IN GENERAL. 125 



formerly had their earths in Germany. Many of the 

 species hunt in troops; those who are permanent 

 inhabitants of woods uniting only occasionally for 

 that purpose, and those of the more open country 

 keeping habitually together. They are cruel, vora- 

 cious> lascivious, watchful, and capable of the greatest 

 alternations of exertion and sloth. With some few 

 exceptions in the Pacific Ocean and the antarctic 

 region, canines are spread over the whole earth ; 

 and under all circumstances of human existence, 

 dogs are found to be the companions of man. All, 

 it appears, are capable of some kind of domestica- 

 tion and of attachment. The domesticated, when 

 suffering, yell and moan ; the wild will hardly utter 

 a cry of pain, even when in the chase they receive 

 a severe wound, and they may be beaten to death 

 without a groan. With excellent memories, none of 

 the species seem to seek revenge for ill treatment, 

 if once they have found their hostility imsuccessful, 

 and they are treated with forbearance. 



It may be surmised, that since the commence- 

 ment of history, some remarkable changes have 

 taken place in the local diffusion of digitigrade car- 

 nivora, in India and in Northern Asia. The wolf 

 may be suspected to have spread farther to the 

 south, over the plains of Hindostan; the hyaena 

 farther to the north, beyond the Ganges, to the 

 highest mountains. This animal and the jackal 

 seem likewise to have gained ground in Western 

 Asia, in Palestine, and then over all Asia Minor, — 

 where they may have partly replaced other species 



