394 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the pursuit of all wild animals, its future association with man 

 must have become fixed by an indissoluble tie. 



It is not unlikely that the unity of purpose displayed by wild 

 dogs in their gregarious state, when spontaneously pursuing game, 

 may have first impressed man with the idea of enlisting them, if 

 possible, into his service. How would this be accomplislied in 

 the first instance ? Probably the first dogs were taken in pitfalls, 

 traps, and snares formed for the capture of deer and other wild 

 animals on which the hunter had to live. Such as might prove with 

 young would be preserved, in which case their progeny would gradu- 

 ally become domesticated, and as they yielded to future discipline 

 would prove useful, not only in the chase, but in giving notice of the 

 approach of enemies of their owners, or of their owners' flocks. 



In the wilds of North-east Australia at the present day, as 

 I am informed by a recent traveller tliere, Dr, Lumholz, the 

 natives, who employ the Dingo in their hunting, never capture 

 the adult animal, which will not breed in confinement (so they 

 allege), but searcli for a litter of puppies, which they find in 

 crevices in the rocks, or in hollows at the base of tree-tx'unks, 

 and bring them up by hand. Tliey gradually become familiar 

 and obedient, and, since they hunt by scent, soon become 

 useful in the chase. Dr. Lumholz, however, remarked that they 

 do not long remain with their masters, for as soon as the inclina- 

 tion for pairing comes on (which with wild dogs happens only 

 once a year) they betake themselves to the wilds, never to return. 

 Thus their owners are compelled to seek for fresh puppies to 

 reclaim and educate, and keep as long as they can. 



It is evident, then, that the dog, whicli we now know in such 

 a great variety of forms, has not always been domesticated, but 

 has, at a very remote period, been reclaimed by man's agency 

 from a feral state. The means employed to capture it I have 

 just indicated. Let us now consider the question of origin. 



Whence have arisen the numerous and remarkably different 

 breeds which are now scattered all over the world ? Can it be 

 possible that they have originated from one wild prototype, whose 

 descendants by transportation to diflferent climates, and forced 

 existence under altered conditions of life, have in the course of 

 countless generations become so modified as to assume the 

 appearance which they now present ? Or are we to believe that 

 more than one wild ancestor has contributed to the formation of 



