128 
THE DIURNAL CANIDE. 
THE several groups of canine animals which are 
provided with a circular disk or round pupa in the 
eyes, are, as already stated, classed under the gene- 
ral division of Diurnal Canide. They embrace the 
largest species of the family, and the most interest- 
ing to man; both with regard to his alliance with 
some, and to the ravages which others inflict upon 
his property. At the head of these tribes the wolves 
unquestionably claim the first place; because they 
offer the best points of comparison whereby to exa- 
mine the others; they are the best known in a wild 
state; in Europe they approximate most to the 
domestic races, and constitute the only group in the 
condition of nature which resides alike in both con- 
tinents, and occupies nearly the half of the northern 
hemisphere. In this series we intend first to review 
the wolves, properly so called; whether they be 
regarded as mere varieties of each other, or as actu- 
ally distinct species. Next will be examined the 
groups of lycisci or wild dogs, being those which 
depart farther from the typical characters ; and after 
them we intend to arrange, in successive sections, 
others still viewed as wild dogs, but more aberrant ; 
and among which, nevertheless, there may be species 
directly concerned in the parentage of some races of 
the domestic breeds. 
