dogs: ancient and modern. 409 



mental purposes. This was the case not only in New Zealand, 

 but in many of the islands of the South Pacific. 



It would take too long to go into the history of the various 

 other wild dogs which are to be found scattered over the world ; 

 but it will be of interest just to glance at some of those which 

 exhibit a manifest resemblance to certain domestic breeds with 

 which we are acquainted at the present day. 



The Esquimaux Dog, for example, so closely resembles the 

 Arctic Wolf, both in appearance and voice, that even so expe- 

 rienced an Arctic traveller as Sir John Richardson on one occasion 

 mistook a pack of the former for a troop of the latter. 



The domestic dog of the Hare Indians on the Mackenzie 

 River is exactly like the Prairie Wolf, Canis latrans, though 

 smaller. The Sheep-dog of Hungary resembles the European 

 Wolf, and, according to Blyth, some of the Hindu Pariah-dogs 

 resemble the Indian Wolf. In tropical countries, where Jackals 

 take the place of Wolves, the domestic dogs closely resemble 

 the former. In Tropical America, where Jackals are unknown, 

 the domesticated dogs resemble the native wild dogs which 

 take the place of them. In Australia, as we have seen, the 

 Dingo occurs at the present day both in the wild and domes- 

 ticated state. 



Thus it seems pretty evident that more than one wild ancestor 

 has contributed to the formation of the various domestic breeds 

 which now exist. Reviewing this question of origin, in his 

 ' Animals and Plants under Domestication,' Darwin concludes 

 that it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world 

 have descended from two good species of Wolf, Cants liqms and 

 C. latrans, and from two or three other doubtful species of 

 Wolves, — namely, the European, Indian, and North African 

 forms, — from at least one or two South American canine species, 

 from several races or species of the Jackal, and perhaps from one 

 or more extinct species. 



In this view I think we must concur, coming as it does from 

 so high an authority. 



Then comes the question of the classification of the existing 

 breeds of domestic dog. 



I have already referred to the way in which the Romans of 

 old classified their dogs : — 



ZOOLOGIST. OCT. 1884. 2 I 



