteemed chiefly as food, it is a sluggish and stupid beast. On the other hand, the pig can be trained to hunt, and not only acquires great fondness for the sport, but also shows extraordinary sagacity in the pursuit of game. It has an uncommonly keen scent, and can be taught to point better than the pointer.