186 



I)e r0a3ttrp ai Natural 



canine races, may be thus state_d : The 

 structure of the animal is identical, or so 

 nearly so, as to afford the strongest d priori 

 evidence in its favour. The Dog must have 

 been derived from an animal susceptible of 

 the highest degree of domestication, and 

 capable of great affection for mankind ; 

 which has been abundantly proved of the 

 Wolf. Dogs having returned to a wild 

 state, and continued in that condition 

 through many successive generations, ex- 

 hibit characters which approximate more 

 and more to those of the Wolf, in proportion 

 as the influence of domestication ceases to 

 act. The two animals will breed together, 

 and produce fertile young. The period of 

 gestation is the same. 



" The races of Dogs have at different times 

 been variously classified, according to the 

 views of the respective authors ; but, as it 

 appears to me, with very little truth in a 

 zoological point of view, and as little prac- 

 tical advantage. Although it is obvious that 

 certain varieties approach more nearly to 

 each other in habit and conformation than 

 others, there is not sufficient ground for a 

 regular systematic arrangement. Buffon, 

 F. Cuvier, and other authors, have attempted 

 such classifications ; but they have been 

 merely artificial, and in many instances have 

 gone upon erroneous suppositions as to the 

 origin of mixed races. 



" The food of the Dog is various. It will 

 live on cooked vegetable matters, but prefers 

 animal food, and is particularly fond of it 

 when approaching putrefaction. Its sto- 

 mach will digest portions of bone. In drink- 

 ing, it laps with the tongue ; it never per- 

 spires ; but the nose is naked and moist ; 

 and when hot, the tongue hangs out of the 

 mouth, and a considerable quantity of water 

 drops from it. It walks round the place it 

 is about to lie down upon, and coils itself up 

 in the same direction. The female goes with 

 young sixty-three days, and usually has 

 about six or eight at a litter ; though some- 

 times as many as twelve or fourteen. These 

 are blind at birth, and do not acquire their 

 sight until the tenth day. It is commonly 

 stated that the male puppies resemble the 

 father, and the female the mother : this, 

 however, if it be true to a certain extent, is 

 not absolutely so ; but, like many other ani- 

 mals, the father of the first litter often pro- 



duces an impression which is scarcely lost 

 in all the subsequent ones. This is a fact 

 worthy of particular attention, as it bears 

 upon a question of as great interest and im- 

 portance as any in the whole range of animal 

 physiology. Such are some of the general 

 habits of the whole species ; and there are 

 many others which are too well known to 



require repetition. Those which belong to 

 the different races will be briefly mentioned 

 under the separate heads." 



Like the young of most animals which 

 bring forth many at a time, the Dog is not 

 perfectly formed when first produced. Dur- 

 ing their blind state the bones of their skulls ! 

 are incomplete, their bodies are inflated, I 

 their noses are contracted, and their whole 

 figure is but imperfectly represented ; but in | 

 less than a month the puppy begins to ac- 

 quire all its senses, and from that time makes 

 hasty advances to perfection. At the end of 

 the fourth month, the Dog, like other ani- 

 mals, sheds some of his teeth, which are re- 

 newed by such as are permanent. The teeth 

 of the Dog being his principal, and indeed 

 his only defence, they are formed in such a 

 manner as to render him the most essential 

 services : he cuts with his incisors or fore- 

 teeth ; he holds with his four great canine 

 ones ; and he chews with his grinders, which 

 are fourteen in number, and so placed that 

 when his jaws are shut there remains a dis- 

 tance between them ; so that on opening his 



mouth to the greatest possible stretch, he j 

 does not lose the power of his jaws. Though j 

 the Dog is a voracious animal, he is capable I 



of enduring hunger for a considerable length j 

 of time : it seems, indeed, that water is more > 

 necessary to his subsistence than food ; and 

 he drinks often, though not abundantly. 



We shall conclude this article witli some 

 extracts from an ingenious essay " On the 

 Dog, as the Companion of Man in his Geo- 

 graphical Distribution," by Dr. T. Hodg- 

 kin, in The Zoologist, edited by Mr. New- 

 man : "The most striking natural group, 

 the most marked in its characters, and the 

 most widely diffused of all the known va- 

 rieties, is that which we may trace from 

 China, over the northern portion of the old 

 continent, to the islands of the Northern 

 Ocean and the northern part of America. In 

 this wide extent we find, as we should rea- 

 sonably anticipate, some distinctly marked 

 subdivisions, yet all so evidently maintain- 

 ing the common type, that the least skilful 

 observer must immediately recognize the 

 family resemblance. The dogs constituting 

 this group may be thus enumerated : 1. Those 

 of China. 2. Those of Kamskatka, and others 

 of the same stock employed in drawing 

 sledges in the northern parts of Asiatic Rus- 

 sia. 3. The very distinctly marked variety 

 of dogs occurring in the northern parts of 

 Europe, and which are called Spitz in Ger- 

 many, but which are known as Pomeranian 

 dogs when introduced into France and Eng- 

 land. 4. The dogs of Iceland, with which 

 are probably connected those of Lapland and 

 Greenland. And lastly, those of the Esqui- 

 maux. A very remarkable family likeness 

 is to be detected in all this group, of which 

 perhaps the most striking features are the 

 sharpened nose, rather small pointed ears, 

 the approaching eyes but little projecting, 

 the superior length of hair about the neck, 

 with a greater or less tendency to shagginess 

 on the other parts of the body, and, in most 

 instances, an elevated curled tail, with a 

 temper which may be characterized as rest- 

 less and irritable. We meet with many va- 



