LXlVEliSITY 



THE DIURNAL CANIDiE. 



The several groups of canine animals which are 

 provided with a circular disk or round pupa in the 

 eyes, are, as already stated, classed under the gene- 

 ral division of Diurnal Canidae. They embrace the 

 largest species of the family, and the most interest- 

 ing to man ; hoth with regard to his alliance with 

 some, and to the ravages which others inflict upon 

 his property. At the head of these tribes the wolves 

 unquestionably claim the first place ; because they 

 offer the best points of comparison whereby to exa- 

 mine the others ; they are the best known in a wild 

 state; in Europe they approximate most to the 

 domestic races, and constitute the only group in the 

 condition of nature which resides alike in both con- 

 tinents, and occupies nearly the half of the northern 

 hemisphere. In this series we intend first to review 

 the wolves, properly so called; whether they be 

 regarded as mere varieties of each other, or as actu- 

 ally distinct species. Next will be examined the 

 groups of lycisci or wild dogs, being those which 

 depart farther from the typical characters ; and after 

 them we intend to arrange, in successive sections, 

 others still viewed as wild dogs, but more aberrant ; 

 and among which, nevertheless, there may be species 

 directly concerned in the parentage of some races of 

 the domestic breeds. 



