of the Dog, the Wolf, and the Fox. 24<7 



which is so evident when we compare the dog and the wolf, is 

 far from being equally so when we institute a comparison be- 

 tween the former and the fox. It is true, that in the last men- 

 tioned animal, the lateral and superior parts of the cranium 

 formed by the parietal bones, are much more convex than the 

 corresponding parts of the wolf; though this convexity is less, 

 other proportions being the same, than in the higher races of 

 dogs, especially in the most intelligent, as, for example, in the 

 spaniel. 



According to these facts, the different degrees of intelligence 

 in carnivorous animals, as in others, would appear to depend on 

 the larger or smaller capacity of the cranial cavity ; and hence 

 we need not be astonished to find that this capacity is smaller in 

 the wolf, than in the dog and the fox. 



The forehead is generally of a more protuberant shape in 

 dogs than in the wolf and fox, in which indeed it is almost flat. 

 So much is this the case, that in these latter a line drawn from 

 the upper part of the forehead to the anterior extremity of the 

 square bones of the nose, is nearly straight ; whilst in dogs, on 

 the contrary, the line is very decidedly curved, its greatest con- 

 cavity being placed a little before the orbits. 



There is also seen in the wolf a well marked depression in the 

 middle of the frontal region. This depression is more strongly 

 marked in some races of dogs, especially in those of inferior in- 

 telligence, as in the mastiff, which we have had such frequent 

 occasion to mention. We have also to remark, that the lateral 

 portions of the frontal region are distinguished in the dog by 

 being much more prominent than in the wolf. The fox also 

 exhibits this portion nearly quite flat. Its forehead is also pro- 

 portionally flatter than that of the wolf, and it does not present 

 that deep furrow at the junction of the crests which proceed 

 from the posterior orbital apophysis of the frontal and forms 

 the sagittal crest. This crest is besides proportionally less ele- 

 vated and shorter, in the fox than in the wolf: and the same 

 remark may be made in relation to the wolf and the different 

 races of dogs. 



The sagittal crest, which in the wolf is formed by the union 

 of the two parietals and the crests proceeding from the posterior 

 orbital apophyses of the frontal, which unite in advance of the 



