dogs: theie management. 



GENSBAL BEMABES. 



There is no animal so widely distributed as the 

 dog. The like assertion could not be made of any other 

 domesticated creature. In countries subjected to the 

 extremes of heat or cold, in the centre of Africa, and at 

 the Northern Pole, the horse is absent ; but wherever 

 man is able to exist, there, in some shape or other, the 

 dog is represented. Various have been the speculations 

 as to its original. There is no animal in any way 

 approaching in outward appearance to the Canine Species 

 (properly so called), but has been assumed to be the 

 original parent of the family. Some have even fancied 

 the fox was father to all the dogs that trot by the side of 

 man ; but this idea seems too preposterous to be main- 

 tained. Others, with more reason, have supposed the 

 prototype of the dog was discovered in the wolf. There 

 are, however, many differences to reconcile before this 

 hypothesis' can be received. The formation of the two 

 animals is distinct, — their anatomy presents positive differ- 



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