ORIGIN OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 209 



The wild animal nearest to the domestic dog seems to be the 

 dingo of Australia. It might be called the wild dog of that 

 island. Whether from life in a restricted area and with a simple 

 fauna it has had less opportunity to exercise and develop its 

 wolfish instincts than has its cousin of the continents, or whether 

 the original stock was essentially more doglike, we do not know. 

 We only know that the dingo is more like a dog than is any 

 other wild animal of the present time, and that he is very like 

 certain forms of the domestic species. 



We know, too, that the line between the dog and the wolf is 

 not distinctly drawn ; that is to say, there is more difference 

 l^etween different breeds of the domestic dog than there is be- 

 tween certain breeds and the wolf of the wilds. On this point 

 compare the common dogs as we know them with the Siberian 

 wolfhound and with the timber wolf. 



They all possess a common instinct to hunt and a common 

 ability to trail by the scent.^ True, a few breeds, like the poodle 

 and the dachshund, have lost the hunting instinct, having been 

 developed as pets, but in others it has been well preserved. The 

 bulldog is more savage and more courageous than any wolf ever 

 known. The mastiff does not hunt, but he watches, which is 

 essentially the same thing. The St. Bernard, which is a gentle 

 dog, displays his native instinct in hunting men for rescue.^ 



The bloodhound has a keener scent and greater- ability to 

 follow a trail than has any wolf, but he has lost the savage part 

 of the hunting instinct ; for, contrary to popular belief, he is 

 quite satisfied to sniff his quarry at the end of the trail.^ 



The greyhound and the Russian wolfhound have lost their 

 ability to trail, but preserve their old hunting instinct, so, while 

 obliged to depend upon sight to discover the quarry, they are 



> Curiously enough, the " bark " which is characteristic of the domestic 

 dog and largely absent in the wild is readily acquired upon domestication, but 

 abandoned by the same individuals upon assuming the feral state. 



2 Read the story of " Barry " of St. liernard. 



' The term "bloodhound" means blooded ox highly bred. It has no reference to 

 ferocity, for the bloodhound is the gentlest of all dogs, not excepting the poodle. 



