THS 



PHILOSOPHICAL AlAGAZIXE. 



T. On Indian Dogs. By Br. Bartot>^, of Philadelphia* , 



JLT would require much obfervatlon, many experiments, and 

 a great deal of time, to collect all the neceflarv jjiaterials for 

 an exa<ft hiftory of the native dogs of North America. I am 

 by no means prepared for the ample taflc. My objeft , in the 

 prefent article, is much more limited-^^to bring together a 

 number of fcattered fa6ls relative to the origin and manners 

 of the different kinds of dogs which were found amonc the 

 Indians when the Europeans firft took pofleffion of the coun- 

 tries of North America. In the inveftigation of this inquiry 

 I cannot pretend to be very methodical : nor do I expert to 

 avoid errors. I aim, however, at correcting fome of the er- 

 rors of preceding writers. 



It has been aflerted, by many hiftorians and naturalifls, 

 that there were no dogs in America prior to the difcovery of 

 ihis portion of the world by the Europeans f. Mr. Pennant, 

 one of thefe naturalifts, remarks : " As it is certain that the 

 dog of North America, or rather its fubrtitute,_ on its firit 

 difcovery by the Englifli, was derived from the wolf tamed 

 and domellicated, fo it is reafonable to imagine that of South 

 America had the fame origin J;."' I do not think it fuffi- 

 ciently afcertained that there were not originally in America 

 any fpccies of dog of the fame (lock as thole of the old world. 

 It has not yet been proved, that the dog of Newfoundland^ 

 of which I am afterwards to make more particular mention, 

 was unknown in that ifland before its difcovery by the Eu- 

 ropeans. But admitting that the Newfoundland fpecics or 

 variety originated from an admixture of the European dog 

 with the wolf, or fome other native animal of the country, 

 it will iVill appear fomewhat probable, that the Indian dogs 

 in many other parts of America were not fpccijically different 



* Comtr.unicated by the Author. 



t Acoftu, Gomari, Hcircra, Joannes Fabri, Buff.^n, Pennant, kc. Sec. 



\ Hiftory of Q^iadnipeiU, vcl. i. p. t^--. 



Vol.. XV. No.57~ B from 



y-'f ''-r.v/rv 1803, 



