172 THE DOMESTIC DOG. 



Mr. Edmund Harting entirely concurs, and we do not think that any 

 one;__can affirm with confidence that the Dog may not have had such an 

 origin, even if he does not go so far as to consider the view a probably 

 true one. JiDZjpjit^^Ve think that the evidence is as yet insufficient 

 Jor us to enunciate any judgment in the matter. We have endeavoured 

 to point out that it is possible that the origin of the Dog may have been 

 smgle^orlnuitiple, but we refrain from declaring that we regard either 

 the one or the other as preponderatingly evident. ~~T~jU< 



Nevertheless- our judgment inclines to the view -that the Domestic 

 Dog is a form which has been evolved by human effort from at least 

 two, probably more, wild species, though it is possible it may be but a 

 modification of one which has long become extinct save in its domestic 

 and feral progeny. 



We, however, heartily agree with Professor Nehring that many expe- 

 riments are needed, not only concerning the fertility of hybrids, but 

 also as to what variations can be induced in pure-bred Wolves and Foxes 

 by long domestication carried on through a considerable number of 

 successive generations. 



Before dismissing the problem, we think it well to reproduce the 

 remarks of Mr. A. P. Bartlett, who has been for so many years Super- 

 intendent of the Gardens of the Zoological Society. He has had most 

 exceptional opportunity for making valuable observations, and of such 

 opportunities he has again and again made exceptionally good use. 

 He says * : 



" The extraordinary and wonderful number of well-marked breeds of 

 the Domestic Dog, and their variations of size, form, and colour, render 

 any attempt to account for their origin a task of some difficulty ; but 

 as many wild dogs appear to be descendants of domestic dogs, it is 

 necessary to endeavour to account for the origin of the domestic race. 

 There can be no doubt, for example, that the Esquimaux Dogs are 

 reclaimed or domesticated Wolves. 



"All Wolves, if taken young and reared by man, are tame, playful, 

 and exhibit a fondness for those who feed and attend to them. The 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 47. 



