14 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
as a true species of Wild Dog. In either case we should have to 
contend for two wild species of Canide in Japan, viz., the large 
Wolf of Japan and the small one (or Wild Dog) of Nippon. 
Moreover, we have the statement of Prof. von Martens, who 
vouches for the existence of two species of Wolf in Japan. 
“I myself,” he says, ‘‘ have seen neither the Wolf nor the Wild 
Dog of Japan, but I am able to state, from the depositions of my 
Japanese servant, and from his explanation of some illustrated 
Japanese books at hand, that the natives distinguish two kinds of 
these animals, the one named Yama-ino (Wild Dog), the other 
Oo-kamt. 'Vhe latter, said to be more terrible and voracious, is 
represented in sculptures with horribly wide-opened jaws, and a 
human skull near it. The Yama-ino is distinguised by its shorter 
legs and smaller size,” &c. 
From this it seems to me that the Ookami is the larger and 
more dangerous Canis lupus, dispersed over Yesso, and the 
Yama-ino the smaller and feebler Canis hodophylax, living in 
the main South Island. Prof. Brauns also asserts that Ookami 
properly means the Wolf: a mistake if in the ‘ Fauna Japonica’ 
this name was identified with ‘une espéce intermédiare entre le 
chien de chasse et le loup,” such a species having no existence. 
Comparing the affinities of the Japanese dogs living in a wild 
state with the Wolf of Nippon, I propose to publish my views in 
a separate treatise, having considerable material in the shape of 
skulls of these dogs. For the present my intention is merely to 
summarise the reasons which induce a separation of the small 
Japanese Wolf from Canis lupus. Whether it is to be considered 
a distinct species of the genus Canis or a well-marked race of 
Canis lupus is simply a matter of opinion. To my mind all 
recent and fossil species of Canide@ are closely united by slight 
and exceedingly varied modifications, which render it difficult to 
separate them specifically according to the old notion of species, 
showing as they do a significant tendency to variation and to the 
formation of local races. 
Prof. Huxley, in his excellent paper on the characters of 
skulls and dentition of Canide,* remarks that “ The existing 
Canidé exhibit a gradual series of modifications in the form and 
size of their skulls and the number and characters of their teeth, 
* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1880, p. 284. 
