THE FLESH-EATING PREDATORY MAMMALS 127 



out of his retreat, and must perforce lie concealed as best he can 

 in the vicinity. Here he is put up by the hounds, and he then 

 leads the hunt in the direction of some possible refuge, which he 

 either succeeds in entering or which he fails to reach before the 

 hounds despatch him. 



Canis lupus. The Wolf 



Between the Wolf and the Fox groups (the " Thooid " and 

 " Alopecoid " of the genus Canis) there are some transitional 

 forms of dog that it is difficult to allot definitely to either division. 

 These are several South American dogs, and the raccoon-like dog 

 of Japan and North-east Asia (which is remarkable for its extra- 

 ordinary resemblance, especially in coloration, to the Raccoon 

 family).'' The Thooid, or Lupine, series includes the jackals, the 

 Abyssinian wild dog, the wolves of Europe, Asia, and North 

 America, and all the breeds of domestic dog. There is a third 

 series of canine species which might be termed the Cyonoid, and 

 it may be briefly mentioned here in connection with the origin 

 of the domestic dog. The Cyonoids constitute the representa- 

 tives of the genus or sub-genus Cuon, and are represented by a 

 series of wild dogs stretching from Siberia on the north to the 

 verge of Australia in the south. This sub-species Cuon was 

 represented anciently in Europe^ by a form which has been 

 named Canis {Cuon) eurofaus. The dingo of Australia is closely 

 related to this group, from which, indeed, may have sprung a con- 

 siderable element in the stock of the domestic dog. The reason 

 why these Cyonoids are separated from the Wolf group is that 

 they often lose their third molar tooth in the lower jaw, though 

 this loss is by no means constant. They also possess as a rule 

 six pairs of teats, instead of five pairs which are customary in the 

 wolf and in most dogs.' The profile of the face in some of them 



^ It is really, in all probability, only an aberrant fox. 



^ Possibly also in Southern England. 



^ Mr. A. J. Sewell, the well-known M.R.C.V.S., informs me that he has 

 not infrequently met with six pairs of mammae in domestic dogs, though the 

 number of teats in most breeds of domestic dogs is ten. In some examples, 



