44 THE PRINCIPLE OP Chap. I. 



keep one of their fore-legs doubled up for a long time, 

 ready for the next cautious step; and this is eminently 

 characteristic of the pointer. But from habit they be- 

 have in exactly the same manner whenever their atten- 

 tion is aroused (fig. 4). I have seen a dog at the foot of 

 a high wall, listening attentively to a sound on the oppo- 

 site side, with one leg doubled up; and in this case there 

 could have been no intention of making a cautious ap- 

 proach. 



Dogs after voiding their excrement often make with 

 all four feet a few scratches backwards, even on a bare 

 stone pavement, as if for the purpose of covering up 

 their excrement with earth, in nearly the same manner 

 as do cats. Wolves and jackals behave in the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens in exactly the same manner, yet, as I 

 am assured by the keepers, neither wolves, jackals, nor 

 foxes, when they have the means of doing so, ever cover 

 up their excrement, any more than do dogs. All these 

 animals, however, bury superfluous food. Hence, if we 

 rightly understand the meaning of the above cat-like 

 habit, of which there can be little doubt, we have a 

 purposeless remnant of an habitual movement, which 

 was originally followed by some remote progenitor of 

 the dog-genus for a definite purpose, and which has 

 been retained for a prodigious length of time. 



Dogs and jackals 15 take much pleasure in rolling 

 and rubbing their necks and backs on carrion. The 

 odour seems delightful to them, though dogs at least 

 do not eat carrion. Mr. Bartlett has observed wolves 

 for me, and has given them carrion, but has never seen 

 them roll on it. I have heard it remarked, and I be- 

 lieve it to be true, that the larger dogs, which are prob- 

 ably descended from wolves, do not so often roll in 



15 See Mr. F. H. Salvin's account of a tame jackal in 

 1 Land and Water,' October, 1869. 



