dO 



MAMMALIA. 



which has itself a large interual process. They are caruivorous animals, but not preda- 

 tory in proportion to their strength, and often feed on carrion. They have all a small 

 coecimi. 



The Dogs (Canis, Lin.) — 



Have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous grinders behind each carnivorous tootli. 

 The first of these upper tuberculous molars is very large. Their superior caruivorous tooth has only a 

 small internal tubercle ; but the inferior one has its hinder portion altogether tuberculous. The 

 tongue is soft ; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind-feet [in general] only four. [The coecum is 

 of a peculiar spiral form.] 



The Domestic Dog {C.familiaris, Lin.)— Distinguished by its recurved tail, but otherwise varying infinitely 

 with respect to size*, form, colour, and quality of the hair. It is the most complete, the most singular, and useful 

 conquest ever made by Man ; the whole species having become his property : each individual is devoted to its 

 particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his property, and remains attached to him 

 until death ; and all this, neither from constraint nor want, but solely from gratitude and pure friendship. The 

 swiftness, strength, and scent of the Dog have rendered him a powerful ally to Man against other animals, and 

 were even, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. It is the only animal wl.ich has followed Man all 

 over the world. 



Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he is a domesticated Jackal ; but those which have 

 become wild on desert islands resemble neither one nor the othei-.f 



The wild Dogs, and those which belong to 

 savages, such as the inhabitants of Australia, 

 have straight ears, whence has arisen a belief that 

 the European races, nearest to the original type, 

 are our S/iepkerd's Dog and Wolf Bog ; but com- 

 parison of the crania indicates a closer approach 

 on the part of the French Matin and Danish Dog, 

 after which follow the Hound, the Pointer, and 

 the Tcrriei; which chiefly differ in size and the 

 relative proportions of parts. The Greyhound is 

 more attenuated, and has the the frontal sinus 

 smallei', and scent weaker. Tlie Shepherd's Dog 

 and Wo/f Dog resume the straight ears of the 

 wild ones, but with greater developement of brain, 

 which continues to increase, together with the 

 intelligence, in the Barbei and Spaniel. The 

 Bull-dog, on the other hand, is remarkable for the 

 shortness and strength of its jaws. The small 

 pet Dogs, the Pugs, lesser Spaniels, Shochs, &c., 

 are the most degenerate productions, and e.xhibit 

 the most striking marks of that influence to which Man subjects all nature. 



The Dog is born with its eyes closed ; it opens them on the tenth or twelfth day ; its teeth commence changing 

 in the fourth month, and its full growth is attained at the expiration of the second year. The female remains with 

 young sixty-three days, and produces from six to ten young at a birth. The Dog is old at fifteen years, and seldom 



Fig. 28.— Tlie Dingo, or Australian Dog. 



prese 



> of age, 



uuly five inches and a 

 length, from the corner of 



boar-huuiid examined by 



* A specimen, which attained two yi 

 in tlie Museum of Dresden, measur 

 half in Icngtli ; this being exactly the sa 

 tlie eye to the tip of the nose, of a Sai 

 Col. ilamilton Smith.— Ed. 



+ If the idea, whicli I conceive there is every reason to entertain, 

 respecting the ori4iii of the Domestic Dog be well founded, it is clear 

 that a recurrence to a single wild type would be impossible. The Dog 

 is apparently a blended race, derived principally from the Wolf, and 

 partly from various other allied species. In the Museum of the Zoologi- 

 cal Society of London, there is a specimen cf an Esquimaux Dog, wliich 

 resembles the large American Vi'olf (C. nul/ilus) so closely, that there 

 can scarcely be any doubt of the connexion which subsists between 

 them ; and it is well known, of the American Wolves in particular, 

 that if a young animal be surprised by a hunter, and suddenly menaced 

 by his foice and manner, it will crouch to him and implore his mercy 

 in precisely the manner of a spaniel ; so that only a little encourage- 

 ment and kindness are required to gain its permanent attachment ; 

 indeed, many of them are killed to obtain the proffered reward, by 

 taking this (assuredly unworthy) advantage of their natural submis- 

 siveness That the Wolf possesses the mental ijualities, and is 

 lapableof the same strong attachment to Man as the most faithful 

 Dog, has been abundantly proved by the observations of M. F. Cuvier 

 and others ; and the unremitting persecution to which it has been 

 necessarily subjected in Europe for so many ages, will sufficiently 



acc.unt for the sav.nge and distrustful character which it exhibits 

 when unreclaimed ; though even then the germs of a better disposition 

 are traceable in the permanent attachHient of tiie male and female, 

 and sociality of the young till urgent necessity, or the annual period 

 of dominant sexual excitement, subdues every milder propensity and 

 acquired sentiment of friendship or disinterested affection. 



In the late edition of Dr. Prichard's work on Man, an old error is 

 revived, which originated with BufTon, but which that naturalist 

 afterwards corrected ; namely, that the period of gestation in the 

 Wolf is much sliorter than in the Dog. It is precisely the same in 

 both animals. 



Instances occasionally happen of the Dog returning by choice to a state 

 of wildness, and assuming then, of necessity, the character ascrilird 

 to the Wolf. I have known this to occur in a male pointer, and in a 

 female greyhound : tlie latter was so fine a specimen of the breed, tloit 

 on being entrapped, it was thought desirable to obtain a litter from 

 her, which was accordingly effected ; but, while her puppies were very 

 young, she managed to escape to the woods, and never retuinct : 

 three of her progeny grew to be excellent hounds ; but two others 

 proved quite irreclaimable; and escaping fram servitude, like their 

 dam, were finally shot, for their destructive poaching propensities. 



It is not unusual to trace the peculiar markings, and grizzled colour- 

 ing of the back, common to mo.st of the wild species of Cttvis, iu 

 domestic Dogs, of various size and character.— Ed. 



