422 



THE DINGO DOG 



CHAP. 



an individual has been known to be partly flayed before moving. 

 Dingo remains have been found in river-gravels in Australia 



o o 



where no human remains have been detected. This argues for its 

 indigeneity ; but, on the other hand, it has been pointed out that 

 man himself in the Australian continent goes back a very long 



FIG. 211. Dingo. Canis dingo, x J. 



way into time, and may thus still have imported this companion 

 with him. Anyhow it is quite a wild creature now. Dr. JSTehring, 

 an expert investigator into the subject of domestic animals, has 

 stated that the skeleton of the Dingo does not suggest a feral 

 animal at all but a purely wild race. 



The Domestic Dog is usually spoken of as Canis familiaris ; 

 but to remains in bone caverns the name of C. ferus or C. mikii 

 has been given. There seems to be no doubt that the Dog was 

 the " friend of man " in very early times. Its remains have been 

 met with in Danish kitchen-middens, in the lake-dwellings of 

 the Swiss lakes, and during the Bronze Age in Europe generally. 

 But " there are few more vexed questions in the archaeology of 

 natural history than the origin of the dog." Its remains already 

 referred to may in many cases have argued its use as food. But 

 in a Neolithic barrow a Dog was found buried with a woman, the 



