THE HY#NA-DOG. 79 
ture, excepting one, it is remarkably and obviously 
distinct. The only other point of agreement between 
them consists in the number of its toes, which, like 
those of the Hyena, are only four to each foot. This 
peculiarity, combined with the form of the head, unques- 
tionably affords some ground for placing these animals 
in close apposition; but is by no means so important, 
in the absence of other and more essential characteristics, 
as to warrant their union into a single group. Taken 
together, however, and in connexion with other features 
of distinction, these characters may fairly be regarded 
as sufficiently striking to sanction the separation of the 
animal now under consideration from the dogs. With 
the latter it corresponds most completely in the number 
and form of its teeth, and in the general structure of its 
skeleton, which differs remarkably from that of the 
Hyena. 
In size and form it is smaller and more slender than 
either the Hyzena or the Wolf. Its ground colour is of 
a reddish or yellowish brown, which is variously mot- 
tled in large patches along the sides of the body and on 
the legs, with black and white intermingled together. 
Its nose and muzzle are completely black, and it has a 
strong black line passing from them up the centre of the 
forehead to between the ears, which are very large, black 
both within and without, and furnished with a broad 
and expanded tuft of long whitish hairs arising from 
their anterior margin and filling up a considerable part 
of their concavity. There is a lighter patch on the 
muzzle beneath each of the eyes. The tail is of mode- 
_rate length, covered with long bushy hair, and divided 
in the middle by a ring of black, below which or towards 
