204 MOSTLY MAMMALS 
to draw the portrait of a modern dog it would be very 
doubtful whether it would be recognised by its master or 
mistress. 
But the record of the antiquity of domesticated dogs 
does not even stop with the earliest known Egyptian 
monuments. Not only were such breeds known in Europe 
during the Iron and Bronze Ages, but also during the 
antecedent Neolithic or polished stone period. These have 
been described by the late Prof. Ritimeyer and Dr. 
Woldrich; and those who are acquainted with the diffi- 
culty of distinguishing between some of the living species 
by their skulls alone will understand the laborious nature 
of the task. Still, these authorities appear to have made 
out that the Swiss Neolithic dog (Camis palustris) had 
certain cranial resemblances to both hounds and spaniels, 
and thus indicated an advanced type, which is considered 
to have been derived from neither wolves nor jackals, but 
from some species now extinct. Certain other breeds have 
also been recognised from the superficial deposits of the 
Continent; and if, as is very likely to be the case, any 
or all of these races are the forerunners of some of the 
modern breeds, it will readily be understood how complex 
is the origin of the mixed group which we now call Canis 
Jamiliaris. Even in South America there is evidence of the 
great antiquity of domesticated dogs, for I have described 
a skull from the superficial deposits of Buenos Aires, 
which, though apparently contemporaneous with many of 
the wonderful extinct mammals of the Pampas, yet shows 
unmistakable signs of affinity with domesticated breeds, 
although the precise relationship has not yet been estab- 
lished. 
Perhaps, however, the greatest puzzle in the group is 
the dingo, or native dog of Australia, which has been 
