HABITAT. 7 



modern times, though none perhaps much more satisfactory. 

 Belonging to the division Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Ferce, 

 family Felidce, and sub-family Ganina, the species is known as 

 ■Canis familiaris, the sub-family being distinguished by having 

 two tubercular teeth behind the canines on the upper jaw, with 

 non-retractile claws, while the dog itself differs from the fox with 

 which he is grouped in having a round pupil in the eye instead 

 of a perpendicular slit, as is seen in that animal. 



The attempt made by Linnaeus to distinguish the dog as having 

 a tail curved to the left is evidently without any reliable founda- 

 tion, as though there are far more with the tail on that side than 

 on the right, yet many exceptions are to be met with, and among 

 the pugs almost all the bitches wear their tails curled to the left. 

 The definition, therefore, of Canis familiaris caudd (sinistrorsum) 

 recurvatd, will not serve to separate the species from the others 

 of the genus Canis, as proposed by the Swedish naturalist. 



HABITAT. 



In almost every climate the dog is to be met with, from Kam- 

 tschatka to Cape Horn, the chief exception being some of the 

 islands in the Pacific Ocean ; but it is only in the temperate zone 

 that he is to be found in perfection, the courage of the bulldog 

 and the speed of the greyhound soon degenerating in tropical 

 countries. In China and the Society Islands dogs are eaten, 

 being considered great delicacies, and by the ancients the flesh 

 of a young fat dog was highly prized, Hippocrates even describ- 

 ing that of an adult as wholesome and nourishing. In a state 

 of nature the dog is compelled to live on flesh, which he obtains 

 by hunting, and hence he is classed among the Carnivora ; but 

 when domesticated he will live upon vegetable substances alone, 



