900 General Notes. {September, 
panion, also appears to have been a stranger to them? His place 
was very inadequately filled by the coyote,” or prairie wolf, which 
they art in captivity and had succeeded in taming to a certain 
exten 
i a recent visit to Mexico, not only along the railroads, but in 
the course of a stage ride of about five hundred miles through pro- 
vincial Mexico, from Saltillo to San Miguel, we were struck by 
the resemblance of the dogs to the coyote ; there can be little doubt 
but that they are the descendants of a race which sprang from 
the partly tamed coyote of the ancient Mexican Indians. At one 
village, Montezuma, we saw a hairless or Carib dog as we sup- 
posed it to be; similar dogs are sometimes seen in the United 
States. 
Finally that the domestic dog and gray as well as the prairie 
wolf will hybridize has been well established. 
` Dr. Coues has observed hybrids between the coyote and domes- 
tic dog on the Upper Missouri (see the AMERICAN NATURALIST, 
1873, p. 385). To this we may add our own observations made 
at Fort Claggett on the Upper Missouri in June, 1877. We then 
were much struck by the wolf-like appearance of the dogs about 
an encampment of Crow Indians, as well as the fort; they were 
of the size and color of the coyote, but less hairy and with a less 
bushy tail. They were much like those lately observed in Mex- 
ico, and I have never seen such dogs elsewhere. Their color was 
a whitish tawny, like that of the Eskimo dog. 
Confirmatory of these observations is the following note by J. L. 
Wortman in the report of the Geological Survey of Indiana for 
1884: “ During extended travel in Western U.S. my experience 
has been the er: > that recorded by Dr. Coues. It is by no 
means uncomm o find mongrel dogs among many of the 
Western Indian thet notably among Umatillas, Bannocks, Sho- 
shones, Arrapahoes, Crows, Sioux, which to one familiar with the 
orth physiognomy and habits of the coyote, have every appear- 
of blood relationship, if not, in many cases, this animal itself 
ee a fate of semi-domestication. The free inter-breeding of these 
animals, with a perfectly fertile product, has been so often repeated 
to me by thoroughly reliable authorities and whose opportunities 
for observation were ample, that I feel perfectly willing to accept 
Dr. Coues’ statemen 
To these statements may be added. that of Mr. Milton P. 
‘Certain kinds of dogs were, however, eceip age in America. They were 
called Xu/os in Nicaragua, 7zomes in Yucatan, and Techichis in Mexico. These 
_ were considered to afford very delicate food after having been castrated and 
_ 3 Canis latrans Baird. In a description of bis pg! a. in 1649, we read: 
The wolf of oo is "ate dog of the wood Indians had no other curs 
. ve ongst them. They ats mai ade domestic. They go in 
; in T e night to to hunt deer, which they do as well as the best pack of 
