IN GENERAL. 125 
formerly had their earths in Germany. Many of the 
species hunt in troops; those who are permanent 
inhabitants of woods uniting only occasionally for 
that purpose, and those of the more open country 
keeping habitually together. They are cruel, vora- 
cious, lascivious, watchful, and capable of the greatest 
alternations of exertion and sloth. With some few 
exceptions in the Pacific Ocean and the antarctic 
region, canines are spread over the whole earth; 
and under all circumstances of human existence, 
dogs are found to be the companions of man. All, 
it appears, are capable of some kind of domestica-. 
tion and of attachment. The domesticated, when 
suffering, yell and moan; the wild will hardly utter 
a cry of pain, even when in the chase they receive 
a severe wound, and they may be beaten to death 
without a groan. With excellent memories, none of 
the species seem to seek revenge for ill treatment, 
if once they have found their hostility unsuccessful, 
and they are treated with forbearance. 
It may be surmised, that since the commence- 
ment of history, some remarkable changes have 
taken place in the local diffusion of digitigrade car- 
~ nivora, in India and in Northern Asia. The wolf 
may be suspected to have spread farther to the 
south, over the plains of Hindostan; the hyena 
farther to the north, beyond the Ganges, to the 
highest mountains. This animal and the jackal 
seem likewise to have gained ground in Western 
Asia, in Palestine, and then over all Asia Minor,— 
where they may have partly replaced other species 
