62 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



most complete, the most useful, and the most singular conquest man has achieved, the whole species 

 having In-come our property." 



Since that time, Mr. Hodgson, residing in a public caj>acity at Katniandoo, near that central region 

 of the world where many of our most ancient elements of social existence seein to have emanated, has 

 pointed out a wild dog, the Buanser,* as the primitive species of the whole canine race. 



More recently Mr. Bell, ill his " History of British Quadrupeds," is inclined to conclude that the 

 wolf is the original stock whence domesticated dogs are derived : for this purpose, that gentleman 

 observes, "It is necessary to ascertain to what type the animal approaches most nearly, after having 

 for many successive generations existed in a wild state, removed from the influence of domestication 

 and association with mankind. Now we find that there are several different instances of the existence 

 of dogs in such a state of wildness as to have lost even that common character of domestication, 

 variety of colour and marking. Of these, two very remarkable ones are the Dhole of India and the 

 Dingo of Australia; there is, besides a half-reclaimed race among the Indians of North America, and 

 another partially tamed in South America, which deserve attention ; and it is found that these races, 

 in different degrees, and in a greater degree as they are more wild, exhibit the lank and gaunt form, 

 the lengthened limbs, the long and slender muzzle, and the great comparative strength, which charac- 

 terise the wolf; and that the tail of the Australian dog, which may be considered as the most remote 

 from a state of domestication, assumes the slightly bushy form of that animal. We have here, then, a 

 considerable approximation to a well-known wild animal of the same genus, in races which, though 

 doubtless descended from domesticated ancestors, have gradually assumed the wild condition ; and it 

 is worthy of especial remark, that the anatomy of the wolf, and its osteology, in particular, does not 

 differ from that of dogs in general, more than the different kinds of dogs do from each other. The 

 cranium is absolutely similar, and so are all or nearly all the other essential parts ; and, to strengthen 

 still further the probability of their identity, the dog and wolf will readily breed together, and their 

 progeny is fertile. The obliquity of the position of the eyes in the wolf is one of the characters in 

 which it differs from the dog's ; and although it is very desirable not to rest too much upon the effects 

 of habit or structure, it is not perhaps straining the point to attribute the forward direction of the eyes 

 in the dog to the constant habit, for many successive generations, of looking forwards to his master 

 and obeying his voice." 



THE WOLF.f 



THIS animal is peculiarly an inhabitant of Europe, abounding in the more northern regions, and in 

 those countries where dense forests are not yet cleared. 



These wolves, in stature and strength, vary but slightly, equalling or surpassing the most powerful 

 dogs. Their carnivorous teeth are proportionally larger and stronger the incisors are grooved 

 within, and are in general more irregular and projecting than in the domestic race. The eyes are 

 placed more obliquely ; they are smaller, more distant, and apparently higher in the head ; the 

 forehead is broader and lower ; the ears are pointed, smaller, and more open than in dogs ; they have 

 the body deeper, the belly fuller, and less drawn up ; the neck is more thickly furnished with a bristly 

 sort of mane, which produces a turgid appearance about it ; the shoulder is higher, the back sloping, 

 the after extremities more crouching and lower, and the hind legs more bent under the body. The 

 tail hanging close between them, wants the flexibility of that of foxes, and the recurved attitude of that 

 of dogs ; the fur is coarser, and the odour of these animals is very offensive. Their whole aspect, indicating 

 vigilant malignity, fear, and cruelty, distinguishes them from the familiar species, even when in size and 

 similarity of fur they approximate most closely. The muzzle, contracted below the eyes, is pointed ; 

 1h<- edge of the lips black. On the cheek there are two or more hairy warts, and the bristles of the 

 whiskers on the lips are short. 



Colonel Smith makes Lvpus the first section of his first sub-genus Ckaon, of the diurnal caiiidae, 

 or canine group, furnished with a round pupil of the eye. 



* Cauis primievuf. t Canis lupus. 



