THE SPECIES OF DOGS AND CATS. 617 
more blackish and reddish, till in Florida black wolves pre- 
dominate, and in Texas red ones.” (Jordan’s Manual of 
Vertebrates.) The prairie wolf or coyoté (Canis latrans 
Say), is characteristic of the Western plains and Pacific coast. 
The Indian dogs breed with the coyoté, and the offspring is 
fertile. (Coues.) This fact appears to support the theory 
that the domestic dog (with its conventional name Canis 
familiaris Linn.) is a descendant of the wolf. On the other 
hand, Fitzinger in his ‘‘ Researches on the Origin of the 
Dog,” states that fourteen kinds of dogs can be distinguished. 
in the Roman and Greek records; of these he considers five 
to be principal types or species, five others climatic varieties, 
the remainder being either breeds artificially produced or 
hybrids. As regards the Egyptian dogs, seven kinds may be 
distinguished, besides the jackall, three of them being dis- 
tinct species. He believes that wolves, jackalls, foxes, etc., 
are species quite distinct from the domestic dog; they 
may have interbred with the latter, and thus influenced cer- 
tain breeds ; but they are not the parents of the domestic 
dog. He concludes that there are seven species among our 
dogs :—C. domesticus, extrarius or spaniel and Newfound- 
land dogs, vertagus or badger dog, sagaz or hound, molossus 
or bulldog, Jeporarius or greyhound, and the naked dog, 
C. caribeus. Among half-wild dogs is the dingo or hunt- 
ing-dog of Australia, which goes in packs. 
The Viverra and Genetta or civet cats, and the hyenas. 
lead to the cat family, which stands at the head of the Car- 
nivora. The panther, leopard, tiger, and lion belong to the 
genus Felis. The Felis concolor Linn., cougar or puma, 
ranges over both continents; it is 1-1-3 metres in length. 
The domestic cat, Felis domestica Linn., was first domes- 
ticated in Egypt, the Grecks and Romans not possessing 
it; the cat and common marten were in use as domesticated 
animals side by side; and at the same time in Italy, nine 
hundred years before the crusades. It appears that the do- 
mestic cat of the ancients was Mustela foina (Rolleston). 
Of the lynxes there are two species in North America, 
Lyne rufus Rafinesque, the American wildcat, and the 
Canada lynx, Lynz Canadensis Rafinesque, the latter being 
much the larger species. 
