THEOEIES.] 



THE DOG, AND ITS VAEIETIES; 



[inEOEIES. 



descendants of a domestic stock, even then, 

 seeing that they have resumed their oriizinal 

 characters — as evidenced by their uniformity 

 of size, figure, colour, and instincts — the argu- 

 ment that the wolf is tlie primeval type of the 

 dog is at once nullified ; for tliese rufus wild 

 dogs are distinct fi'om the wolf While thus 

 venturing to question the theory of Mr. Bell, 

 and other eminent naturalists, we are not pre- 

 pared to point out the origin or origins of the 

 domestic dog ; and we venture to say that the 

 subject will always remain a Gordian knot, 

 which science will never unravel. Buffon has 

 eloquently observed, that "those species 

 which man has greatly cultivated, whether 

 belonging to the animal or the vegetable 

 woiid, are, beyond all, those which are the 

 most altered ; and as the alteration is some- 

 times to such a degree, that we cannot recog- 

 nise in them anything of their primitive form 

 — such being the case with wheat, which has 

 no resemblance to the plant from which it is 

 supposed to have derived its origin — it is not 

 impossible, that among the numerous varieties 

 of the dog which we see in the present day, 

 there is not one which bears a resemblance to 

 the original type, or rather, to the first animal 

 of the species." 



Mr. Eichardson, in his treatise on The Dog, 

 also positively denies the assumed identity of 

 structure between that animal and the wolf, set 

 forth by Mr. Bell. He says the intestines of the 

 wolf are considerably shorter than those of the 

 dog, evidently marking him as an animal ot 

 more strictly carnivorous habits. The orbits 

 are placed higher, and more forward in the 

 skull. The proportion between the bones ot 

 the hind legs differs ; so does the number of 

 toes. The structure of the teeth is different ; 

 these being in the wolf much larger, whilst the 

 molar teeth of tlie upper and lower jaw are 

 adapted to each other ; in the wolf, in a peculiar 

 ficmors-like manner, rendering them infinitely 

 more serviceable for breaking bpnes — a struc- 

 ture not found in the do<r. 



" The wolf is not ' susceptible of the highest 

 degree of domestication, and capable of great 

 aflectioa for mankind, which has been abun- 

 dantly proved of the wolf.' When has it been 

 proved? I have seen many so-culled 'tame 

 wolves,' but never one that might be trusted ; 

 or that did not, when opportunity oH'ered. 

 374 



return to bis fierce nature and wild habits. 

 The whelps, too, produced by these partially 

 domesticated wolves, are not in the smallest 

 degree influenced by the domestication of 

 their parents. The Eoyal Zoological Society 

 of Ireland had, some years ago, in their garden 

 in the Phoenix Park, a pair of very tame 

 wolves. These produced young, which became 

 tame likewise, and, in their turn, produced 

 cubs. The society very kindly presented me 

 with one of the last-mentioned cubs, which, 

 though only five weeks old when I took him 

 from his dam, was as fierce and violent in his 

 own little way as the most savage denizen of 

 the forest. I brought up this animal among 

 my dogs ; for them he conceived a considerable 

 degree of affection, or respect, perhaps ; for 

 suhmission was the most striking feature of 

 his conduct towards them ; and was, doubtless, 

 induced by the frequent and substantial casti- 

 gations he received. He never, it is true, 

 exactly dared to attack me in front, but he 

 once showed a disposition to do so when I 

 pulled him down by the tail as he was endea- 

 vouring to get over the garden wall. He, 

 however, on several occasions charged at me 

 from behind, when he thought my attention 

 was otherwise engaged. He once only suc- 

 ceeded in inflicting a severe bite ; and by this 

 time I had utterly despaired of making any- 

 thing of him : he was about eighteen months 

 old ; I sent him about his business. He sub- 

 sequently fell into the hands of a showman, 

 and assumed his proper character in the 

 caravan." These observations, while they mili- 

 tate against the theory of Mr. Bell, concur 

 with those of Buffon, in reference to the expe- 

 rieuce which that great naturalist obtained in 

 rearing his own wolves. He found them, like 

 Mr. Eichardson, well enough up to their 

 eighteenth month, but, after that period, the 

 innate savageness of their nature began to 

 discover itself, and there was little or no 

 safety in their presence. 



"As to dogs," continues Mr. Eichardson, 

 " when accident drives them to subsist on their 

 own resources, thus rendering them wild, they 

 assume feral characters ; but as to their thus 

 acquiring, in the course of a few generations, 

 the habit and aspect, or the general similitude 

 of wolves, I conceive it to be an assertion only, 

 and one that has yet to be proved. Even such 



