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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



as in the eternal abode of Dives ; nay, they multiply, for the Khamr 

 bitch, like other poor mothers, is generally overblessed with progeny ; 

 six youngsters a year is said to be the minimum. A sausage-maker 

 would probably decline to invest in Khamr dogs ; the word leanness 

 does not begin to describe their physical condition ; strappedness 

 would be more to the purpose, if an Arkansas adjective admits of 







Fig. 7. Wild Dogs. 



that suffix skin and sinews tightly strapped over a frame-work of 

 bones. I saw their relatives in Dalmatia, and often wondered that 

 they did not rattle when they ran ; but Dalmatia is still a country of 

 vineyards and sand-rabbits, while the Syrian desert has ceased to pro- 

 duce thorn-berries. Without moisture not even a curse can bear fruit. 

 Where food is plenty, wind and weather seem to modify the phy- 

 sique of a tramp animal. Most wild dogs are bushy-tailed, gaunt, and 

 fox-headed, and for some occult reason almost invariably black-muz- 

 zled. It is their clan-mark : judging from the snout alone, few natu- 

 ralists would be able to distinguish a tramp-dog from the pampa cur, 

 the Khamr hound, the dog-wolf {Canis anthus), or the Abu Hossein 

 ( Cants lupaster). It does not improve their appearance ; in connec- 

 tion with their wolfish eyes, it reminds one too much of a hyena-head. 



The question whether there are any untamable animals requires a 

 nearer definition of the somewhat ambiguous adjective. Untamable, 

 in the sense of undomesticable, I believe there are none. AVith the 

 proviso of a guarantee against socage-duty or a change of their natural 

 habits, few animals would decline the hospitality of the homo sapiens, 



