^3^ On Indian Dogs. 



Fig. 4. Silurus eltBricus, 



b, aponcuroiis which extends over the whole of the eledric 

 organ, that is to fay, over a rericulation of tendinous fibres 

 comprehended between that aponenrofis and the Ikin. 



t, thicknefs of tlie ele6tric organ. 



n, n, nerve of the eighth pair. 



m, VI, abdominal mufcles. 



XXIII. On Indian Bags . By Dr. Ba-rtoh^, of Pbilade/phia. 



[Concluded from p. 9.] 



I 



T is highU' probable that the Indian dog ftill exiOs, in a 

 wild ftate, in the woods of many parts oTNorth America. 

 It is likely that when ken he has been iometimes miftaken 

 for the wolf. 



A very intelligent Indian informed me, that in the year 

 1792, when travelling towards the head waters of the river 

 Miami, which empties into lake Erie, he had met with 

 wolves which barked like dogs, though in other refpecSb 

 they appeared to be little diHercnt from wolves. Perhaps 

 future rcfearches will fliow that thefe were the veallndian 

 dogs in their wild ftate. The fubjeft is worthy of further 

 inquiry. If the Indian dog be an hybrid animal, we ought 

 to fupnnfe that he is lefs common in the woods than the ani- 

 mals from whom he is fprung. Hybrids are, in general, 

 more rare than original fpecies. This obfervation applies 

 both to the animal and to the vegetable world. 



The late Mr. Peter Kalm informed Mr. John Bartram that 

 the dogs which he faw among the Indians of Canada " were 

 juft like the dogs in Sweden, and that they had ears fharp- 

 pointed, and ftanding up like a wolf's. I can remember per- 

 h&]y well (continues Mr. Bartram) that when I was a boy 

 the Indians came frequently to our houfe. Tlieir dogs had 

 iharp-poinlcd upright ears, and we ufed to thmk that they 

 were of the wolf breed. Now, whether the Indians had their 

 dogs fron) the Swedes, who fettled in Pennfvlvania long before 

 the Englifn fettled there, or whether the Indian dof^s were 

 natives of North America, and the fame kind as thofe in the 

 north of Eui-ope and Afia, is v/ell worth inquiring*." 



The faft mentioned by Kalm, and the hint fuggefted by 

 Mr. Bartram, have fometimes, for a moment, led me to be- 

 lieve that the wolf-like dog of the northern Indians may 

 have been received from the Swedes, who formed a fettle- 



* A letter in my polTefTion, dated January 17, 1757, from Mr. John 

 Bartram to Mr, George Edwards. 



r;ient 



