CAMS. 



CANIS. 



74) 



without anisUnce : it has also been known to run down both deer 

 n>l nheep. A second of thaw it in the poMearion of Mr. Lasoelles, 

 of which wo have received much the same account in respect of iu 

 ferocity ; whence it U scarcely to be expected that this elegant animal 

 will ever become familiar." 



Mr. Bell, in hi* work above quoted, describes the first effect of the 

 dominion of man upon Uiw wolf-like dog : " The effect of domesti- 

 cation in producing variation in colour, to which allusion ban already 

 been made, ha* lately been exhibited in a MTV atriking and interesting 

 manner in the menagerie of the Zoological Society. An Australian 

 bitch, or Dingo, had a litter of puppies, the father of which was also 

 of that breed : both of them had been taken in the wild *tate, but 

 were of the uniform reddish brown colour which belongs to the race, 

 niul the mother had never bred before ; but the young, bred iu con- 

 finement and in a half-domesticated state, were all of them more or 

 ;. -. q ttad." 



If we turn to the dogs of other comparatively uncivilised nations, 

 we find the prick ears and other indications of the half -reclaimed animal 

 The Esquimaux Dog (Canit familiarii Borealui), and the Hare-Indian 

 or Mackenzie River Dog (Cant* familiarit Lagoput), will occur as 

 instances to those who have been familiar and who is not i with 

 the histories of our northern expeditions and the Garden of the Zoolo- 

 gical Society of London in the Regent's Park. In that menagerie the 

 three dog* last named might at one time be seen side by side, affording 

 the best opportunities for comparison. Peter, the Esquimaux Dog, 

 kept in the garden, was of a dingy-white with a tinge of yellow on 

 the upper parts, gradually fading away upon the sides ; in short, of 

 nearly a uniform colour ; but in general this race exhibits a predo- 

 minance of black markings. Thus Akshelli, brought from the Polar 

 Sea by Mr. Richards in Captain Parry's first voyage, and described by 

 Mr. Children in the ' Zoological Journal,' was almost entirely blackish, 

 or of a colour nearly approaching to black on the upper parts, and 

 white underneath, tail included. Akshelli seldom barked, but if dis- 

 pleased uttered a low wolfish growl, and was a very powerful dog. 

 Peter was brought to this country by Lieutenant Henderson, one of 

 the companions of Captain Ross, in his first voyage, and lived long at 

 the Regent's Park. He was very good tempered and familiar. The 

 Hare-Indian Dogs, it is said, are never known to bark in their own 

 country; and it is worthy of note that those which were brought 

 from thence to the Regent's Park never barked at all, but the younger 

 one which was born here barked like the other dogs. It is curious to 

 observe these steps. 



"The period," says Mr. Bell, "at which the domestication 

 of the dog first took place is wholly lost in the mist of antiquity. 

 The earliest mention of it in the Sacred Scriptures occurs during 

 the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt 'But against Israel shall 



Ailatic Strcct-Dogi. 



not a dog move his tongue.' It is again mentioned in the Mosaic 

 law in a manner which would seem to show that they were the com- 

 mon scavengers of the Iiraelitish camp, as they are still in many oi 



the cities of the East : ' Neither shall ye eat any flesh that U torn 

 of beasts in the field : ye shall cast it to the dogs.' A similar office 



to be repeatedly alluded to in the course of the Jewish his- 

 tory : ' Him that ili.-th in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that 

 lieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat ;' a common curse, a* 

 it would appear, as it occurs verbatim on no leas than three separate 

 occasions iu the First Book of Kings ; and evidently intiin.it.-* uvinli-nt 

 and disgraceful death, without the honour of sepulture. The dog was 

 considered by the Jews aa eminently an unclean animal, and was the 

 figure selected for the most contemptuous insults. It is impoiuiible 

 not to be struck with the striking similarity which exist* in the feel- 

 ing* of many oriental nations at the present day, among whom the 

 very phraseology of the Scriptures U, with little modification, applied 

 to a similar purpose." 



One circumstance should be borne in mind throughout an inquiry 

 into the origin of the Dog. None of the wild dogs, however appa- 

 rently living in a state of nature, have ever been found to return to 

 the true form of Wolf. 



Skull of Shepherd's Dog (Chien do Bergei). From V. Cuvier. 



Skull of Spaniel. From F. Cuvier. 



The Shepherd's Dog, a variety which was most probably one of the 

 first that civilised and settled man called in aid to preserve his flocks 

 from beasts and birds of prey and the depredations of roving human 

 tribes, is remarkable for the capacity of its cranium and its great 

 sagacity. 



