650 THE DOG. 



though imperfectly. It has been partially reclaimed by the 

 savage inhabitants of New Holland, and taught to assist 

 them in the chase. It breeds with more difficulty with the 

 common dogs than these dogs do with the wolf or even the 

 fox ; yet occasionally a union takes place. The mixed race 

 partakes of the characters of both parents ; and, for the first 

 generation at least, retains much of the wild habits of the 

 Dingo.* Many of the domesticated dogs of China and Japan 

 have a distinct relation to this type. They hardly bark, and 

 though very playful, have less docility than the domesticated 

 dogs of Western Asia and Europe. The Chinese dogs of 

 this race have the tongue and palate black, and they are 

 used for food by this singular people. 



Of the various groups of Canidse, the most extensive, with 

 respect to the number of individuals, is that which compre- 

 hends the species included under the term Jackal or Chacal, 

 a name derived from several languages of Asia. But the 

 Jackal receives numerous names in the dialects of the coun- 

 tries he inhabits, usually indicative of his peculiar cry, which 

 is that of howling, so that he is termed the Howling Dog, the 

 Chief of the Howlers, and so forth. 



The Jackal, of his proper species and varieties, has a vastly 

 extended geographical range. He is found all over Africa, 

 from Barbary to the countries of the Caffres and Hottentots. 

 He exists in Arabia and the neighbouring deserts, and has 

 even been carried, though at a period comparatively recent, 

 westward into Greece, and northward into the Steppes of 

 Southern Russia. But his appropriate range is from Arabia 

 through the warmer and temperate parts of Southern and 

 Central Asia all eastward. Thus he is found in Asia Minor, 

 in the countries of the Euphrates, eastward through Persia 

 to the Indus, and even spreading northwards into the coun- 



* A female Dingo, which I had for several years, produced a litter to a 

 common Dog. They were handsome and playful, but not very docile. They 

 retained the disposition of their mother to dig holes in the ground, as if 

 desirous to burrow. They began to attack poultry when merely puppies, and 

 could never be cured of the habit. 



