898 General Notes. [September, 
and arrangement of its spots of color. * * * It in fact, bears 
the same relation to the prairie wolf that the Esquimaux dog does 
to the great gray wolf.” 
Another variety of Indian dog is Richardson’s Canis familiaris 
var. D. novecaledonie, Carrier Indian dog. The Attnah or Car- 
rier Indians of New Caledonia possess a variety of dog which 
differs from the other northern races. “It was the size of a large 
turnspit dog and had somewhat of the same form of body; but 
it had straight legs, and its erect ears gave it a different physiog- 
nomy.” 
The spitz dog, Mr. J. A. Allen informs us, is with little doubt a 
domesticated subarctic variety of the prairie wolf. 
Sir John Richardson in the Appendix to Back’s Narrative, 
Paris, 1836, p. 256, remarks: “ Indeed, the wolves and the domes- 
tic dogs of the fur countries are so like each other, that it is not 
. easy to distinguish them ata small distance; the want of strength 
and courage of the former being the principal difference. The 
offspring of the wolf and Indian dog are prolific, and are prized 
by the voyagers as beasts of draught, being stronger than the 
ordinary dog.” i 
The origin of the ordinary Indian dog of North America is 
obscure, but Richardson, who names it Canis familiaris var. C. 
canadensis, North American dog, throws much light on its origin : 
“ By the above title I wish to designate the kind of dog which 
is most generally cultivated by the native tribes of Canada, and 
the Hudson Bay countries. Itis intermediate in size and form 
between the two preceding varieties, and by those who consider 
the domestic races of dog to be derived from wild animals, this 
might be termed the offspring of a cross between the prairie and 
gray wolves. * * * The fur of the North American dog is simi- 
lar to that of the Eskimaux breed, and of the wolves. The pre- 
vailing colors are black and gray, mixed with white. Some of 
them are entirely black. * * *” H 
