THE LYCISCAN DOGS. 161 



in our present state of knowledge concerning them, 

 being no more than to place their names in one 

 group, when perhaps they may be ultimately found 

 to belong to another. Fastidiousness on this head, 

 tends more to prolong obscurity than to advance 

 the science. With this impression of the subject, it is 

 likewise consistent to subdivide the family into sub- 

 ordinate groups under distinct subgenerical names ; 

 because the contrary practice tends to advance our 

 knowledge no farther than it was in the time of 

 Oppian, and to keep the whole natural family in 

 that indistinct state it still is ; subordinate groups, 

 on the contrary, must necessarily produce deter- 

 mined and final investigation. 



In conformity with these considerations, the ly- 

 c'isci represent those species of wild canines that are 

 inferior in stature and possess manners different 

 from true wolves, instinct more placable, and facul- 

 ties more amenable to the general wants of man- 

 kind. Those of the American continent are known 

 to bark in their wild state ; they burrow, and there- 

 fore do not absolutely shun the presence of man ; 

 they hunt in troops with the clamour of dogs, so 

 that the wild native is sometimes puzzled to distin- 

 guish between them and his own domestic breed. 

 Hence a just surmise may be drawn, that in the 

 New World at least, it was from the lycisci that the 

 aboriginal Indians reared their present races of dogs ; 

 while in Asia, and even in Europe, breeds of similar 

 origin appear to be traceable. 



