of the Dog, the Wolf and the Fox: 249 



are proportionally stronger and more prominent in the wolf than 

 in the fox and the dog. As to the contraction of the cranium , 

 which takes place behind the post-orbital apophyses of the fron- 

 tal bone, it is proportionally much more distinct in the fox than 

 in the wolf. 



If we turn the crania of the dog, the wolf, and the fox upside 

 down, and compare the transverse extent of the head, thus re- 

 versed, on a horizontal plane, this extent will be found much 

 larger in the first of these animals than in the others. Thus we 

 are not surprised to find the arch of the palate having a larger 

 transverse diameter in the dog than in the wolf and fox. The 

 basilary portion of the occipital bone, which is articulated with 

 the posterior part of the sphenoidal bone, also exhibits a much 

 larger quadrangular surface in the dog than in the wolf. The 

 fox, in this particular, resembles the dog, and this gives to both 

 these animals a larger capacity at the base of the cranium. Fi- 

 nally, and this character is sufficiently marked, the occipital 

 protuberance forms a projection much more prominent, and 

 quite otherwise developed, in the wolf than in either the dog or 

 the fox. 



The orbits of the fox are proportionably larger than those of 

 the wolf. This is also true respecting the orbits of the dog, 

 especially of the more intelligent races. The difference becomes 

 more sensible as we proceed from the mastiff to the spaniel, or 

 to any other variety which is highly domesticated. The snout 

 of the fox is usually narrower, and more slender than that of the 

 other animals with which we are now comparing it ; so that it 

 has almost become a proverb regarding individuals with a some- 

 what long, narrow, and projecting face, that they have a rey- 

 nard's snout. 



There are still other characters which help to distinguish the 

 different species we are now considering ; for example, the occi- 

 pital foramen, which is almost circular in dogs, even in the mas- 

 tiff, the variety most resembling the wolf, is, in this latter animal, 

 of an oval form, the extremities of which answer to the inner 

 portion of each condyle. Hence it follows that, in the wolf, the 

 transverse breadth of the occipital foramen is greater than in the 

 dog. In the fox also, this foramen has an oval shape, but the 



