222 UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 
evidence, as Darwin says that (in Axzmals and Plants under 
Domestication), ‘ four or five thousand years ago, various 
breeds, viz. pariah dogs, greyhounds, common hounds, mastiffs, 
house-dogs, lap-dogs, and turnspits, existed, more or less closely 
resembling our present breeds. But there is not sufficient evi- 
dence that any of these ancient dogs belonged to the same iden- 
tical sub-varieties with our present dogs” (fig. 1159). Although 
Australia is singularly lacking in higher Mammals, it nevertheless 
possesses a kind of dog, the Dingo (Canzs dingo), probably intro- 
duced by human agency at a 
remote period. Friend and 
companion, guardian of flocks, 
and protector of the home, no 
animal has been so closely and 
so long associated with man as 
the Dog. 
The Car (Fels domestica). 
—Here again we have almost 
certainly to do with an animal 
of multiple origin, the Wild 
Cat (Feds catus) of Europe and 
North Asia being probably not 
the chief ancestor. On this 
point Beddard (in The Cam- 
bridge Natural History) speaks 
Tig. 11s0-—ITypes of Aostent Bayptiaa Does A, Tams follows:—‘ The domestic cat 
spit; B, House Dog; c, Hunting Dog. is, in fact, regarded as the de- 
scendant of the Eastern / caffra, or (perhaps azd) the closely 
allied -. manzculata (fig. 1160). It is highly probable, however, 
that after its introduction into this country as a domestic animal 
it has interbred with the Wild Cat. Many allied species of Cats 
will interbreed, even two so far apart as the Lion and the Tiger. 
There are interesting archzological and linguistic reasons for re- 
garding the Domestic Cat as an importation. The legend of Dick 
Whittington’s Cat points to it being a rare and valuable animal, 
which a tamed /. ca¢us would not at that time have been. There 
was an enactment in Wales against him who should kill the king’s 
Cat, again suggestive of its rarity and consequent value. The 
very name ‘Puss’ is a hint of a foreign origin. Some would 
derive it from Perse, and upon this is based the notion that the 
