116 THE CAMNE FAMILY 



staiitly wanting ; and the same difference occurs in 

 the Canis Dukhwiensis of Colonel Sykes, and in all 

 of the species noticed as dholes. But the group of 

 Megalotls^ and seveial of the fur-footed canines, 

 show, in their tuberculous teeth, that they are, par- 

 tially at least, insectivorous. One hitherto con- 

 sidered as the largest of the Megalotis^ is, however, 

 sufficiently distinct to constitute a sub-genus, having 

 seven molars on each side in the upper jaw and 

 eight in the lower. 



The nostrils are lunulated, with the lower angle 

 opening out at the side : they are situated in a 

 glandular muzzle. The ears are large, pointed, 

 moveable, turned forwards; the tongue soft, long, 

 thin at the edges ; the pupils of the eyes are round 

 in many species, but contract vertically, like those 

 of cats, in others; and from this circumstance 

 alone, the family is divided into two great branches, 

 the former including the wolves, dogs, and jackals, 

 and the latter the foxes. But there are many spe- 

 cies, especially in South America, and among the 

 fur-footed canines, where the faculty of eliptically 

 contracting the pupils is doubtful or imperfect; 

 nevertheless, from the power of excluding a propor- 

 tion of light indicating nocturnal habits, and the 

 round pupils an opposite propensity, they have been 

 called diurnal and nocturnal canines ; although the 

 fox hunts by day as frequently as the w^olf, and the 

 jackal is perhaps more exclusively nocturnal than 

 either. 



The fore-feet have five toes; the hind- feet four 



