270 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNQ 1787. 



we apply this to the dog, and consider the fox as a distinct species, which thee 

 is great reason to believe it is, that variety which has the strongest resemblance 

 to the fox, is to be considered as the original of all the others ; which will prove 

 to be the wolf. 



Another mode of considering this subject, which is however secondary to the 

 above, is, supposing that all animals were at first wild ; and therefore that those 

 animals which remain wild, are the original stock ; and that the further we find 

 animals removed from their originals in appearance, they are really further re- 

 moved in consequence of variation taking place from cultivation, so that we may 

 still be able to trace the gradation. What gives some force to this idea is, that 

 where the dogs have been least cultivated, there they still retain most of their 

 original character, or similarity to the wolf or the jackal, both in shape and dis- 

 position. Thus the shepherd's dog, all over the world, has strongly the cha- 

 racter of the wolf or jackal ; so that but little difference is to be observed, except 

 in size and hair. Size is perhaps a variety taking place under a variety of cir- 

 cumstances ; but difference in hair is in general influenced by climate, though 

 perhaps not always so. Thus the wolf has longer and softer hair than the jackal, 

 because he is a more northern animal ; and the jackal and shepherd's dog in Por- 

 tugal and Spain have shorter and stronger hair than those of Germany or Kam- 

 chatka, from inhabiting warmer climates. But when we consider their general 

 shape, the character of countenance, the quick manner with the pricked and 

 erect ears, we must suppose them varieties of the same species. The smelling at 

 the tail has been described as characteristic of the dog ; but I believ^e it is com- 

 mon to most animals, and only marks the male ; for it is the most certain way 

 the male has of knowing the female, and also discloses another scent, which is 

 the final intention, whether the female is disposed to receive the male. 



The Esquimaux dog, and that found among the Indians as far south as the 

 Cherokees ; the shepherd's dog in Germany, called Pomeranian ; the shepherd's 

 dog in Portugal and Spain ; have all a strong similarity to the wolf and jackal. 

 BufFon, on the origin of dogs, seems to have possessed nearly the same idea ; for 

 he says the shepherd's dog is the original stock from which the different races of 

 dogs have sprung. 



As the wolf turns out to be a dog, it seems astonishing, that there was no ac- 

 count of dogs being found in America. But this I consider as a defect in the first 

 history of that country, for there are wolves ; and I think, in spite of all that has 

 been said to the contrary, the Esquimaux and Indian dog is only a variety from a 

 wolf in that country, which had been tamed. Mr. Cameron, of Titchfield-street, 

 who was many years among the Cherokees, and considerably to the westward of 

 that country, observes, that the dog found there is very similar to the wolf; and 

 that the natives consider it to be a species of tame wolf; but as we come more 



