INTRODUCTION. G5 
the foxes, some one species, let us say the wolf, is 
parent of the whole,—and therefore that the genus 
Canis of authors, so far as the diurnal species are con- 
cerned, consists of one only ; the wild and tame being 
alike mere varieties, produced by passing to different 
latitudes and longitudes of the earth, and subsisting 
upon different qualities of food; or we must adopt 
some standard of specification other than the merely 
anatomical method. 
Fixing upon certain species as typicial animals, is 
in itself a proper mode to serve our comparative 
data; but we must not mistake these types for real 
generical beings, the parents of different species. 
Nature does not recognize them, excepting perhaps 
in a very few cases: the more indistinct modifica- 
tions of her creatures are called into being to serve 
the inexhaustible fecundity of her adaptations, and 
to consume, according to their modified structures, 
a prescribed portion of antagonist produce, bal- 
lancing the circle of production and consumption so 
that nothing should be lost and nothing super- 
abundant. This is so obvious to all inquirers, that 
in our apprehension there are sufficient grounds for 
extending the principle to specific purposes; and 
applying it to canines, induces us to presume, there 
may have existed several congenerical species, pro- 
vided by the liberality of Nature with qualities more 
social and intellectual, and therefore more readily 
brought into subjection by man; animals whose 
types nevertheless are either not as yet ascertained, 
or which have been totally absorbed by domestica- 
