18 ORIGIN OF THE DOG. 



the dof;, reduced to the bow and arrow, the snare, or the pitfalL 

 The dog was also of incalculable service in guarding the flecks 

 and heras from the depredations of the Carnwora, and even man 

 himself was often glad to have recourse to his courage and 

 strength in resisting the lion, the tiger, or the wolf. 



Much has been written on the origin of the dog, and Pennant, 

 Buffon, and other naturalists have exhausted their powers of re- 

 search and invention in attempting to discover the parent stock 

 from which all are descended. The subject, however, is wrapped 

 in so much obscurity as to baffle all their efforts, and it is still a 

 disputed point whether the shepherd's dog, as supposed by Buffon 

 and Daniel, or the wolf, as conjectured by Bell, is the progenitor 

 of the various breeds now existing. Anyhow, it is a most unprofit- 

 able speculation, and, being unsupported by proof of any kind, it 

 can never be settled upon any reliable basis. "We shall not, there- 

 fore, waste any space in entering upon this discussion, but leave 

 our readers to investigate the inquiry, if they think fit, in the pages 

 of Buffon, Linnaeus, Pennant, and Cuvier, and our most recent in- 

 vestigator. Professor Bell. It may, however, be observed that the 

 old hypothesis of Pennant that the dog is only a domesticated 

 jackal, crossed with the wolf or fox, though resuscitated by Mr- 

 Bell, is now almost entirely exploded ; for while it accounts some- 

 what ingeniously for tlie varieties which are met with, yet it is 

 contradicted by the stubborn fact that, in the present day, the cross 

 of the dog with either of these animals, if produced, is incapable 

 of continuing the species when paired with one of the same crossed 

 breed. Nevertheless, it may be desirable to give Mr. Bell's reasons 

 for thinking that the dog is descended from the wolf, which are as 

 follows : — 



"In order 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 in dogs of such a state of wild- 

 ness as to have lost even that common character of domestication, 



