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<div align="center"><b><i>Modern Times, Rural Places:<br><br>
Seminar Series at MIT<br><br>
</i> <br><br>
Edmund Russell<br><br>
</b>Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society and
History<br>
University of Virginia<br><br>
<i>"Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Dogs as Gambling Technology in
Nineteenth-Century Britain"<br><br>
</i> <br>
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Nineteenth-century Britons loved dogs, and they loved gambling.
Unifying these interests led them to breed dogs suited to wagering.
The specific direction of dog evolution, however, depended on the class
and environment of the gamblers. Workers and farm laborers, without
large acreage of their own, flocked to pits and small fields that hosted
blood sports. Dog fighting and animal baiting created demand for
fierce, stubborn, stocky dogs, such as bulldogs, pit bulls, and bull
terriers. The gentry and aristocracy, who owned estates with large
open fields, favored coursing (in which two greyhounds raced to kill a
hare first). In both cases, gamblers wagered on which dogs would
win or lose. In the mid-nineteenth century, middle and upper class
Britons successfully lobbied to outlaw dog fighting and baiting on the
grounds of cruelty. Coursing, however, continued unabated.
This case demonstrates that factors rarely considered by evolutionary
biologists, such as class and size of territory in one species (humans),
can shape the evolution of other species. And it demonstrates the
importance of anthropogenic evolution in history. Exciting fights
and races depended on breeders who shaped dogs for each purpose.
Without directing dog evolution down different paths, the experiences of
nineteenth century gamblers would have been quite different.
<br><br>
<br><br>
<div align="center"><b>Friday, April 22, 2005<br><br>
2:30 to 4:30 pm<br><br>
MIT, Building E51 Room 095<br><br>
</b> <br><br>
Sponsored by MIT's History Faculty and the Program in Science,
Technology, and Society<br>
For more information or to be put on the mailing list, please contact
Margo Collett at
<a href="mailto:mcollet@mit.edu">mcollett@mit.edu</a><br><br>
For location visit
<a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg" eudora="autourl"><u>http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg<br>
</a></u></div>
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