200 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



firmation of the foregoing views that in all the late Mr. 

 Bartlett's long experience at the " Zoo " he never met with 

 a well-authenticated instance of a fox interbreeding with 

 either a dog, wolf, or jackal ; and although newspaper 

 reports have subsequently mentioned a hybrid between a 

 fox and a dog, it is obvious that such crosses are, at the 

 most, of extreme rarity. 



On the other hand, when suitably matched, there is no 

 sort of difficulty in obtaining crosses between wolves and 

 jackals and domesticated dogs; and it is a well-known 

 fact that the Eskimo are constantly in the habit of crossing 

 their sledge-dogs with wolves in order to impart strength 

 and stamina to the breed. Indeed, Eskimo dogs are so 

 closely related to wolves that there can be no question 

 that they are descended from them, Mr. Bartlett remarking 

 that they are undoubtedly " reclaimed or domesticated 

 wolves." 



This being so, Eskimo dogs should properl}^ be called 

 Cants lupus instead of Canis familiaris ; and if it could be 

 shown that all domesticated dogs have the same ancestry, 

 the former name should stand for all. On the other hand, 

 as was long since pointed out by that acute observer the 

 late Sir John Richardson, the Hare Indians of North 

 America, who inhabit a zone lying considerably to the 

 south of Eskimo territory, have dogs very closely resem- 

 bling the small American prairie-wolf, or coyote, which 

 is the wild species most commonly met with in their 

 territory. And it may be affirmed with a considerable 

 degree of confidence that the Hare Indian dog presents 

 the same relationship to the coyote as is borne by the 

 Eskimo dog to the wolf. Accordingly, if we base our 

 nomenclature on descent, the former breed ought to be 

 called Cam's latrans. 



