FENNEC OF BRUCE. 239 



rest naked, at the base and sides folded and plaited ; 

 tail full, cylindrical, rufous-brown in colour, pen- 

 cilled with black; a small dark brown spot near 

 the base, and the tip black; fore- feet pentadac- 

 tylous. It was in a head of this variety that the 

 ossicula auditus were as large, and the auditory 

 cells longer, than in the common fox, though the 

 animal is two-thirds smaller. 



We now come to the canidae of South America, 

 where the species we have to enumerate are but 

 few, and very imperfectly known. Yet, in one 

 respect, the tropical appear to be influenced by the 

 different conditions of their existence ; for an in- 

 tensely hot climate, covered with dense woods, 

 everywhere intersected with great rivers and exten- 

 sive marshes, demanded of the resident camivora 

 that they should be inured to swimming, and fami- 

 liarised with food drawn from the waters. Many 

 have but a very scanty woolly fur, but are pro- 

 tected by longer and more abundant coarse hair, 

 than the canines of similar latitudes in the eastern 

 hemisphere 



The question might be raised, whether they 

 should not be all placed after the dogs, properly 

 so called, and immediately before the true foxes ; 

 but, considering that several of them assuredly mix 

 in prolific breeds with the dogs of European origin, 

 while the progeny with real foxes are known to be 

 true mules, we prefer, for the present, to place 

 them as herein arranged. 



We can discern three groups, all generically deno- 



A 



