INTRODUCTION, 87 



We may therefore commence our remarks by 

 observing that dogs are found in every quarter of 

 the globe, wherever man resides or has penetrated ; 

 and ask whether, in the present state of our infor- 

 mation, we can assert with safety that the common 

 wolf {Canis lupus^ auctor.) is to be found south 

 of the equator ? That there are representatives of 

 wolves or wild dogs beyond the Crishna in India, 

 in the Australian islands, and in South America, is 

 not the question ; but so far as personal observation 

 went, we have not met with the wolf of the western 

 hemisphere to the south of the equator, nor are 

 they known in South Africa. Next, it may be 

 added, that as there are confessedly several species 

 of wolf in North America, and probably also in 

 the northern part of the Old World, are these 

 species likewise derived from the C, lupus^ or are 

 they originally distinct ? And if so, are they ex- 

 -sluded from the probability of being also in part a 

 source whence domestic dogs are derived? If we 

 assert the several species of wolf in the northern 

 hemisphere to be mere varieties, are we sufficiently 

 well informed to infer that the wild canines of South 

 America, India, Australia, Java, and Sumatra, and 

 the black Derboun of Arabia and Tokla of Abyssinia, 

 are also of the same origin? Again: — there are 

 several species of foxes on the old and new conti- 

 nents, — species that no zoologist will venture to 

 declare of identical origin; and are we sure that 

 their gestation is of sufficient difference not to per- 

 mit them to breed a prolific offspring ? 



