THE DOG FAMILY— DOG. 



203 



pointed head than in our Hounds. There is, also, a 

 Turnspit, with short and crooked legs, closely resem- 

 bling the existing variety. The most ancient Dog 

 represtemtedi on the Egyptian monuments is one- of 

 the most singular; it resembles a Greyhound, but 

 has long, pointed ears and a short, curled tail. A 

 variety closely allied to it still exists in northern 

 Africa, for Mr. E. V. Harcourt states that the Arab 

 Boar-Hound is an eccentric, hieroglyphic 'animal, 

 such as Cheops once hunted with, somewhat resem- 

 bling the rough Scotch Deer-Hound. With this most 

 ancient variety a Pariah-like Dog coexisted. We 

 thus see that at a period between four and five thou- 

 sand years ago, various breeds, namely Pariah Dogs, 

 Greyhounds, common Hounds, Mastiffs, house 

 Dogs, lap Dogs and Turnspits existed, ipore or 

 less closely resembling our present breeds. But 

 there is not sufficient evidence that any of these 

 ancient Dogs belonged to 

 the same identical subva- 

 rieties with our present 

 Dogs. 



"In Europe the Dog was 

 kept in a domestic state a 

 long time previous to any 

 liistorical record. The 

 bones of a canine animal 

 were imbedded, in the Dan- 

 ish Kitchen-Middens of 

 the Neolithic or Newer- 

 Stone period, and probably 

 ibelonged to a domestic 

 Dog. This ancient Dog 

 was succeeded in Den- 

 mark, during the Bronze 

 period, by a larger and 

 isomewhat different Dog, 

 which, during the Iron pe- 

 riod, was replaced by a still 

 larger kind. A medium- 

 ^ized, domesticated Dog 

 existed in Switzerland in 

 the Neolithic period, which 

 in its skull was about 

 ■equally remote from the 

 Wolf and the Jackal, and 

 partook of the characters 

 ■of our Hounds and Setters 

 ■or Spaniels. During the 

 Bronze period a larger Dog 

 •appeared which, judging 

 from his jaws, resembled 

 a Dog of the same age in 

 Denmark. Schmerling 



found the remains of two notably distinct varieties 

 •of the Dog in a cave, but their age cannot be posi- 

 1;ively determined. 



"The main argument in favor of the several breeds 

 •of the Dog being the descendants of distinct wild 

 :stocks, is the resemblance they bear in different coun- 

 tries to distinct species still existing there. It must, 

 however, be admitted that the comparison between 

 the wild and domesticated animal has, except in a ■ 

 few instances, been made with sufficient exactness. 

 There is no inherent difficulty in the belief that sev- 

 eral canine species have been domesticated. Mem- 

 bers of the Dog family inhabit nearly the whole 

 world, and several species correspond, to a consider- 

 able extent, in their structure and habits, with our 

 several domesticated' Dogs. Savages keep and tame 

 animals of all kinds, naturally preferring sociable ani- 



mals, like the Dog. At an extremely ancient, period, 

 when Man first entered any country, the native ani- 

 mals had no instinctive or inherited fear of him, and 

 would cotfiSfeijiiently- have beefliUamed far more easily 

 than now. For instance, when the Falkland Islands 

 were first visited by Man, the large Wolf-like Dogs 

 {Catiis antarcticus) came to meet Byron's sailors with- 

 out fear ; but the latter fled into the water to avoid 

 them, mistaking the animals' curiosity for ferocity. 

 Even recently a Man, by holding a piece of meat in 

 one hand and a knife in the other, could sometimes 

 stick them at night. At the Galapagos Archipelago 

 I pushed Hawks from a branch with the muzzle of 

 my gun, and held out a pitcher of water for other 

 birds to alight on and drink. It is a more important 

 point that several canine species evince no strong 

 repugnance or inability to breed under confinement; 

 and the incapacity to breed under confinement is one 



ALPINE WOLF. This animal, by some accounted a sub-order of the common Wolf, has so many points 



of difference in size, color, and fur, that it may be properly called a distinct species. It is about thirty-eight 

 inches long, exclusive of the bushy tail, which measures fourteen inches, and its shoulder height is eighteen inches. . 

 Its long, coarse fur is of russet, or yellowish gray, but of lighter tint and longer about the neck; the head is broad, 

 the muzzle blunt and the ears small. It is found in northern Asia and inhabits mountains surrounding the 

 valleys of the Yenesei and Amoor rivers, attacks Deer, especially Roes and Fawns, and the Mountain Goat; 

 runs in packs usually, but sometimes singly and vigorously fights Men and Dogs when they attack it. By some 

 writers it is called the Wild Dog of Siberia. {Canis alpinus.) 



of the commonest bars to domestication. Lastly, 

 savages set the highest value on Dogs — even half- 

 tamed animals are highly useful to them. North 

 American Indians cross their half-wild Dogs with 

 Wolves, and thus render them wilder than before, 

 but bolder. The savages of Guiana catch and par- 

 tially tame and use the whelps of two wild species of 

 Canis, as do the savages of Australia those of the wild 

 Dingo. From these several considerations we see no 

 difficulty in believing that Man might have don\ps- 

 ticated various canine species in different countries. 

 It would have been a strange fact if one species alone 

 had been domesticated throughout the world. 

 Points ofSimi- "We will now enter into details. The 

 larity Between accurate and sagacious Richardson 

 Dog and Wolf, gays ; ' The resemblance between the 

 North American Wolves and the domestic Dogs is so 



