76 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
DESCRIPTION, 
The Dog has short conical ears like the American wolf, but its nose is still shorter than that 
of the latter animal. Its nose, cheeks, belly, and legs, are white. The fore-legs are destitute 
of the black mark above the wrist, which characterises the European wolf, and which is visible 
in some American wolves, but not in all. The top of the head and the back are almost black, 
but there is a narrow white line down the spine of the back, which I have not noticed in any 
coloured wolf. Its sides are thinly covered with long, black, and some white hairs, and 
there is a shorter dense coat of yellowish-gray wool, like that of the wolf, which is partly 
visible. The tail, like the back, is clothed with black and white hairs, the latter predominating 
at its tip. There is a thick wool on the tail concealed by the longer hairs. 
DIMENSIONS 
Of the specimen in the Zoological Museum. 
Feet. Inches, Feet. Inches, 
Length from the end of the nose to the tail 4 3 { Height of the ears (inside) : . 0 3 
s of the tail (vertebre) é 1 2 Breadth between the eyes : 0 2k 
5 a including the fur at tip 1 5 36) 9 ears 5 0 4} 
from end of the nose to the orbit 0 4 | 
Captain Lyon had so many opportunities of studying the habits of the Esqui- 
maux dog, and his account of them is so much to the purpose, that I think it 
advantageous to the reader to have it repeated here in his own words :— 
‘“* Having myself possessed, during our second winter, a team of eleven very 
fine animals, I was enabled to become better acquainted with their good qualities 
than could possibly have been the case by the casual visits of the Esquimaux to 
the ships. The form of the Esquimaux Dog is very similar to that of our 
shepherd’s dogs in England, but he is more muscular and broad-chested, owing 
to the constant and severe work to which he is brought up. His ears are pointed, 
and the aspect of the head is somewhat savage. In size, a fine dog is about the 
height of the Newfoundland breed, but broad like a mastiff in every part except 
the nose. The hair of the coat is in summer, as well as in winter, very long, but 
during the cold season a soft downy under covering is found, which does not 
appear in warm weather. Young dogs are put into harness as soon as they can 
walk, and being tied up, soon acquire a habit of pulling, in their attempts to 
recover their liberty, or to roam in quest of their mother. When about two 
months old, they are put into the sledge with the grown dogs, and sometimes 
eight or ten little ones are under the charge of some steady old animal, where, with 
frequent and sometimes cruel beatings, they soon receive a competent education. 
Every dog is distinguished by a particular name, and the angry repetition of it has 
an effect as instantaneous as an application of the whip, which instrument is of an 
