18 
MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 
[CasL*8 
17 - 20 .] 
selection has gone so very much further, that the Dogs have 
gradually lost nearly all traces of their wild ancestry, and have 
developed into the innumerable different races now existing, races 
so distinct that, were they natural instead of artificial, they would 
be referred to several different genera. 
Dogs were domesticated by man long before the earliest records 
of history, their remains being found in association with the rude 
implements of the ancient cave- and lake - dwellers of Central 
Europe. 
Several varieties of the Domestic Dog are exhibited in Case 19; 
in Case 20 two diminutive Lap-Dogs, not six inches long, and 
representing the smallest development of the tribe as yet attained ; 
behind them a head of the largest known Dog, a prize Great 
Dane, the skeleton of which is mounted in the Osteological Gallery ; 
the weight of this Dog when alive was nearly 13 stone. A speci- 
men of the Dingo (^Canis dingo), the Wild Dog of Australia, un- 
doubtedly introduced in that continent, though longbefore the advent 
of Europeans, and an example of the African Hunting-Dog (^Lycaon 
venaticus), remarkable for the possession of only four toes on each 
of its feet, and for its superficial resemblance to the Hyaenas, are 
exhibited in the same Cases. 
In the upper compartments of Cases 17 and 18 are the Wolves, 
among them a specimen of the European Wolf {Cams lupus) from 
Moscow, and one of the Black Wolf of Thibet (C. laniger). 
AVolves range all over Europe, continental Asia, and North 
America. The Jackals of Africa and India (Case 19) and the 
Wild Dogs of India (Case 20) are smaller in size. 
Among the Foxes [Vulpes) may be noticed the Common Fox (F. 
^'ulgaris), the Cross-Fox of North America [V.pennsylvanica), and 
others. The white race of the Arctic Fox ( V. lagopus), one of the 
most valuable fur-bearing animals, changes the colour of its coat 
according to the season, like many other Arctic animals ; while 
the blue race retains its colour all the year round and yields in 
winter a still more rich and valuable fur than the white. 
The beautiful large-eared Fennecs of Africa are closely allied to 
the Foxes. The Bush-Dog of Guiana and Brazil [Icticyon vena- 
ticus) and the Raccoon Dog of China and Japan {Nyctereutes 
procyonoides) are other remarkable types of Dogs, very aberrant 
