CANIDiE. 231 



of the tail. The shouh'urs are reddish-grey ; the throat 

 and chest are grey ; the belly, the internal surface of the 

 limbs, the cheeks, tlie upper lip, and the extremity of the 

 tail are white ; there is a black line extending from the 

 inner angle of the eye to the mouth ; and the external 

 surface of the ears, excepting the base, and the anterior 

 part of the limbs, arc of the same colour. 



The late Prince Charles Lucicn Buonaparte described, 

 in his Fauna Jtalica, a Fox which differs from the common 

 one in having the fur of the belly black. From this cha- 

 racter the Prince gave it the specific name of melamxj aster. 

 The opinion expressed in the former edition of this work, 

 that this might be nothing more than a variety of the 

 common species, has been entertained also, in his subse- 

 quently published work on the Mammals of Germany, by 

 Professor Blasius ; and an individual taken in Warwick- 

 shii'e had all the under parts of a greyish-black hue. 

 Being scarcely full grown, it is probable that with age 

 the dark parts would liave assumed their ordinary colour; 

 and there is little doubt that it was an animal resem- 

 bling this one which was described as Canis melanogaster. 

 The Common Fox is sometimes seen in this country with 

 the tip of the tail black or dark grey : IMr. Ogilvy has 

 suggested that this may arise from the unusual length of 

 the black hairs of this part, which are generally quite 

 concealed by the long white hair; and both this gentle- 

 man and Mr. Blyth state that cubs of the same litter 

 differ in this respect ; a proof of how little value are 

 such circumstances as distinctive cliaracters. 



The Fox has a sub-caudal gland which secretes an ex- 

 tremely fetid substance ; and its urine also possesses the 

 same intolerable odour. The Fox varies considerably in 

 size, and perhaps a little in form. It is larger and stronger 

 in some parts of the country than in others; but, as 



