614 The American Naturalist. [July, 
ial, though perhaps as an occasional curiosity in many tribes, 
rather than a usual companion. During nine years explora- 
tion he found one dog’s skull in an Aleutian shell heap, a pre- 
historic deposit, and only one.* 
The dog has never yet been found fossil in Florida, though 
the fossil fauna of the state would suggest its presence.’ 
In view of the fact that but a single fragment of a canine 
skeleton has been found on the river, and that specimen at no 
great distance from the surface, it may be well, before arriving 
at any definite conclusion, to await a farther investigation. 
Professor Cope has prepared the following note. 
“The lower jaw of the dog found by Mr. Moore presents a 
number of peculiarities. In the first place, its proportions are 
not those of either the wolf or coyote. In the next place, the 
fourth premolar is absent and the short diastema which occu- 
pies its place is so much shorter than that which would result 
were the tooth lost from the jaw of most species and varieties 
of Canis, that it looks as if the absence were normal to the 
animal, as in the genus Tomarctus. This tooth is sometimes 
wanting in some domesticated dogs, but the deficiency occurs 
in dogs with convex foreheads, which are the product of much 
civilization. In the third place, the metaconid is larger than 
in the wolf or coyote, and the domestieated dogs generally. 
Finally the heel of the sectorial is peculiar. The entoconid is 
more conic than usual, and such crest as it develops does not 
form the outer wall of the heel, but is directed more inwardly 
than usual. 
These peculiarities are remarkable, and render it desirable 
that more specimens should be obtained. The jaw is not ref- 
erable to any domesticated species or race with which I have 
compared it. I, however, have not seen the skull and denti- 
tion of the Spanish terrier, which, from its appearance, I 
should suppose to have originated from an African jackal 
allied to Canis mesomelas, and to have been probably intro- 
duced into Spain by the Moors. Some of these dogs may 
have been introduced into Florida by the Spainards.—E. D. 
Corr." 
*Dr. W. H. Dall, private letter. 
'? Cope. | 
it É 
2 SR 
