194 
VERTEBEATA. 
We have had occasion to illustrate this principle in a former part of this work (p. 42) in its 
application to other animals, the hog, sheep, ox, goat, &c. It is quite as well authenticated 
in regard to dogs. The fierce, unconquerable bull-dog, when transported to India, in a few 
years is altered in form ; he loses his courage and ferocity, and becomes a perfect coward, 
Prichard says : 
" It appears that barking is an acquired, hereditary instinct ; it has become natural to domesti- 
cated dogs and young whelps to learn to bark, even when separated at birth from their parents. 
It has been conjectured that barking originated in an attempt to imitate the human voice ; 
however that may be, wild dogs do not bark. There are numerous troops of wild dogs in South 
America, principally in the Pampas. There are also in the Antilles, and in the isles on the 
coasts of Chili, similar breeds. These, in recovering their liberty, have lost the habit of 
barking ; like other uncultivated breeds of dogs, they only howl. It is known that the two dogs 
brought by Mackenzie to England from the western parts of America, could never bark, and 
continued to utter their habitual howl ; but a whelp bred from them in Europe learned to bark. 
It has often been observed, that the dogs in the island of Juan Fernandez, the progeny of those 
that were left there purposely by the Spaniards before Lord Anson's time, with the design of 
exterminating the goats, were never known to bark. A curious observation of M. Poulin is, that 
the cats in South America have in like manner lost those ' miaulemens incommodes' which are 
so often heard during the hours of night in many parts of Europe." It would be easy to add 
many other similar proofs of the plastic nature of dogs, under the influences of cHmate and 
condition. 
Our conclusion as to the unity and independence of species, in the race of dogs, having the 
greatest Aveight of opinion and authority in its favor, as well as the greatest weight of fact and 
argument, may, we think, be safely adopted, especially as it probably will ever remain impossible 
to attain absolute certainty on this subject. 
It is true that some persons have conjectured that there have been various creations of dogs, 
of which the several existing breeds are the descendants ; but, as there is no evidence whatever 
of such a fact, and as this furnishes no better explanation of the phenomena which are under 
discussion than the well-established principles and facts just alluded to, it is hardly worthy of 
serious consideration. 
We are, however, unwilling to close this topic without one final suggestion — partaking as much 
of feeling, perhaps, as argument — but which is not without its significance. From the earliest 
periods, as we have already suggested, in which history presents civilized man to our view, we 
find the dog and the wolf — the former as his friend, and the latter as his enemy ; the first as 
sagacious, faithful, and valuable, — the latter as ferocious, hateful, and destructive, as at the present 
day. W^ithin the first thousand years after the Deluge, we find that divine honors were paid to 
the dog, evidently on account of his admirable qualities ; it is not possible, therefore, to imagine 
him to be the descendant of an ignoble brute like the jackal or the fox, and still less of the 
hostile and tameless wolf. It is true that most savage animals may, in a few cases, become 
attached to their keepers — those avIio habitually feed and care for them — but in no other do we 
find the slightest approach to those qualities Avhich distinguish the dogs, — not as individuals, be 
it remembered, but as a race. " Man," says Burns, " is the god of the dog : he knows no other. 
See how he worships him ! With what reverence he crouches at his feet : with what reverence 
he looks up to him : with what delight he fawns upon him : with what cheerful alacrity he obeys 
him !" Can this relation between man and the dog, beginning and continuing with our race, 
from its infancy to the present time, be accidental? Is it not rather one of those deep and 
beneficent provisions which exalt the contemplations of every reflecting and well-balanced mind, 
in respect to the Creator ? 
But, as in the case of man, supposing the several tribes and nations to be of one species, we 
still classify them into distinct groups, so with regard to dogs, they have been arranged into 
races, according to their affinities. 
The following is the classification, according to the development of the frontal sinus and the 
cerebral cavity, or in other words, the power of scent and the degree of intelligence. It originated 
