Genera <?/ Felicia? and Canida?. 103 



is represented in the Museum of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences by a complete skeleton, with the crania of two other 

 individuals. These all belong to adult animals of a single 

 litter, which were born in the United States. The parents 

 of these dogs were procured in Japan by Dr. W. S. W. 

 Ruschenberger, U. S. N., now President of the Academy. 

 Other specimens have been brought to the United States by 

 officers of the navy. Dr. J. E. Gray figures a skull of the 

 same dog in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 London ' for 1867. 



The crania in the Academy's collection are almost exactly 

 alike, and resemble the one figured by Dr. Gray, so far as can 

 be discovered. But Dr. Gray's specimen was probably young, 

 as the incisor teeth and a premolar in each jaw have not yet 

 been shed, and there are some cranial fontanelles still re- 

 maining. 



The characters displayed by the skulls are as follows : — 

 The muzzle is excessively abbreviated, and the forehead very 

 convex. The brain-case is almost globular, and the zygo- 

 mata proportionally prominent. The superior marginal ridge 

 of the temporal fossa is prominent ; and those of opposite sides 

 are well separated as far as the posterior parietal region. 

 Here they approach each other abruptly, forming a wide 

 sagittal crest. The muscular insertions and other osseous 

 ridges of the supra-, ex-, and basioccipital regions are strongly 

 marked. The postorbital process is prominent and decurved. 

 The vertical sinus of the superior border of the foramen 

 magnum is deeply excavated. The external surface of the 

 brain-case and of the zygomata is minutely rugose. 



There are no lobes of the posterior border of the anterior 

 superior premolars, while they are present on the two in- 

 ferior premolars. The superior sectorial is normal, while the 

 first superior tubercular is like that of Synagodus mansuetus, 

 without distinct median crest or tubercle. The heel of the 

 inferior sectorial is also like that of the species just mentioned ; 

 one border is much more elevated than the other, and forms 

 a cutting-edge. The inferior tubercular is small, is longitu- 

 dinally oval, and supports two low tubercles. This is one 

 of the most important points of difference between this species 

 and S. mansuetus. In none of the specimens is there any 

 trace of the second tubercular. 



The skeleton is that of a dog of the size of a rather 

 small black-and-tan terrier. 



Dr. Ruschenberger states that the incisor teeth of the dogs 

 were shed at the age of about six months. He also informs 



me that they did not breed after coming to this country. Dr. 



ft* 



