5I4 THE CARNIVORES 



from association with other dogs. When caught they are generally in the habit of 

 shamming death. 



The dingo breeds freely with the various European dogs introduced by the 

 colonists. In regard to their domestication by the Australian natives, Dr. Lum- 

 holtz states that on the Herbert river there are rarely more than one or two dingoes 

 in each tribe, and as a rule they are of pure blood. The natives find them as pup- 

 pies in the hollow trunks of trees, and rear them with greater care than they be- 

 stow on their children. The dingo is an important member of the family ; it sleeps 

 in the huts, and gets plenty to eat, not only of meat, but also of fruit. "Its master 

 never strikes, but merely threatens it. He caresses it like a child, eats the fleas 

 off it, and then kisses it on the snout. Though the dingo is treated so well it often, 

 runs away, especially in the pairing season, and at such times it never returns. 

 Thus it never becomes perfectly domesticated, but still is very useful to the natives, 

 for it has a keen scent, and traces every kind of game ; it never barks, and- hunts 

 less wildly than our dogs, but very rapidly, frequently capturing the game on the 

 run. Sometimes it refuses to go any further, and its owner has then to carry it on 

 his shoulders, a luxury of which it is very fond. The dingo will follow nobody 

 but its owner. ' ' 



In writing on the origin of the dingo, Professor M'Coy observes that its fossil 

 remains are found, in certain of the superficial and cavern deposits of Australia, in 

 association with those of a number of extinct species more or less closely allied to- 

 the Marsupials still inhabiting the country. The introduction of the dingo if intro- 

 duced it really was is thus carried back to the Pleistocene division of the Tertiary 

 period ; but we believe we are right in saying that in some at least of the deposits 

 in which its remains occur there is also evidence of the contemporary presence of 

 man. If, indeed, in all the deposits in which dingo bones occur there were also in- 

 dications of human presence, the introduction of the animal by human agency 

 would present no difficulty ; but it does not appear that such is the case. 



DOMESTIC DOGS {Canis familiaris) 



Although many different views have been and still are entertained as to the 

 mutual relationship and origin of the various breeds of domestic dogs, authorities 

 are agreed that primitively the whole of them were derived either from wolves or 

 jackals, or from both together. Whether, however, the origin has been a single one, 

 that is to say, whether all domestic dogs were derived from one particular species of 

 wolf or from a single species of jackal, or whether they are a product of the crossing 

 of two or more distinct races, independently derived from as many wild stocks, is 

 still an open question, and one indeed which is likely to remain undecided. Our 

 own opinion inclines, however, toward the view of the multiple origin of the do- 

 mestic dog ; but even if its origin be single there can be little doubt that such an 

 original domesticated breed has subsequently received extensive crossing with wild 

 species other than the one from which it originally sprang. 



That domestic dogs trace their origin to wolves or jackals, or both together, 

 and not to foxes, is evident from the structure of their skulls ; and that the domesti- 



