■WILD DOGS.j 



THE DOG, AND ITS YAEIETIES; 



[wild dogs. 



approaclies most nearly, after having, for many 

 successive generations, existed in a wild state, 

 removed from the influence of domestication 

 and of association with mankind. Now, we 

 find that there are several different instances 

 of dogs in such a state of wildness as to have 

 lost that common character of domestication, 

 variety of colour and marking. Of these, two 

 very remarkable ones are the Dhale of India 

 and the Dingo of Australia. There is, besides, 

 a half-reclaimed race amongst the Indians of 

 North America, and another also partially 

 tamed in South America, which deserve atten- 

 tion ; and it is found that these races, in dif- 

 ferent degrees, and in a greater degree as they 

 are more wild, exhibit the lank and gaunt form, 

 the lengthened limbs, the long and slender 

 muzzle, and the great comparative strength 

 which characterise the wolf; and that the tail 

 of the Australian dog, which may be considered 

 as the most remote from a state of domestici;- 

 tion, assumes the slightly bushy form of that 

 animal. We have here, then, a considerable 

 approximation to a well-known animal of the 

 same genus, which, though doubtless descended 

 from domesticated ancestors, have gradually 

 .•isFumed the wild condition ; and it is worthy 

 of special remark, that the anatomy of the wolf, 

 and its osteology in particular, does not differ 

 from that of the dog in general, more than the 

 different kinds of dogs do from each other. 

 The cranium is absolutely similar, and so are 

 all, or nearly all the other essential parts ; and 

 to strengthen still further the probability of 

 their identity, the dog and wolf will readily 

 breed together, and their progeny is fertile. 

 The obliquity of the position of the eyes of the 

 wolf is one of the characters in which it differs 

 from the dog; and although it is very desir- 

 able not to rest too much upon the effects of 

 habit on structure, it is not perhaps straining 

 the point to attribute the forward direction of 

 the eyes in the dog, to the constant habit, for 

 many successive generations, of looking towards 

 its master, and obeying his voice." Mr. Bell 

 adds, as another corroborative circumstance, 

 the fact that the period of gestation in the dog 

 and the wolf is the same — sixty-three days; 

 while in the jackal it is fifty-nine days. 



The opinion of so eminent and judicious 

 A naturalist is certainly entitled to great 

 weight ; but while it is admitted that Mr. Bell 

 372 



has made a strong case, it must be observed 

 that he is defective in several of his points. 

 In the first place, it is assumed that all wild 

 dogs are the descendants of a domestic race ; 

 but though, respecting some few, this may be 

 true, yet it by no means follows that the 

 assertion applies to all. The Buansii, or wild 

 dog of Nepaul, described by Mr. Hodgson 

 under the title of Canis primcevus, may be 

 given as an example. This animal, which is 

 believed to be the origin of the domestic dog, 

 and not its descendant, ranges from the Sut- 

 lege to the Burhampootra; and seems to ex- 

 tend, with some immaterial differences, into 

 the Vindyia, the Ghauts, the Nilgiris, the 

 Casiah Hills, and the chain passing brokenly 

 from Mirzapore through south Bahar and 

 Orissa to the Coromandel coast. In the 

 zoological proceedings, it is stated, that of this 

 race, although so wild as rarely to be seen, 

 Mr. Hodgson has succeeded in obtaining many 

 individuals. He is consequently enabled to 

 describe not only the form and colours, but the 

 manners also, which he does in great detail. 

 Some of those he obtained produced young in 

 captivity, having been pregnant when taken. 

 The Buansu, he observes, preys by night as 

 well as by day, and hunts in packs of from six 

 to ten individuals, maintaining the chase 

 rather by its powers of smell than by the eye, 

 and generally overcoming its quarry by force 

 and perseverance. In hunting it barks like a 

 hound ; but its bark is peculiar, and equally 

 unlike that of the cultivated breeds of dogs, 

 and the strains of the jackal and the fox. 

 Adults in captivity made no approach towards 

 domestication ; but a young one, which Mr. 

 Hodgson obtained when it was not more than 

 a month old, became sensible to caresses, dis- 

 tinguished the dogs of its own kennel from 

 others, as well as its keepers from strangers ; 

 and, on the whole, its conduct manifested, to 

 the full, as much intelligence as any of his 

 sporting dogs of the same age. 



AY. A. "Wooler, Esq., also gives an account 

 of a wild dog from the Mahablishwar Hills, in 

 the Presidency of Bombay, and called there 

 Dhale. The habits of this dog, in a state of 

 nature, are similar to those of the Buansu of 

 Nepaul, with which animal it is most probably 

 identical. Colonel Sykes proves that the wild 

 dog of the Dukhun, called by the Mahrattas 



