9. LYCAIOPEX. 197 



or either of these from that of the Pariah Dog of India, or the 

 " Mongrel Cur " as it is called in England. 



Some of the flgured and named varieties, as the lion-Dog (Chien- 

 lion, Buffon, v. t. 40. f. 2 ; Oanis familiaris leoninus, Gmelm), are 

 described from Dogs that had been artificially trimmed; and of 

 some, as the Prick-Eared Dog, the ears had been artificially clipped; 

 and the same is the case with some of the short-tailed Dogs. 



If the varieties of Dog are stumbUngblocks to the systematic 

 zoologist, which some say they are (for what reason I cannot con- 

 ceive), they are never mistaken by their wild allies. It is true that 

 a "Wolf will breed with a female Dog, but so will a wild Pheasant 

 with a domestic hen. The system of improving the hreed of do- 

 mestic animals by breeding and weeding seems to have been coex- 

 istent with human civilization ; and to keep up the good breeds it 

 is as necessary to be carefuUy attended to now as in the earliest 

 period, showing that the varieties produced have no tendency to 

 become perpetual. 



The varieties of the Dog, like the varieties of Oxen, Sheep, Pigs, 

 Poultry, and Pigeons, are limited; and the limits seem to have 

 been early discovered, as most, if not all, of the varieties now exist- 

 ing seem to have been known in the earliest historical period, and 

 even anterior to it. 



How any one can think that the differences between varieties of 

 domestic animals are such as zoologists would use. to distinguish 

 genera and species, is a mystery that I cannot understand ; and 

 the theory that the variation produced by breeding and weeding, 

 or selection as it is called, is to be regarded as the origin of the dif- 

 ference between natural species, is more astonishing, and can only 

 have arisen for want of careful study of the subject. There a;re some 

 minds so constituted, even among the well educated, who believe 

 in animal magnetism, metalUe tactors,^table-tuming, phrenology, 

 spiritualism, mesmerism, the great pyramid, natural seltection, and 

 mimicry of animals — and some even two or more of these theories in 

 succession, or at the same time. 



I do not know of any work giving a systematic or scientific de- 

 scription of the varieties of Dogs. Professor Fitzinger, in the ' Trans- 

 actions of the Vienna Academy,' has written a long paper on the- 

 history of the difierent varieties and breedSi similar to the paper on. 

 the breeds of Sheep. 



c. Fox-TAILBD Wolves. Tail elongate, reaching helow the heeU, more or 

 less curved, and covered with more or less, elongated hair not forming 

 afuM brush. South America. 



Fox-tailed Wolves, Gray, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 511. 

 9. LYCALOPEX. 



Pupil circular. Tail reaching below the hocks. The upper tu- 

 bercular teeth oblong, taken together much longer than the flesh- 

 tooth. South-American. 



