ving beings about us, not only to our flocks
and herds but to the life of the unsubjugated realm as well. Thus, in a
way, we may look upon the dog as affording the first steps on the path
of culture which was to lift man from his primitive selfishness to the
altruistic state to which he has attained.

Great as has been the work of man upon the dog--it deserves, indeed,
to be ranked high among all the accomplishments of his culture--there
is reason to believe that if he but go forward with understanding in
the ways which have hitherto led him blindly to his success, the
final result may be very much more perfect than that which has been
attained. It is on this account that I feel it fit to make a strong
protest against the system our breeders pursue. Except in the case of
dogs used in sport and for herding sheep, the sole effort appears to
be to create breeds which shall exhibit peculiarities of form which
are mere extravagances, and move the real lover of this noble animal
to indignation. In these preposterous and unseemly tasks no care is
taken to continue the mental development on lines which have been
established by long use. Still less is there any effort to essay the
development of the intelligence in ways which are clearly open to us,
and which afford possibilities of lifting this species to a yet
nobler companionship with our own kind.

It seems worth while for our associations of dog fanciers to undertake
to develop varieties of dogs solely with reference to the intellectual
qualities of the animal. I venture to suggest that those who seek this
end should select some of the primitive types of form, such as are
found among the undifferentiated mass of the species, those which are
improperly termed mongrels, and this for the reason that among these
unselected creatures the intelligence is quicker and more varied than
it is in the highly developed varieties. Under skilful trainers the
successive generations bred in the experimental station should be
subjected to tests which will indicate the measure of intellectual
ability. The results already attained by the unconscious selection
which man has applied serve to indicate that at the end of a century,
and perhaps in much less time, we might develop an animal which in
various ways would come to a closer intellectual relation with man than
any other lower species has attained.

Cats deserve some mention for the reason, that, while they are the least
essential, and o