MAMMALIA. 489 



There are upwards of thirty varieties of dogs enumerated by systematic 

 writers; several of them are represented on our plates. Some we have 

 already quoted in the above paragraph; the remaining ones are the Siberian 

 variety, Canis familiaris sihericus {pi. 116, Jig. 11), the badger dog, Cfam. 

 vertagus {pi. 116, fig. 16), and the thin-snouted chase dog, Cfam. normanus 

 {pi. lU, fig. lb). 



The varieties introduced in North America are thus enifhierated in the 

 Fauna of the State of New York : 



Variety horealis (Esquimaux dog). Fur long, thick, and woolly beneath ; 

 top of the head and back black ; nose, cheek, belly, and legs white ; ears 

 short and erect. 



Var. lagopus. White, with patches of blackish grey ; ears pointed and 

 erect ; foot broad and hairy ; tail bushy. 



Yar. terrce novce (Newfoundland dog). Head broad ; nose blunt ; ears 

 long, soft, and pendulous. 



Yar. canadensis. Black and grey, mixed with white ; ears erect, long, 

 shaggy. 



Yar. novce caledonice. Spotted ; body long ; legs short, straight ; ears 

 erect. 



The views of the older systematists as to the origin of the dog have been 

 much modified by more recent investigations. It is now pretty well 

 established that the different races of dogs in different countries are mostly 

 descended from the wolves of their respective regions. This, at any rate, 

 is certainly the case with the different breeds of Indian dogs found in North 

 America, as the Esquimaux dog, the Californian, the Hare Indian, the Mis- 

 souri Indian, &c. 



The wolves may be generally distinguished from the dogs by their 

 straight tail. The common wolf of Europe, C. lupus {pi. 114:, fig. 8), the 

 most mischievous of all Carnivora, is found from Egypt to Lapland. The 

 North American species amount already to four well established : the giant 

 wolf {Lupus gigas), from Oregon and the Rocky Mountains ; the common 

 wolf {L. occidentalis), from the plains of Missouri, and confounded some- 

 times with the European wolf; the prairie wolf {L. latrans); and finally, 

 L.frustror, from Fort Gibson and vicinity. The Mexican wolf {L. mexi- 

 canus) is of the size of the common wolf. In the marshes of South America 

 exists a red wolf {L. juhatus). The chacal or jackal of the Indies and 

 Caspian Sea {Canis aureus) is represented on p)l. 114, fig. 7. In Senegal, 

 again, there is another, which stands higher and is provided with a sharper 

 snout {C. anthus), allied to the chacal. 



The genus Vulpes (the foxes), so nearly allied to Canis, may be charac- 

 terized by its pointed snout, and its upper incisors, less curved than in the 

 genus Canis, The pupils of the eyes form a vertical fissure. The tail is 

 long, bushy, and cylindrical. Foxes diffuse a fetid odor; they dig burrows, 

 and attack only the weaker quadrupeds and birds. Their habits are 

 nocturnal. The red fox, V. fulvus {pi. 116, fig. 1), and the cross fox 

 (F. decussatus), are both found in North America, and considered by some 

 as mere varieties of the same species. The prairie fox ( F. velox) is smaller 



G93 



