EARLY HISTORY OF THE DOG. 3 



Some controversy has arisen with regard to the origin of the dog. 

 Professor Thomas Bell, to whom we are indebted for a truly valuable 

 history of the British quadrupeds, traces him to the wolf. He says, and 

 it is perfectly true, that the osteology of the wolf does not differ materially 

 from that of the dog more than that of the different kinds of dogs differs ; 

 that the cranium is similar, and .they agree in nearly all the other essen- 

 tial points ; that the dog and wolf will readily breed with each other, and 

 that their progeny, thus obtained, will again mingle with the dog. There 

 is one circumstance, however, which seems to mark a decided difference 

 between the two animals : the eye of the dog of every country and species 

 has a circular pupil, but the position or form of the pupil is oblique in the 

 wolf. Professor Bell gives an ingenious but not admissible reason for 

 this. He attributes the forward direction of the eyes in the dog to the 

 constant habit, " for many successive generations, of looking towards their 

 master, and obeying his voice :" but no habit of this kind could by possi- 

 bility produce any such effect. It should also be remembered that, in 

 every part of the globe in which the wolf is found, this form of the pupil, 

 and a peculiar setting on of the curve of the tail, and a singularity in the 

 voice, cannot fail of being observed ; to which may be added, that the 

 dog exists in every latitude and in every climate, while the habitation of 

 the wolf is confined to certain parts of the globe. 



There is also a marked difference in the temper and habits of the two. 

 The dog is, generally speaking, easily manageable, but nothing will, in 

 the majority of cases, render the wolf moderately tractable. There are, 

 however, exceptions to this. The author remembers a bitch wolf at the 

 Zoological Gardens that would always come to the front bars of her den 

 to be caressed as soon as any one that she knew approached. She had 

 puppies while there, and she brought her little ones in her mouth to be 

 noticed by the spectators ; so eager, indeed, was she that they should share 

 with her in the notice of her friends, that she killed them all in succession 

 ^against the bars of her den as she brought them forcibly forward to be 

 fondled. 



M. F. Cuvier gives an account of a young wolf who followed his 

 master everywhere, and showed a degree of affection and submission 

 scarcely inferior to the domesticated dog. His master being unavoidably 

 absent, he was sent to the menagerie, where he pined for his loss, and 

 would scarcely take any food for a considerable time. At length, how- 

 ever, he attached himself to his keepers, and appeared to have forgotten 

 his former associate. At the expiration of eighteen months his master 

 returned, and, the moment his voice was heard, the wolf recognised him, 

 and lavished on his old friend the most affectionate caresses. A second 

 separation followed, which lasted three years, and again the long-remem- 

 bered voice was recognised, and replied to with impatient cries ; after 

 which, rushing on his master, he licked his face with every mark of joy, 

 menacing his keepers, towards whom he had just before been exhibiting 

 fondness. A third separation occurred, and he became gloomy and 

 melancholy. He suffered the caresses of none but his keepers, and 

 towards them he often manifested the original ferocity of his species. 



These stories, however, go only a little way to prove that the dog and 

 the wolf have one common origin. 



It may appear singular that in both the Old Testament and the New 

 the dog was spoken of almost with abhorrence. He ranked among the 



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