DOGS. 
17 
the foot-pads. Their osteological characters are referred to on 
p. 74. 
This family contains a large number of species, all more or less 
closely allied to each other, with the exception of one or two aber- 
rant forms. The principal genus is Canis, which comprises Dogs, 
Wolves, and Jackals. 
The history of the development and domestication of the Common 
Dog is a highly interesting subject, which is as yet far from being 
fully understood. Many naturalists, to within a very recent period, 
entertained the view that there had existed one original wild species 
from which, by man^s agency, all the various races of Dogs had 
been developed. This view has now been abandoned ; in its place it 
is believed that in many parts of the world the natives have tamed 
the wild species indigenous to their country, and that in course of 
time, as certain nations became more civilized, their Dogs were 
more and more adapted to their various requirements by careful 
breeding, and by the selection and perpetuation of the most useful 
varieties, until many of them ceased to show resemblance to their 
far-distant wild ancestors. 
In support of this view the fact may be adduced that at the 
present day, among savage and primitive tribes, the tame Dogs 
bear a striking resemblance to the wild species of Dog found in 
their country. Thus the Esquimaux Dog resembles the North- 
American Wolf {Canis occidentalism, the Hare-Indian Dog the 
Coyote or Prairie-Wolf (C. latrans), while in British Guiana the 
natives are known to train and domesticate the indigenous Wild 
Dogs. In the Old World the Hungarian Sheep-Dog might be 
readily mistaken for the European Wolf {Canis lupus), the Street- 
Dogs of Constantinople and Cairo for Jackals, and certain of the 
Indian Pariah Dogs for individuals of the Indian Wolf [Canis 
pallipes). The degraded Bushmen of South Africa have a tame 
Dog which agrees in many of its characters with the Black-backed 
Jackal {Canis mesomelas) of that region. 
Thus there can be no doubt that these tame or semi-domesti- 
cated Dogs are individuals of the same stock as the wild species of 
the country, with which indeed they readily mix whenever they 
cease to be under the control of their masters. 
In more civilized countries the process of domestication and 
c 
