90 
MAMMALIA. 
which has itself a large internal process. They are carnivorous animals, hut not preda- 
tory in proportion to their strength, and often feed on carrion. They have all a small 
coecum. 
The Dogs {Canis, Lin.) — 
Have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous grinders behind each carnivorous tooth. 
The first of these upper tuberculous molars is very large. Their superior carnivorous tooth has only a 
small internal tubercle ; but the inferior one has its hinder portion altogether tuberculous. The 
tongue is soft ; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind-feet [in general] only four. [The coecum is 
of a peculiar spiral form.] 
The Domestic Dog Lin.)— -Distinguished by its recurved tail, but otherwise varying infinitely | 
with respect to size*, form, colour, and quality of the hair. It is the most complete, the most singular, and useful ^ 
conquest ever made by Man ; the whole species having become his property: each individual is devoted to its | 
particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends his property, and remains attached to him I 
until death ; and all this, neither from constraint nor want, but solely from gratitude and pure friendship. The | 
swiftness, strength, and scent of the Dog have rendered him a powerful ally to Man against other animals, and I 
were even, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. It is the only animal which has followed Man all | 
over the world. 
Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he is a domesticated Jackal ; but those which have . 
become wild on desert islands resemble neither one nor the other, t ■ 
The wild Dogs, and those which belong to; 
savages, such as the inhabitants of Australia,? 
have straight ears, whence has arisen a belief that] 
the European races, nearest to the original type,' 
are our Shepherd’s Dog and Wolf Dog ; but com-' 
parison of the crania indicates a closer approach 
on the part of the French Matin and Danish Dog^ 
after which follow the Hound, the Pointer, and 
the Terrier, which chiefly differ in size and the 
relative proportions of parts. The Greyhound is 
more attenuated, and has the the frontal sinus 
smaller, and scent weaker. The Shepherd's Dog 
and Wolf Dog resume the straight ears of the 
wild ones, but with greater developement of brain, 
which continues to increase, together with the! 
intelligence, in the Barbel and Spaniel. The; 
Bull-dog, on the other hand, is remarkable for the] 
shortness and strength of its jaws. The small j 
pet Dogs, the Pugs, lesser Spaniels, Shocks, &c. 
are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit j 
the most striking marks ofihat influence to which Man subjects all nature. 
The Dog is born with its eyes closed ; it opens them on the tenth or twelfth day ; its teeth commence changing 
in the fourth month, and its full growth is attained at the expiration of the second year. The female remains with' 
young sixty-three days, and produces from six to ten young at a birth. The Dog is old at fifteen years, and seldom 
Fig. 28.— The Dingo, o,r Australian Dog. 
* A specimen, which attained two years of age, and is preserved 
in the Museum of Dresden, measured only five inches and a 
half in length ; this being exactly the same length, from the corner of 
tlie eye to the tip of the nose, of a Saxon boar-hound examined by 
Col. Hamilton Smith. — E d. 
t If the idea, which I conceive there is every reason to entertain, 
respecting the origin of the Domestic Dog be well founded, it is clear 
that a recurrence to a single wild type would be impossible. The Dog 
is apparently a blended race, derived principally from the Wolf, and 
partly from various other allied species. In the Museum of the Zoologi- 
cal Society of London, there is a specimen of an Esquimaux Dog, which 
resembles the large American Wolf (C. nubilus) so closely, that there 
can scarcely be any doubt of the connexion which subsists between 
them ; and it is well known, of the American Wolves in particular, 
that if a young animal be surprised by a hunter, and suddenly menaced 
by his voice and manner, it will crouch to him and implore his mercy 
in precisely the manner of a spaniel ; so that only a little encourage- 
ment and kindness are required to gain its permanent attachment ; 
indeed, many of them are killed to obtain the proffered reward, by 
taking this (assuredly unworthy) advantage of their natural submis- 
siveness. That the Wolf possesses the mental qualities, and is 
capable of the same strong attachment to Man as the most faithful 
Dog, has been abundantly proved by the observations of M. F. Cuvier 
and others ; and the unremitting persecution to which it has been 
necessarily subjected in Europe for so many ages, will sufficiently 
account for the savage and distrustful character which it exhibits! 
when unreclaimed ; though even then the germs of a better dispositions 
are traceable in the permanent attachment of the male and female, 
and sociality of the young till urgent necessity, or the annual period] 
of dominant sexual excitement, subdues every milder propensity and] 
acquired sentiment of friendship or disinterested affection. 
In the late edition of Dr. Prichard’s work on Man, an old error is 
revived, which originated with Buffon, but which that naturalist 
afterwards corrected ; namely, that the period of gestation in the , 
Wolf is much shorter than in the Dog. It is precisely the same in j 
both animals. 
Instances occasionally happen of theDog returning by choice to a state * 
of wildness, and assuming then, of necessity, the character ascribed • 
to the Wolf. I have known this to occur in a male pointer, and in a j 
female greyhound: the latter was so fine a specimen of the breed, that 
on being entrapped, it was thought desirable to obtain a litter from 
her, which was accordingly effected ; but, while her puppies were very! 
young, she managed to escape to the woods, and never returned : J 
three of her progeny grew to be excellent hounds ; but two others] 
proved quite irreclaimable ; and escaping from servitude, like their ; 
dam, were finally shot, for their destructive poaching propensities. 
It is not unusual to trace the peculiar markings, and grizzled colour- < 
ing of the back, common to most of the wild species of Canis, inj 
domestic Dogs, of various size and character. — Ep. 
