200 MOSTLY MAMMALS 
firmation of the foregoing views that in all the late Mr. 
Bartlett’s long experience at the “ Zoo” he never met with 
a well-authenticated instance of a fox interbreeding with 
either a dog, wolf, or jackal; and although newspaper 
reports have subsequently mentioned a hybrid between a 
fox and a dog, it is obvious that such crosses are, at the 
most, of extreme rarity. 
On the other hand, when suitably matched, there is no 
sort of difficulty in obtaining crosses between wolves and 
jackals and domesticated dogs; and it is a well-known 
fact that the Eskimo are constantly in the habit of crossing 
their sledge-dogs with wolves in order to impart strength 
and stamina to the breed. Indeed, Eskimo dogs are so 
closely related to wolves that there can be no question 
that they are descended from them, Mr. Bartlett remarking 
that they are undoubtedly “reclaimed or domesticated 
wolves.” 
This being so, Eskimo dogs should properly be called 
Canis lupus instead of Canis familiaris ; and if it could be 
shown that all domesticated dogs have the same ancestry, 
the former name should stand for all. On the other hand, 
as was long since pointed out by that acute observer the 
late Sir John Richardson, the Hare Indians of North 
America, who inhabit a zone lying considerably to the 
south of Eskimo territory, have dogs very closely resem- 
bling the small American prairie-wolf, or coyoté, which 
is the wild species most commonly met with in their 
territory. And it may be affirmed with a considerable 
degree of confidence that the Hare Indian dog presents 
the same relationship to the coyoté as is borne by the 
Eskimo dog to the wolf. Accordingly, if we base our 
nomenclature on descent, the former breed ought to be 
called Canis latrans. 
