Quadrupeds. 1097 



On the Boy, as the Companion of Man in his Geographical 

 Distribution . By Thomas Hodgkin, M.D. 



Read before the Ethnological sub-section of the British Association. 



As one of the sources of collateral information calculated to throw 

 light on the diffusion of the human race over the surface of the globe, 

 we may certainly reckon those animals which man has associated 

 with him in a state of domesticity, either by design or accident. This 

 may be made to include a very considerable range, from the elephant 

 to the rat and the cockroach. Some species are, however, abundantly 

 more important than others. The ox, the horse and the sheep would 

 afford much natural-historical interest in connexion with the object 

 alluded to ; but there is no animal which will bear comparison with 

 the dog. Not only has the jida canina vis, so often mentioned by 

 Lucretius, been long appreciated by man, whether in the civilized or 

 the savage state, but in the accommodating character of his constitu- 

 tion, which enables him to tolerate almost every climate, he is second 

 only to man himself. It is also of great importance in the investiga- 

 tion of the dog in connexion with Ethnology, that climate and cir- 

 cumstance and intermixture of varieties produce modifications in form, 

 size and other characters, which become the evidence, and even the 

 records, of the vicissitudes which have attended the species in its as- 

 sociation with man. 



BufFon regarded the shepherd's dog as the parent stock whence our 

 other known varieties have been derived. Whilst we have no proofs 

 of this having been the case, and the dhooles, the pariah-dogs, dingos 

 and other wild varieties, would make us inclined to adopt more than 

 one original source for the domesticated animals, it is pretty evident, 

 independently of these considerations, that the affinities and transfor- 

 mations of the reclaimed animal are not altogether in accordance with 

 the scheme given by the great zoologist of France. 



The dingo of Australia, and its varieties occurring in the islands of 

 the Pacific Ocean, constitute so marked and distinct a group, that 

 they may readily and at once be set aside, as not requiring to compli- 

 cate the investigation. It may also be remarked, that in some re- 

 spects they appear to be more closely allied to the fox than to the 

 domestic dog. A female dingo, brought to this country some years 

 ago, and kept in confinement in the country, proved a great attraction 

 to the wild foxes in the neighbourhood, who overcame their natural 

 shyness and caution to seek the company of the prisoner. 

 iii 3 y 



