116 WILD ANIMALS. 



jackal. Against these arguments it has been proved that those 

 dogs, the outcast curs of Mahammedan towns, which become wild 

 again, never revert to the one species or to the other. The 

 domesticated species do not now exist in a natural condition, and 

 there are no records of their true ancestors available, for they 

 must have been lost among those of the primitive people of the 

 world ; what manner of animal or animals they were will there- 

 fore, in all probability, be one of those questions that will perplex 

 the mind of students in natural history till the end of time. 



That the wolf and the dog, or rather several species of the dog, 

 have many points in resemblance is beyond question, and conclusive 

 proof that they belong to the same family. The dingo and other 

 wild dogs have the same shaped head and ears, the same rough 

 thick hair, long and bushy tail. Their lounging gait is identical, 

 and the fact that they never bark, but utter a sharp cry, or long, 

 melancholy howl similar to that of the wolf, is peculiar ; but they 

 have other points that unmistakably establish their distinction, 



" The ears of wild animals are always pricked, the lop or drop- 

 ping ear being especially a mark of civilization : with very rare 

 exceptions, their tails hang more or less and are bushy, the 

 honest cock of the tail, so characteristic bf a respectable dog, 

 being wanting. This is certainly the rule ; but, curious enough, 

 the Zoological Gardens contain at the present moment a Portu- 

 guese female wolf, which carries her tail as erect and with as bold 

 P an air as any dog. Wolves and wild dogs growl, howl, yelp, and 

 cry most discordantly, but, with one exception, do not bark ; that 

 exception being the wild hunting dog of South Africa, which, 

 according to Mr. Gumming, has three distinct cries .; one is 

 peculiarly soft and melodious, but distinguishable at a great dis- 

 tance ; this is analogous to the trumpet call, ' halt and rally,' of 

 cavalry serving to collect the scattered pack when broken in hot. 

 chase. A second cryj which has been compared to the chattering 

 of monkeys, is emitted at night when the dogs are excited ; and 

 the third note is described as a sharp, angry barkj usually tittered 

 when they behold an object they cannot make oiit, but which 

 differs from the true, well-known bark of the domestic dog;" ^ 



' See "Bantlev's MisceUanv." Vol. 29. 



