THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



that the world was only six thousand 

 years old, and that species were originally 

 created and absolutely unchangeable. Lyell's 

 discoveries in geology, however, overthrew 

 the argument of the earth's chronology and 

 of the antiquity of man, and Darwin's 

 theory of evolution entirely transformed 

 the accepted beliefs concerning the origin 

 of species and the supposed invariability of 

 animal types. But prior to Youatt's time 

 the structural similarity between the dog 

 and the other Canidce had been discussed 

 by naturalists, and since it was obvious 

 that the tame domestic animal did not 

 precede its wild relative in the order of 

 descent, it was argued that the wolf, the 

 fox, and the jackal were the probable 

 ancestors of the dog. Buffon, the great 

 French naturalist, discussed this question 

 in detail, but came to the conclusion that 

 the dog had never been really a wild animal, 

 and that the Sheepdog was the original 

 progenitor of all modern varieties. Bell 

 believed that the wolf was the parent, and 

 there are still many who cling to the opinion 

 that all dogs are lineally descended from 

 the fox, while there are some naturalists 

 who discover an affinity between the dog 

 and the bear. None of these views, however, 

 takes a sufficiently wide survey of the whole 

 subject to be worthy of much consideration. 



The fanciful theory that the wolf and 

 the dog are alike the lineal descendants 

 of the bear may at once be briefly 

 dismissed. It is true that there is some 

 correspondence in the dentition of the 

 genus Cam's and the genus Ursus, that 

 the pupil of the bear's eye is round like 

 that of the dog, and that the persistent 

 black and tan colouring which Darwin was 

 perplexed to account for in the dog is 

 present in a marked degree in most of the 

 bears ; but no argument can account for 

 the disparity that the anatomy of the bear 

 is different from that of the dog family, 

 that the period of gestation in the bear 

 is five months instead of nine weeks, and 

 that bear cubs are born naked and remain 

 so for a month. 



The general superficial resemblance be- 

 tween the fox and many of our dogs, such 



as the Chow-Chow, the Pomeranian, some 

 of the terriers, and even the Collie, might 

 well excuse the belief in a relationship. 

 Gamekeepers are often very positive that 

 a cross can be obtained between a dog fox 

 and a terrier bitch ; but cases in which 

 this connection is alleged must be accepted 

 with extreme caution. The late Mr. A. D. 

 Bartlett, who was for years the super- 

 intendent of the Zoological Gardens in 

 London, studied this question with minute 

 care, and as a result of experiments and 

 observations * he positively affirmed that 

 he had never met with one well-authenti- 

 cated instance of a hybrid dog and fox. 

 Mr. Bartlett's conclusions are incontest- 

 able. However much in appearance the 

 supposed dog-fox may resemble the fox, 

 there are certain opposing characteristics 

 and structural differences which entirely 

 dismiss the theory of relationship. These 

 may be tabulated as follows : 



Eye pupils. 

 Nose and 

 muzzle. 



Month. 



Ears. 



Coat. 



Legs, feet, 

 and toes. 



Tail. 



Fox. Vertical. 



Fox Sharp, and 

 the lips thin, but 

 whiskers well de- 

 veloped. 



Fox. Canine teeth 

 long, slender, 

 sharp, and much 

 curved. Thegape 

 of the fox is 

 larger than that 

 of a dog of simi- 

 lar size. 



Fox. Colour, out- 

 side, black ; in- 

 side, thickly 

 coated with long, 

 stiff hair. 



Fox. Hair long, 

 points harsh, 

 lower half soft 

 and the base 

 dark coloured, 

 thick woolly un- 

 dercoat. 



Fox. Slender, long, 

 and with thin and 

 usually sharp 

 claws standing 

 forward. 



Fox. A round, 

 woolly brush, 

 reaching and 

 touching the 

 ground and ter- 

 minating with a 

 pendulous tuft. 



Dog. Circular. 



Dog. Ro un d e d, 

 with thick lips 

 and few whiskers. 



Dog. Canine teeth 

 stout, strong, 

 rather short, not 

 much curved. 



Dog. Colour, out- 

 side, the same as 

 the neck and 

 back; inside, 

 thinly edged with 

 short hair. 



Dog. Hair usually 

 of uniform colour 

 to the base of the 

 hair, although, in 

 the Elkhound, for 

 example, it is 

 light at the base 

 and dark at the 

 points. 



Dog. Short, stout, 

 and thick, blunt 

 claws directed 

 downward in the 

 front feet. 



Dog. Somewhat 

 flattened, never 

 reaching the 

 ground and ter- 

 minating in a 

 point. 



! Wild Animals in Captivity" (1898). 



