CANCROMA. 



CANIS. 



712 



impossible for the animal to escape from its dorsal covering by the 

 relatively inconsiderable opening which this part presents on its 

 inferior aspect. This renders it necessary that the carapace, instead 

 of being cast off by simply rising in a single piece, should give way 

 and separate in some direction or another, and this it does by splitting 

 along the curved lines, extending on either side from the mouth to 

 the origin of the abdomen, in the course of which the epimeral pieces 

 cohere with the dorsal one." (Collinson, ' Phil. Trans.' 1746 and 

 1751 ; 'Hist. Nat. des Crustace's,' t. 1, p. 56.) Sir Charles Lyell says 

 (' Principles of Geology ' ), "A large female crab (Cancer Pagurus) 

 covered with oysters, and bearing also Anomia Ephippium and 

 Actinia, was taken in April, 1832, off the English coast. The oysters 

 include individuals of six years' growth, and the two largest are four 

 inches long and three inches and a half broad. Both the crab and the 

 oysters were seen alive by Mr. Robert Brown. This specimen is in 

 the collection of my friend Mr. Broderip, who observes that this crab, 

 which was apparently in perfect health, could not have cast her shell 

 for six years, whereas some naturalists have stated that the species 

 moults annually, without limiting the moulting period to the early 

 stages of growth of the animal." 



The genus Cancer of Linnaeus included a large number of species, 

 and the term Crab, which is a translation of it, is in common parlance 

 applied to the great bulk of the Brachyurous Crustaceans. 



For the Blood-Spotted Crab of the Asiatic seas (Cancer maculatus, 

 Linn., &c.) and the Coralline Crab (Cancer coraUinut, Fabr.), Dr. Leach 

 instituted the genus CarpUim, characterised by the existence of a 

 single tooth on the border of the carapace, and by the tridentated front ; 

 and, for the Eleven-Toothed Crab (Cancer undecimdentatut, Fabr.), 

 the carapace of which is smooth, with 1 1 crenulated teeth on each 

 antero-lateral border, and black toothed fingers, spoon-shaped at the 

 end, he founded the genus Clorodiut or Chlorodiut. Milne-Edwards 

 enumerates four species of Carpiliut and seven of Chlorodiut. He 

 considers the fossil Crabe aux Grosses Pinces, Cancer macroctiflut, 

 Desm. ('Hist. Nat des Crustace's Fossiles,' p. 91, pi vii. fig. 1-2), 

 Cancer Lupidttcens, Rumph. (' Amb. Rariteit Kamer,' pi. 60, f. 3), as 

 referrible to the genus Carpiliut rather than to the division of Crabs 

 properly so called. It should be remembered that Milne-Edwards's 

 genus Cancer (Crabe) differs from that of Leach. The former includes 

 under that name such forms as Cancer roteut (Carpiliut roteut of 

 Ruppell), C. lobatut, C. etcitlptut, C. limbatut (Xantho granulotus, 

 Rup.), C. Saniynii and C. Acanlhut, excluding Leach's Cancer, the 

 type of which is the eatable Crab of our coasts, to which form Milne- 

 Edwards gives the name Platycarcinut. It does not appear that 

 any species of Cancer, Leach, Platycarcinut, Milne-Edwards, has been 

 found in a fossil state. 



CANCROMA. [BOAT-BILL.] 



CANDY-TUFT. [IBERIS.] 



CANIS, a genus of Carnivorous Mammalia, of which the common 

 Dog may be regarded as the type. 



Under the Linnsean genus Canit are to be found the Dogs (Canit 

 familiarit) ; the Wolves (Canii Lupin) the Hyaenas (Canit Hyaena,') ; 

 the Foxes (Canit Vvlpet), &c. ; the Jackals (Canii aureut) ; the 

 Mexican Wolf (Canit Mexicanut), Xoloit/cuiutli of Hernandez ; and 

 Canis Thout of Surinam. 



Cuvier arranges under the genus Canit Les Chiens, the Dogs 

 properly so called (Canit familiarit and its varieties) ; the Wolves 

 (Canii I/uput, C. Me,ricanut, C.Jubaiut) ; and the Jackals, Chacal or 

 Loup Dor& (Canit aureut) : and he observes, that the Foxes (which 

 Brisson and others have separated under the name of Vulpes) may 

 be distinguished from the Wolves and the Dogs by their longer anc 

 more tufted tail ; by a more pointed muzzle ; by the pupils of their 

 eyes, which by day present a kind of longitudinslt slit instead of the 

 round form ; by the superior incisors being less lobated (echan 

 crees) ; and, he observes on their fetid odour, their disposition to dig 

 for themselves earths, and to prey upon the weaker animals. These 

 he places in a sub-genus, including the Zerda (Meyalotit of Illiger 

 Canit Meyalotit of Lalande, Canit Zerda, of Gmelin) ; at least he terms 

 the Zerdas " especes de renards," though he seems to consider them 

 as a section, and notices them as the Megalotit of Illiger. The ffyiena 

 renatica of Burchell, llycena picta of Temminck (Wild Dog of the 

 Cape), terminates Cuvier's Canida, and he then passes on to the 

 Civets ( Viverra). 



M. Lesson in his ' Manuel ' begins the second section of the 

 Digitigrades with the genus Canii, and he adopts the following sub- 

 divisions : 



1. Those genera which have the pupil of the eye round, including 

 the Dogs properly so called, the Wolves, and the Jackals. 



2. Those genera in which the pupil of the eye contracts vertically 

 the Foxes and the Zerdas. 



3. The Dogs with Hyaena-like feet ; the Hyaena-Dog, Canis pictut 

 Dem., Hyama picta, Temm., Lycaon, Brookes. 



