INTliODUCTIOX. 



TiiK wliolc group of animals to the Natural History of which this 

 voliinic is devoted, may possess an interest for many readers who are 

 not zoologists, as well as for men of science. There is no animal which 

 has be en from such ancient times so closely associated with man as tlie^ 

 Dog, or one which now holds so high a place in his affection and 

 esteem. The habits and modes of life of various wild Can ine species 

 1 1 n ., 1 1 ! i 1 1 1 1 1. M i iig analogreTwItF t hose orour domestic breeds, ins tinc- 

 tively associating as they do in packs, and jointly pursuing a prey which 

 would escape or defy them if pursued singlj*-" Curious abnormalities 

 oj^structurc have also been occasionally observed which seem to throw 

 light on the origin of very exceptional _characters possessed by certain 

 (loiuLstic breeds. Such facts may also suggest a hope of our discovering 

 what was the first origin of the Domestic Dogj but as yet that problem 

 seems to us insoluble^ Yet, how ever in soluble it may be, one thing is 

 certain : either, in a very brief periqd_(g gologically s peaking) descend- 

 a nts of the same stock have 1 )Ccom e extraordinarily diversit iedin form 

 and h abit, or the blended offsprin g of s pecies orig inally distinct have 

 commi iiglcd to for m one un iversaUy prolific racc^ Each of these alter- 

 natives is full of interest and highly suggestive. But to the zoologist 

 the group of the Dogs is especially interesting, both on account of the 

 remarkable divergence of its members from all those other animals to 

 which they are most nearly allied, and also because of theii- close struc- 

 tural agreement one with another. 



All the various kinds and variet ies of Dogs, Jackals, Wolves, and 

 Foxes^'hich now exist are^ considered by nat ural ists to form one na tural 



