442 ut't.i.ktin: miskim of (()M1'auati\k z<)(")L<)(;y. 



Eskimo Dog. 



rhitr 1. fij--. 1. 



1817. Cants familiaris sibiricits groetdandiciis ^^'alther, Huiid, p. 27 {fide 

 Fitzinger; not Cam's groculamlicu.s Bet-hstein, 1799, q. e. Alopex). 



1820. C.f. var. n. horeali.'^ Desmarcst, Mamin., 1, p. 194. 



1840. Conis bat-eali.s Hamilton Smith, Jardine's Nat. library. Mammalia, 

 10, p. 127, pi. 2. 



Characters. — Size large, appearance wolf-like, but with less ohliciuc 

 eyes, less attenuated muzzle, and more elevated forehead; tall usually 

 carried curled forwaril over the hip: teeth much smaller than those of 

 the Wolf. Pelage thick, with a shorter under fur overlaid with longer 

 hair which on the shoulders may be as much as eight inches long; tail 

 bushy. ( olor whitish, more or less clouded on the back, with dusky, 

 or Aarying to l)lack, or black and white, or rarely tan and white. 



Distribution. — The Eskimo Dog was originally found in Arctic 

 America coextensively with the Eskimo tribes from the barrens of 

 Alaska to Labrador, chiefly along the coast. In the east it was 

 probably at its southern limit on the east coast of Newfoundland, and 

 thence ranged northward, accompanying its Eskimo masters, to Smith 

 Sound, Greenland. Tn Greenland it formerly was found along the 

 west coast southward, with the nati\es, but the present-day sledge- 

 dogs of the Danish settlements are probably largely mongrel, through 

 interbreeding with dogs introduced from Europe (Brown, 1875); and 

 the same is true of those in Alaska and southern Labrador. 



External Measurements. — An Eskimo Dog brought back by Parry, 

 on his first voyage, is figured by Children (1827) who gives its dimen- 

 sions as follows: — 



Ijcngth, occiput to root of tail 



" " " end of nose 



" of tail (about) 

 Total length (therefore about) 

 Length of ear 

 Eyes to point of nose 

 Standing height at shoulder 



These figures do not indicate a very large animal. The very thick 

 coat, especially on the shoulders, gives an increased appearance of size 

 not well borne out by skeletal measurements. It should be kept in 

 mind, that since the advent of Europeans, much attention has been 



