198 
VERTEBRATA. 
of considerable size, witli a round muzzle, large liead, small, erect ears, and long, liairy tail ^ h.e is 
spotted with black, white, and yellow, and has a fierce, wolfish aspect. 
In Nubia there is a smaller dog of the same kind, which never burrows. It lives on small 
animals and birds, and rarely enters any of the towns. A similar dog inhabits the neighbor- 
hood of the Cape, and particularly the Karroo or Wilderness. It is smaller than either of the 
others, and lives among bushes or under prominent rock=*. Others, although not identified with 
the jackal, yet, associating with him, inhabit the uplands of Gambia and Senegal. 
On the Gold Coast the dog is used and prized as an article of food. He is fattened and 
driven to market as the European drives his sheep and hogs. The dog is even more valued than 
the sheep for human subsistence, and is deemed the greatest luxury that can be placed even on 
the royal table. 
In Loango, or LoAvcr Guinea, there are wild dogs which hunt in large packs ; they fearlessly 
attack even the elephant, and generally destroy him. In the neighborhood of the Cape, the 
country is nearly cleared of wild beasts ; but in Cape Town, as we have stated, there are a great 
number of lean and miserable dogs, who howl about the streets at night, quitting their dens and 
lurking-places, in quest of offal. Not long ago, the wolves and hyenas used to descend and dis- 
pute the spoil with these dogs, while the town resounded with their hideous bowlings all the 
night long. 
The American dogs, whether wild or domestic, are supposed to be descendants of European 
or Asiatic breeds. The Newfoundland dog, the Labrador dog, the Esquimaux dog, the Hare 
Indian dog, are races which originated in the northern parts of the continent, probably at no very 
remote date, from foreign varieties. When America was discovered, the Indians of both divisions 
of the continent were already in possession of dogs in a half-tamed state, doubtless of nearly the 
same breeds as those which their descendants still possess. A small species of dog called J/co, 
in two varieties — one the size of a Guinea-pig, and the other larger— was found among the Mex- 
icans and Peruvians, but it appears to have become extinct. Dogs were also found among the 
Indians of the Caribbean Isles. 
The wild dogs of America at the present day are not numerous, except in some parts of South 
America, where they exist in considerable numbers. These appear to be of various breeds, though 
most of them are of the race called Cayotte, which has a resemblance to the woltj and has often 
been described as a species of that animal. The Indians, as well in North as South America, have 
numerous dogs, mostly derived fi-om the wild breeds. In Mexico and Colombia great numbers of 
similar dogs are used for the pui-pose of guarding the droves of horses and herds of cattle — one 
planter often having many thousands of these creatures. We are told by Dr. Lewis in his 
excellent edition of " Youatt on the Dog," that " there is a diminutive species of dog running wild, 
and burrowing in the ground like rabbits, in the neighborhood of Santa Fe and Chihuahua. They 
are of every variety of hue, and resort to their burrows whenever disturbed in their natural 
haunts. What they subsist on it is difficult to say, as they are too harmless and insignificant to 
attack any other animal beyond a mouse or a snail. They are represented as being very 
difficult to tame, but when domesticated show no disposition to return to their former mode of 
life. The lady of the Mexican Minister, when in this city, had one of these dogs as a boudoir 
pet ; it was lively, and barked quite fiercely. We have not been able to ascertain whether they 
bark in their natural state." 
The celebrated mastiffs of Thibet, the dingo of Australia, and the Esquimaux dog, are semi- 
civilized races, and will be noticed with the domesticated breeds. 
PRELIMINARY HISTORY OF DOGS. 
The classification of the various breeds of dogs we have to propose, like every other, will 
necessarily be defective, from the want of information as to the races of antiquity, and even some 
of the existing varieties. We know, indeed, from the sculptures and paintings of ancient Egypt, 
that in the early ages the people of that country had various breeds of dogs, and some of them 
were favorites. In these representations we find hounds and greyhounds, pet domestic dogs, 
turnspits, watch-dogs, and hunting-dogs. Some kinds were regarded with religious veneration, 
