70 MAMMALIA— ORDER IV.—CARNIVORA. 



the skull of any kind of domestic or wild dog, of a wolf, or a jackal, we shall 

 not fail to observe, as noticed above, that the triangular bony projection 

 from the middle of the skull which forms the hinder border of the uppe]? 

 part of the socket of the eye — hence known as the postorbital process — is 

 iiighly convex, and curves from above downwards. On the other hand, in 

 the skull of any species of fox, the same process has a very distinct hollow on 

 its upper surface, and it does not curve downwards in the smallest degree. 

 A further examination will also show that in a dog, jackal, or wolf the 

 middle portion of the skull is considerably elevated above the level of the 

 extremities of these two processes ; whereas in a fox the whole surface of 

 this part of the skull lies nearly in a horizontal plane. If we were to make a 

 vertical section of the two skulls, we should find that in the skulls of the 

 dog, jackal, and wolf the bone forming the roof was honeycombed by a 

 number of cells, whereas in the fox it is solid ; and it is the presence, 

 or absence, of these cells which causes the great difference in the contour of 

 the skulls of a dog and a fox. 



The above feature absolutely distinguishes the skulls of all species of 

 foxes from those of all other members of the family, and we are accordingly 

 now able to give a much more satisfactory definition of a fox, which will be 

 somewhat as follows, vh. : A long-bodied, short-limbed member of the 

 canine family, with a long and bushy tail exceeding half the length of the 

 head and body, generally long ears, a sharp muzzle, elliptical pupils to the 

 eyes, 6 teats, and the forehead of the skull not honeycombed by cells, and 

 with the postorbital processes hollowed above. From these important 

 differences some writers are inclined to separate the foxes from the genus 

 Canis under the name of Vul2}es. 



There has been much discussion as to whether foxes and dogs will breed 

 together. Thus, Mr. Bartlett, the superintendent of the Zoological Society's 

 Gardens, whose wide experience entitles him to rank as a high authority on 

 the point, writing in 1890, says that, " So far as my experience goes, I have 

 never met with a well-authenticated instance of a hybrid between a fox and 

 a dog, notwithstanding numerous specimens of supposed hybrids of this sort 

 which from time to time have been brought to my notice." Since that date, 

 several writers in Land and Water have, however, asserted the existence of 

 such hybrids, but further evidence is still desirable on the subject. And if 

 sucli a hybrid be proved to exist, it would be very desirable that the form 

 of the pupils of its eyes, and the number of its teats, should be care- 

 fully recorded during life, while after death an examination of its skull 

 by a qualified observer would be of the highest interest. 



Turning to the numerous varieties of the common fox and their distribu- 

 tion, it is almost needless to observe that in England the fox is of a bright 

 reddish-brown colour on the upper-parts, with the under-parts and the tip of 

 the brush white, and the back of the ears and the lower portions of the limbs 

 black. There are, however, some local or individual variations even in this 

 country, which have given rise to the names of greyhound, mountain, and 

 bush foxes ; but all these are, at the most, of trivial import. Occasionally 

 English foxes are killed with the tip of the brush grey or black, and 

 there is one instance on record of a white English fox. Of far more im- 

 portance is the circumstance that omc time previous to 1861 an im- 

 mature fox was killed in Warwickshire with all the under-parts of a greyisli 

 black hue. Now, as a general rule, the foxes of Northern and Central 

 Europe are similar in colour to the ordinary English form, but in Southern 



