SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 643 



them ; and the dogs of the Kamtschatkans do not seem to be 

 more different from the Siberian wolves, than the latter are 

 from the wolves of France and Spain. 



The proposition that Wolves, by domestication, may be- 

 come Dogs, it is to be observed, is very different from the 

 proposition that all Dogs are descended from Wolves ; and 

 yet the arguments directed against even the latter hypothe- 

 sis, have nothing of the force which has been ascribed to 

 them. It has been again and again contended, that the won- 

 derful divergence of dogs from the normal characters of the 

 Wolf, proves the animals to be distinct ; and that what we 

 term domestication of the wolf is nothing more than a kind 

 of taming, such as may take place in the case of the tiger, or 

 any other animal. But it is manifest, that the divergence of 

 dogs from the typical characters of the wolf presents pre- 

 cisely the same difficulty as the divergence of the characters 

 of dogs from some common species, some Canis Primordial**, 

 either existing or extinct. If -we can suppose this assumed 

 species to have given rise to animals so different as the grey- 

 hound and the terrier, surely we can suppose that the Wolf, 

 or any other known Canis, can have given rise to the same 

 animals. And again, with respect to the assertion that 

 the wolf is tamed, but not domesticated, we ask, Is not the 

 Wolf domesticated who acquires all the habitudes, even to 

 the modulation of his voice, of the domesticated dog, who de- 

 votes himself in the like manner to our service, and who 

 relinquishes the appetites proper to him in the state of na- 

 ture ? If this be not domestication, some new definition 

 must be given of the term. It has been said that the tamed 

 wolf cannot be depended upon, may prove treacherous, may 

 return to his ancient propensities of killing poultry, and eat- 

 ing animals, not excepting his own master ; and, lastly, that 

 the instinctive antipathy between the wolf and the dog 

 proves that they cannot be the same. But do not dogs 

 sometimes prove treacherous ; and would they not devour 

 our geese, if they were not subjected to the wholesome terror 



