276 DOG. 



same circumstance has been known to take place 

 between the Horse and the Ass; the Mules of 

 which have sometimes proved fertile ; and the same 

 may be said of the Goldfinch and the Canary- 

 bird ; but surely we are not justified in supposing 

 the species to be the same. We can only con- 

 clude from such experiments, that animals of spe- 

 cies extremely nearly allied to each other, though 

 really different, may sometimes intermix, and 

 produce a fertile progeny; but the genuine spe- 

 cies still remains intemerated. If, however, the 

 origin of the Dog must be traced to some other 

 animal, the Jack all perhaps seems a more proba- 

 ble origin than the Wolf. 



It is generally believed that the Dog was un- 

 known in America on the arrival of the Euro- 

 peans *. 



Dogs, indeed, in a wild state, are said to be 

 frequently found in South America, but these are 

 supposed to be the descendants of such as were 

 introduced by the Europeans on the first disco- 

 very of America. When taken young they are 

 said to be readily tamed, and to acquire the ha- 

 bits of the domestic Dog. They resemble Grey- 

 hounds in appearance. Linnaeus, observes, that 

 the American dog does not bark ; but this relates 

 to the wild dogs of North America only; which, 

 it is contended, derive their origin from the Wolf, 

 and which, instead of barking, utter only a kind 



* Yet the Peruvians had, according to Acosta, a little animal 

 like a dog, of which they were very fond, and kept by way of a 

 lap-dog. 



