The Universal KinshipMoore, J. Howard (John Howard)
Philosophy
The Universal Kinship
Moore, J. Howard (John Howard)
Evolution; Human beings; Sociology
Take, for instance, the dog. The dog is a reformed bandit. It is a
revised wolf or jackal. It has been completely transformed by human
selection; indeed, it may be said that the dog in the last ten or
fifteen thousand years has made greater advances in sagacity and
civilisation than any other animal, scarcely even excepting man. Man
has made wonderful strides along purely intellectual lines, but in
the improvement of his emotions he has not been so successful. The
rapid development of the dog in feeling and intelligence has no
doubt been due to the fact that his utility to man has always
depended largely on his good sense and fidelity, and man has
persistently emphasised these qualities in his selection. Fierceness
and distrust—two of the most prominent traits in the psychology of
the primitive dog—have been entirely eradicated in the higher
races of dogs. There is not anywhere on the face of the earth a more
trustful, affectionate, and docile being than this one-time
cut-throat. Whether the dog has been derived from the wolf or from
some wild canine race now extinct, or from several distinct
ancestors, he must have had originally a fierce, distrustful, and
barbaric nature, for all of the undomesticated members of the dog
family wolves, foxes, jackals, etc.—have natures of this sort.
There are about 175 different races of domestic dogs. They represent
almost as great a range of development as do the races of men. Some
of them are exceedingly primitive, while others are highly
intelligent and civilised. The Eskimo dogs are really nothing but
wolves that have been trained to the service of man. They look like
wolves, and have the wolf psychology. They are not able to bark,
like ordinary dogs; they howl like wolves, and their ears stand up
straight, like the ears of all wild Canidae. Some of the more
advanced of the canine races—like the sheep-dogs, pointers, and
St. Bernards—are animals of great sympathy and sensibility. When
educated, these dogs are almost human in their impulses and in their
powers of discernment. In patience, vigilance, and devotion to duty,
they are superior to many men. At a word, or even a look, from its
master, the loyal collie will gather the sheep scattered for miles
around to the place designated, and do it with such tact and
expedition as to command admiration. It has been said that if it
were not for this faithful and competent canine the highlands of
Scotland would be almost useless for sheep-raising purposes, because
of the greater expense that would be entailed if men were employed.
One collie will do the work of several men, and will do it better,
and the generous-hearted creature pours out its services like water.
It requires no compensation except table refuse and a straw bed. In
South America sheep-dogs are trained to act as shepherds and assume
the whole responsibility of tending the flock. ‘It is a common
thing,’ says Darwin, ‘to meet a large flock of sheep guarded by
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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