DOGS. 17 



the foot-pads. Their osteological characters are referred to on 

 p. 74. 



This family contains a large number of species, all more or less 

 closely allied to each other, with the exception of one or two aber- 

 rant forms. The principal genus is Canis, which comprises Dogs, 

 Wolves, and Jackals. 



The history of the development and domestication of the Common 

 Dog is a highly interesting subject, which is as yet far from being 

 fully understood. Many naturalists, to within a very recent period, 

 entertained the view that there had existed one original wild species 

 from which, by man's agency, all the various races of Dogs had 

 been developed. This view has now been abandoned ; in its place it 

 is believed that in many parts of the world the natives have tamed 

 the wild species indigenous to their country, and that in course of 

 time, as certain nations became more civilized, their Dogs were 

 more and more adapted to their various requirements by careful 

 breeding, and by the selection and perpetuation of the most useful 

 varieties, until many of them ceased to show resemblance to their 

 far-distant wild ancestors. 



In support of this view the fact may be adduced that at the 

 present day, among savage and primitive tribes, the tame Dogs 

 bear a striking resemblance to the wild species of Dog found in 

 their country. Thus the Esquimaux Dog resembles the North- 

 American Wolf (Canis occidentalis), the Hare-Indian Dog the 

 Coyote or Prairie- Wolf (C. latrans), while in British Guiana the 

 natives are known to train and domesticate the indigenous Wild 

 Dogs. In the Old World the Hungarian Sheep-Dog might be 

 readily mistaken for the European Wolf (Canis lupus), the Street- 

 Dogs of Constantinople and Cairo for Jackals, and certain of the 

 Indian Pariah Dogs for individuals of the Indian Wolf (Canis 

 pallipes). The degraded Bushmen of South Africa have a tame 

 Dog which agrees in many of its characters with the Black-backed 

 Jackal (Canis mesomelas) of that region. 



Thus there can be no doubt that these tame or semi-domesti- 

 cated Dogs are individuals of the same stock as the wild species of 

 the country, with which indeed they readily mix whenever they 

 cease to be under the control of their masters. 



In more civilized countries the process of domestication and 



c 



