M. Marcel de Serres on the Dog^ the Wolf, and the Fox. 245 



natural instinct, which invariably leads the members of the same 

 species to unite among themselves for the continuance of their 

 race, the end and condition of their existence. 



The opinion has not been carried equally far in regard to the 

 wolf and the fox. And perhjfps this has been owing mainly to 

 their native disposition presenting an insuperable obstacle to all 

 the efforts which have been made to subdue their savage nature, 

 and submit them, like the dog, to the dominion of man. This 

 resistance itself proves that these species differ essentially from 

 the dog, to which, as we have seen, one of them has been com- 

 pared ; and we sh^ll find, from the examination of the anatomi- 

 cal characters, that there is no real foundation for this identifi- 

 cation with the wolf, as they do not more differ in moral quali- 

 ties than in positive organization. 



There is yet another species which some have wished to join 

 with the dog, and which, like the wolf, has resisted all attempts 

 at domestication. We refer to the chacal {Canis aureus, Lin.), 

 the effect of whose capture and confinement has only been the 

 union of individuals belonging to the two principal varieties of 

 this species, procured from two different countries. This has 

 been the sole result of privation of liberty on this species, which 

 is as untameable as the wolf, with which it has been proposed 

 to ally it, as well as with the dog. Without further proof, 

 then, we may safely conclude, that the dog, so pliant and sub- 

 missive, the inseparable companion of man, whom he respects as 

 his master, and caresses as a friend, has nothing in common 

 with those fierce animals with which it has been proposed to as- 

 sociate it. 



If any doubts should still remain upon this point, they will 

 probably be removed by the details on which we are about to 

 enter. But, moreover, it ought not to be forgotten, that among 

 the numerous races of dogs, none has ever been found which 

 possessed a form and a nature at all analogous to that of the 

 wolf and the chacal. All that is common to these species goes 

 only to constitute them menvbers of the same natural genus, and 

 to exhibit those family traits which characterise the species of a 

 single genus. We must here crave indulgence while we express 

 regret in not having had it in our power to examine the skele- 

 ton of the chacal, which would have made the demonstration 



