THE FOX. 267 



no terrors for them, but they have learned to connect the sound with its usual results, and imme- 

 diately appear on such occasions ready to take advantage of a stray or overlooked bit of game. 



According to some systematic naturalists the Foxes are placed in the genus Canis, 

 together with the dogs and the wolves. Those eminent zoologists, however, who have arranged 

 the magnificent collections in the British Museum, have decided upon separating the Foxes from 

 the dogs and wolves, and placing them in the genus Vulpes. To this decision they have come 

 for several reasons, among which may be noted the shape of the pupil of the eye, which in the 



A GROUP OF POXES. 



Foxes is elongated, but in the animals which compose the genus Canis is circular. The ears of 

 the Foxes are triangular in shape, and pointed, and the tail is always exceedingly bushy. 



A very powerful scent is poured forth from the Fox in consequence of some glands which 

 are placed near the root of the tail, and furnish the odorous secretion. Glands of a similar 

 nature, but not so well developed, are found in the wolves. The tenacity with which this 

 scent clings to any object which it has touched is quite extraordinary. I remember an 

 instance when a Fox was captured by an old laborer, in revenge for killing Ms fowls, and 

 which he exhibited in an outhouse for a short time. The animal could not have been in the 

 shed for more than twenty minutes, and yet the odor which it evolved was so pertinaciously 

 adherent to everything which had been touched by the animal that the shed was not free from 

 the tell-tale scent for many weeks. 



