488 ZOOLOGY. 
ever, more intimately related to Canidze by the whole of its dentition. 
This genus contains two species, both from the tertiary beds of sessit 
‘peta as far as hitherto known, a European type. 
The genus Abathmodon, from Brazil, will perhaps go to the group » cof 
Viverride, after a more complete study of its remains, or indicate a synthe- 
tical type of both Viverrini and Canini. A single ee was found in the 
caverns. 
The genera Caleotheriwm, Harpogodon, Agnotherium, and iaditeoue 
from the tertiary deposits of the Old World, have not yet a fixed place in 
the system. They will prove to be either ees or canines. 
We come now to the living fauna of the family. 
The genus Canis would include all the species of the Guasilge so uniform 
are they i in general form and structure. Nevertheless, for systematic con- 
venience they are subdivided, the name of Canis being applied more parti- 
cularly to the dogs, that of Lupus to the wolves, and that of Vulpes to the 
foxes. The dogs and wolves resembling each other more than the foxes, 
we shall leave them in the same genus, and mention first the domestic dog, 
C. familiaris (pl. 116, fig. 12), and quote Cuvier on this subject. “He is 
distinguished by his recurved tail, otherwise varying infinitely as to the 
size, form, color, and quality of the hair. He is the most complete, singular, 
and useful conquest ever made by man.. The whole species has become 
his property; each individual is devoted to his particular master, assumes 
his manners, knows and defends his possessions, and remains his true and 
faithful friend till death; and all this, neither from constraint nor want, but 
solely from the purest gratitude and the truest friendship. The swiftness, 
strength, and scent of the dog have rendered him man’s powerful ally 
against all other animals, and were even perhaps necessary to the estab- 
lishment of society. Of all animals, he is the only one which has followed 
man through every region of the globe. 
‘Some naturalists think the dog is a domesticated jackal, and yet those 
‘dogs which have become wild again in desert islands resemble neither the 
one nor the other. The wild dogs, and those that belong to savages, such 
as the inhabitants of New Holland, have straight ears, which has occasioned 
a belief that the European races which approach the most to the original 
type are the shepherd’s dog, 0. familiaris pastoreus (pl. 114, fig. 9), and 
the wolf dog; but the comparison of the crania indicates a closer affinity in 
the mastiff and Danish dog, subsequently to which come the hound, the 
pointer, and the terrier, differing amongst themselves only in size and in 
the proportion of the limbs. The greyhound, C. fam. leporarvus (pl. 116, 
fig. 14), is longer and more lank, its frontal sinuses are smaller, and its 
scent weaker. The shepherd’s dog and wolf dog resume the straight ears 
of the wild ones, with a greater cerebral development, which continues to * 
increase together with the intelligence in the barbet and the spaniel. The 
bull-dog, C. fam. molossus (pl. 116, fig. 18), on the other hand, is remarkable 
for the shortness and strength of his jaws.. The small pet dogs, the pugs, 
spaniels, shocks, &c., are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit the 
most striking marks of that power to which man subjects all nature.” 
692 