The genus Canit being mostly restricted at the present day to 

 the animals of Lesson's first section, this article will be confined to 

 the animals commonly called Dogs, Wolves, and Jackals. 



Dogi. 



C. familiarit, the Dog. The specific description given by 

 Linnseus is simply " Canis cauda (sinistrosum) recurvata " " doj 



with tail curled towards the left " and his lengthened description, 

 after enumerating the varieties, of which he gives eleven, though it 

 may appear to some almost ridiculously minute and not very delicate, 

 s eminently characteristic. Cuvier observes that the Domestic Dog 

 'Canis familiarit, Linn.), is distinguished by its recurved tail, and that 

 t varies infinitely besides in stature, form, colour, and the quality 

 of the hair. It exhibits, he adds, "the most singular, the most 

 complete, and the most useful conquest that man has made. The 

 whole species is become our property ; each individual is entirely 

 devoted to his master, adopts his manners, distinguishes and defends 

 lis property, and remains attached to him even unto death ; and all 

 ;his springs not from mere necessity, nor from constraint, but simply 

 'rom reconnaissance and a true friendship. The swiftness, the strength, 

 and the highly developed power of smelling of the dog, have made 

 lim a powerful ally of man against the other animals, and were 

 perhaps necessary to the establishment of society. It is the only 

 animal that has followed man all over the earth." 



It is a question of considerable interest as to what was the parent- 

 stock of the Dog. Some zoologists are of opinion that the breed is 

 derived from the Wolf; others that it is a familiarised Jackal ; all 

 agree that no trace of it is to be found in a primitive state of nature. 

 That there were dogs or rather animals of the canine form in Europe 

 long ago we have evidence from their remains, which we shall 

 presently notice ; and that there are wild dogs we know. India, for 

 example, affords many of them, living in a state of complete inde- 

 pendence, and without any indication of a wish to approach the 

 dwellings of man. These dogs, though they have been accurately 

 noticed by competent observers, do not throw much light on the 

 question. They may have escaped from the dominion or half dominion 

 of man, and have betaken themselves to a vagabond life. It becomes 

 necessary however to examine into the state of these dogs, some of 

 which are entirely wild and keep to the mountain and forest, whilst 

 others hang about the villages, and though without owners give 

 tokens of a more social disposition, and are tolerated as the scavengers 

 of the place, which they clear of disgusting incumbrances, somewhat 

 after the Portuguese fashion. 



Colonel Sykes thus describes the Dukhun (Deccan) Dog, Canit 

 Dukhunentit, Sykes, Kolsun of the Mahrattas, Cuon Dukhunentis : 

 " Red, paler underneath ; tail bushy, pendulous ; pupil rounded. 

 This is the Wild Dog of Dukhun. Its head is compressed and 

 elongated ; its nose not very sharp, the eyes are oblique : the pupils 

 round, irides light brown. The expression of the countenance that 

 of a coarse ill-natured Persian Grayhound, without any resemblance 

 to the Jackal, the Fox, or the Wolf, and in consequence essentially 

 distinct from the Canit Quao or Sumatrensit of General Hardwicke. 

 Ears long, erect, somewhat rounded at the top, without any repli- 

 cation of the tragus. Limbs remarkably large and strong in relation 

 to the bulk of the animal, its size being intermediate between the 

 Wolf and the Jackal. Neck long. Body elongated. Between the 

 eyes and nose red brown : end of the tail blackish. From the tip 

 of the nose to the insertion of the tail 33 inches in length : tail 

 8J inches. Height of the shoulders 16J inches." Colonel Sykes adds 

 that none of the domesticated dogs of Dukhun are common to Europe. 

 The first in strength and size is the Brinjaree Dog, somewhat 

 resembling the Persian Grayhound but much more powerful. The 

 Pariah Dog he states is referrible to M. Cuvier's second section. 

 This is very numerous, not individual property, but breeds in the 

 towns and villages unmolested. The Colonel remarks that the Turn- 

 sprit Dog, long backed, with short crooked legs, is frequently found 

 among the Pariahs. There is also a petted minute variety of the 

 Pariah Dog, usually of a white colour, and with long silky hair, 

 corresponding to a common Lapdog of Europe j this is taught to 

 carry flambeaux and lanterns. The last variety noticed is the dog 

 with hair so short as to appear naked like the Canii sEgyptius. It 

 is known to Europeans by the name of the Polygar Dog. ('Zool. 

 Proc.,' part i.) In 1832 the skin of the Wild Dog of Nepaul was 

 compared by Colonel Sykes with a specimen of the Kolsun of the 

 Mahrattas above described, and he stated his impression to be that 

 the animals are identical, differing only by the denser coat and more 

 woolly feet of the Nepaul race, a difference readily accounted for 

 by the greater cold of the elevated regions inhabited by it. Colonel 

 Sykes is also of opinion that the Kolsun is identical with the 

 Buansuah, an Indian dog, described by Mr. B. H. Hodgson under the 

 name of Cuon primaevus. Specimens of these dogs are to be seen 

 in the British Museum, in the Catalogue of which institution they are 

 not only made specifically distinct, but are placed under the genus 

 Cuon as distinct from Canii. 



Mr. Bell, in his ' History of British Quadrupeds,' also discusses this 

 difficult question. " In order," says Mr. Bell, " to come to any 

 rational conclusion on this head, it will be necessary to ascertain to 

 what type the animal approaches most nearly, after having for many 

 successive generations existed in a wild state, removed from the 

 influence of domestication and of association with mankind. Now 

 we find that there are several different instances of the existence of 

 dogs in such a state of wildness as to have lost even that common 

 character of domestication, variety of colour and marking. Of these 

 two very remarkable ones are the Dholo of India and the Dingo of 

 Australia : there is besides a half-reclaimed race amongst the Indians 



