rms which afford some prospect of
success in the hereafter, including under the title of successes those
kinds which may contribute not only to immediately measurable wealth,
but the aesthetic satisfactions as well.

Beginning with the lowlier group of mammals we find in the base of the
series the ornithorhynchus and its allies, creatures which have nothing
to recommend them but their exceeding organic peculiarities that render
them attractive to the naturalist, but which are not likely to win them
a place in the affections of men in general. As these species are most
inoffensive as well as interesting, and as they are now confined to a
portion of Australia, they might well be made the subject of some human
care which would stop short of domestication. They might be transplanted
to other continents and thereby given a larger field for variation as
well as a chance to exhibit their features in a wider field. Among the
pouched mammals, especially in the species of kangaroo, there are forms
which commend themselves as very fair subjects for taming. They are of
considerable size, their flesh is palatable, and their hides useful for
leather; they breed rapidly, live on a poor herbage, and are, for wild
animals of like strength, very inoffensive. Moreover, though relatively
invariable both in mind and body, they exhibit sufficient individual
peculiarities to indicate that the breeder's art could, in a short time,
bring about considerable changes such as have been effected in other
species, changes that would increase the value of these animals. As far
as aesthetic or sympathetic relations are concerned, the pouched mammals
have nothing to give us; they are, as befits their lowly estate, among
the least graceful of their class; they are also little interesting in
their mental qualities, being about the stupidest of our kindred.

Among the ordinary herbivorous mammals there are several which should
be domesticable which have not yet been properly subjected to
experiment looking to that end. The American bison, commonly but
improperly termed the buffalo, is a strong creature, one which is
easily nourished. In its present condition, it is about as promising a
subject for the breeder's care as were the ancestors of our horned
cattle. Although there have been sundry trials of this animal as a
beast of burthen, they have been of a rude as well as a brief kind, no
care having been taken by selection to improve the qualities which
ev