CLASS MAMMALS: ORDER CARNIYORA. 39 



lowed man to the ends of the earth, but more than any other 

 is he capable of education and disinterested affection. His 

 habit of repeatedly turning round before lying down is 

 regarded as a singular retention of his mode in the wild state* 

 of making a lair in the tall grass. The dog attains maturity 

 in two years, and lives from fifteen to twenty. 



The Jackal derives its specific name from the golden tint 

 of its skin. Like the wolf, 

 it hunts in bands; but it 

 associates more intimately 

 with man, acting the scav- 

 enger in consuming the 

 street offal in the filthy 

 towns of the East.f 



The Fox is mostly noc- 

 turnal, springing upon its 

 prey as it passes by ? or 

 stealing upon it while 

 asleep. Its dentition is Canis flw * w * Jackah ^ 



calculated for a mixed diet, so that mammals, birds, mol- 

 luscs, and even grapes, furnish a dainty meal. Its character- 

 istic is craftiness. J Its maternal instinct is also highly 

 developed, and it will peril its life to save its young. 



* The canine race, like the human, inherently adapted to variation and develop, 

 ment, through the influence of climate and condition, presents innumerable varieties; 

 though all are considered by most naturalists as having a common origin and to be 

 regarded of one species. Many have supposed the wolf to be the progenitor of the 

 dog. But, while the osteological structure of the two is identical, the total want of 

 similarity in disposition, especially in affection for man, their hostility to each 

 other, and their permanent physical differences as the obliquity of the wolfs eye, 

 and its drooping tail oppose this theoiy. Besides, it is as reasonable to presume 

 ;hat the wolf descended from the dog, as the dog from the wolf. But no wild dogs 

 as, for instance, those of the Antilles, known to have sprung from domestic varieties 

 have ever approximated the characteristics of wolves. Hence, with Prichard, \ve 

 conclude, u As with the race of man, so with the race of dogs, the varieties have 

 become permanent from one original pair." It is, however, a mooted question. 



t In uninhabited , regions, it often feeds upon the remnants of carcasses left by 

 lions, and hence the absurd idea that it is the companion of that beast, and runs down 

 his prey for him. 



t A hunted fox will run a long way in a straight line, then doubling on its track, 

 suddenly spring off to a great distance one side and quietly steal away, while the 

 hounds are eagerly following up Ihe scent ; it will leap from tree to tree, and hide in 

 some convenient hollow : it will perfume itself with any odorous eubstance it may 



