378 



THE CARNIVORA 



arrangement, under the fox-like series would be included the 

 Arctic Fox, the Silver-Backed African Fox, the Fennec, the Common 

 Fox, the Virginian Fox, and the Kit Fox. Under the head of the 

 dogs proper would be included the Dingo, the Wolves, the Japanese 

 and the Red Wolf of America, the Prairie Wolf, and the Jackals. 

 The various and very numerous breeds of domestic dogs afford 

 an important and striking object lesson in variation produced 

 through methodical selection and breeding. The ancestry of 

 the Dog may be concisely summed up in the words of the late 

 Charles Darwin, who wrote: "It is highly probable that the 

 domestic dogs of the world have descended from two good species 

 of wolf (Cctnis lupus and C. latrans), and from two or three other 

 doubtful species of wolves (namely, the European, Indian, and 

 North African forms) ; from at least one or two South American 

 canine species ; from several races or species of the jackal ; and 

 perhaps from one or more extinct species " ; and that the blood 

 of these, "in some cases mingled together, flows in the veins of 

 our domestic breeds." 



The most southern point now inhabited by the Arctic Fox 

 (Canis lagopus) is Iceland, but remains show that formerly it 

 ranged as far south as Britain and Germany. It is of particular 

 interest as being one of the few animals which change their dress 

 to a complete white in winter. In its white winter coat it is known 

 as the " White Fox," and in its bluish summer garb as the " Blue 

 Fox." 



' The Common Fox (C. vulpes) is not only a native of Great 

 Britain, but extends as far east as Egypt. Its bones occur in the 

 red crag of Pliocene times, showing that it is a truly indigenous 

 British mammal. 



The European Wolf (C. lupus) is distributed over the greater 

 part of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, and was 

 formerly an inhabitant of Great Britain, where it lingered in Ireland 

 to so late as about 1770, the last of the Scotch wolves having been 

 killed about 1743. In the twelfth century they were hunted in 

 the New Forest, and in the reign of Elizabeth haunted Dartmoor 

 and /ne Forest of Dean. The Wolf measures some five feet in 

 length Irom snout to tail, and stands about thirty-two inches 

 high at the shoulder. The skin is of a dark yellowish-grey colour, 

 or sometimes almost black, occasionally white. The muzzle is 



