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XXV.—Description of the Wild Dog of the Western Ghats—By Lieut.-Col. 
W. H. Syxzs, of the Bombay Army, F.L.S., F.G.S8., Se. 
Communicated by the Branch Royat Asraric Socrrty of Bompay. 
Read the 4th February 1832, 
Tue very limited accounts of the varieties of the Wild Dog to be met with 
in Suaw’s Zoology, in Buumensacu’s admirable Manual of Natural History, 
and in the splendid edition of Cuvrer’s Regne Animal, now publishing in 
England, in Reres’s Cyclopedia, and in one or two other works within my 
reach, lead me to believe that the accompanying drawing and description of 
the Wild Dog of the Western Ghats may prove acceptable to the Society. 
In Suaw’s Zoology, the only description of a Wild Dog is that of the 
“ Chien Sawoage de Ceylon,” by Vosmarr. Our Wild Dog is readily distin- 
guished from this variety by its greater size, and by its having a bushy tail. 
In Biumensgacu’s work, general mention only is made of the Wild Dog, 
without any particular description of it. In Rexs’s Cyclopedia, mention is 
made of Wild Dogs being found in large troops in Congo, Lower Ethiopia, 
and towards the Cape of Good Hope; some are said to be red-haired, with 
slender bodies and tails turned up like greyhounds; others resemble hounds 
of various colours, have erect ears, are of the size of a large fox-hound, 
destroy cattle, and hunt down antelopes and other animals: they run 
swiftly, go in large packs, attack lions, tigers, and elephants, and commit 
terrific ravages amongst the sheep of the Hottentots; but there is not an 
individual description. 
In the “ Régne Animal,” the Dhole of the East-Indies and Southern 
Africa is described as being like the Dingo or half reclaimed dog of New 
Holland, but differs from it in the hairs of the tail not being bushy. In 
this particular it differs also from the Wild Log of our Ghats, but corre- 
sponds nearly in colour with it, being of a uniform bright red. ‘The Dingo, 
or New Holland half wild dog, has the head and elongated snout of a fox ; 
in its other proportions it agrees with the shepherd’s dog, which by 
some zoologists is considered the nearest of the domesticated dogs to the 
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