4 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



invention of that destructive agent, he was, in default of the dog, 

 reduced to the bow and arrow, the snare, or the pitfall. The dog 

 was also of incalculable service in guarding the flocks and herds 

 from the depredations of the Camivora, and even man himself 

 was often glad to have recourse to his courage and strength in 

 resisting the lion, the tiger, or the wolf. 



Much has been written on the origin of the dog, and Pennant, 

 Buffon, and other naturalists, have exhausted their powers of 

 research and invention in attempting to discover the parent stoclci 

 from which all are descended. . The subject, however, is wrapped 

 in so much obscurity as to- baffle all their efforts, and it is still a 

 disputed point whether the shepherd's dog, as supposed by Buffon | 

 and Daniel, or the wolf, as conjectured by Bell, is the progenitor of 

 the various breeds now existing. Anyhow, it is a most unprofitable 

 speculation, and, being unsupported by proof of any kind, it can 

 never be settled upon any reliable basis. We shall not, there- 

 fore, waste any space in entering upon this discussion, but leave 

 our readers to investigate the inquiry, if they think fit, in the 

 pages of Buffon, Linnaeus, Pennant, and Cuvier, and our most 

 recent investigator, Professor Bell. It may, however, be observed! 

 that the old hypothesis of Pennant, that the dog is only a domes- 

 ticated jackal, crossed with the wolf or fox, though resuscitated 

 by Mr. Bell, is now almost entirely exploded; for while it 

 accounts somewhat ingeniously for the varieties which are met 

 with, yet it is contradicted by the stubborn fact that, in the 

 present day, the cross of the dog with either of these animals, 

 */ produced, is incapable of continuing the species when paired: 

 with one of the same cross breed. Nevertheless, it may be 

 desirable to give Mr. Bell's reasons for thinking that the dog is 

 descended from the wolf, which are as follows : 



" In order to come to any rational conclusion on this head, it 



