CANIS FAMILIARIS. 133 



CANIS FAMILIARIS. Dog. 



RECOGNIZABLE remains of the Dog have been, in fact, ob- 

 tained from Bone-caves. Dr. Schmerling* has described and 

 figured an almost entire skull, two right rami of lower jaws, 

 a humerus, ulna, radius, and some smaller bones indicating 

 two varieties of the domestic dog, notably differing in size 

 from each other, as well as from the Wolf and Fox, whose 

 bones, with those of the Bear and Hysena, occur in the 

 same cavern. 



The canine remains in question, are too small for the 

 Wolf and too large for the Fox, and the conclusion that 

 they belonged to the Dog, is admitted by M. de Blainville 

 to be proved by the frontal elevation of the skull, which 

 exceeds that in the Wolf. 



The skull of a small variety of Dog with the latter 

 characteristic well developed, was submitted to Mr. Clift 

 by a person who had obtained it from an English Bone- 

 cave : it had belonged, in Mr. Cliffs opinion, to a small 

 bull-dog or large pug : and it was not in the same absorbent 

 state, as the true cave fossils. 



Possibly the bones of the Dog described by Dr. Schmer- 

 ling, may have been in the same comparatively recent state 

 in which the Human remains of the Belgian caverns, 

 attributed, together with those of the Dog, to the epoch of 

 the extinct species, were proved to be by Dr. Buckland. 



* Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles decouverts dans les Cavernes de Liege, 

 torn. ii. pi. ii. 



