HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 303 



THE FOX. 

 (Can is }^iilpes. Linn. Lc Renard, Buff.) 



THIS lively and crafty animal is common to every 

 part of Great Britain, and is so well known as not 

 to require a particular description. 



M. Buffon has taken great pains to prove, that 

 the Dog and the Fox will not breed together. For 

 this purpose he kept two males and a female for a 

 considerable time, and tried to make the males 

 copulate with bitches, which they uniformly re- 

 fused ; and from thence he concludes, that no 

 mixture can take place between the two species. 

 But it should be remembered, that the Foxes w r ere 

 in a state of confinement; and of course, many cir- 

 cumstances might concur to disgust them, and render 

 the experiment abortive. In confirmation of this, 

 we need only observe, that the same Foxes, which, 

 when at liberty, darted on the poultry with their 

 usual eagerness, never attempted to touch a single 

 fowl after they were chained : and we are told fur- 

 ther, " that a living hen was generally fixed near 

 them for a whole night ; and though food was kept 

 from them for many hours, yet, in spite of hunger 

 and opportunity, they never forgot that they were 

 chained, and disturbed not the hen." Now if any 

 one should be so hardy as to assert from this, that 

 Foxes have a natural aversion to poultry, one may 

 easily conceive how little credit would be given to 

 the conclusion, and how much laughter it would 

 excite. We just mention this to shew, that experi- 



