DOMESTIC DOGS. 
5*3 
period in which we have evidence of the existence of domesticated dogs, there were 
several distinct breeds, more or less closely resembling some of those still extant, 
lias been urged as an important argument in favour of the multiple origin of 
the group; but too much weight must not be attached to this. The main 
argument in favour of the view of the multiple origin of the dog is that the 
different early and original breeds of the domestic dogs of different countries 
approximate in appearance to the wild species of the same regions. For instance, 
the Eskimo dogs are exceedingly like wolves, and Mr. Bartlett states confidently 
that we are justified in regarding them as nothing more than reclaimed wolves. 
Indeed, the Eskimo are said to be in the constant habit of crossing their dogs 
with wolves, in order to maintain their size and stamina. Then again some of 
the more northerly tribes of the Indians of North America have wolf-like dogs, 
their howls being so like those of wolves that even their owners can scarcely 
distinguish between the two. On the other hand, the domestic dogs of the Hare 
Indians closely resemble the coyote, which is the most common species in the 
districts inhabited by those tribes. These dogs are stated, indeed, by Sir J. 
Richardson to present precisely the same relation to the coyote as is borne by 
the Eskimo dog to the common wolf. Then again the black wolf-dog of Florida 
is almost indistinguishable from the black variety of the wolf characterising 
that country. Further, many of the sheep-dogs and wolf-dogs of Europe resemble 
the wolves inhabiting the same districts; and Blyth was struck with the marked 
resemblance of some of the pariah dogs of India to the wolf of the same country. 
Moreover, in South-Eastern Europe and Southern Asia many of the domestic 
dogs so closely resemble jackals, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish 
between them. Still more important is the circumstance that some of the 
domestic dogs of South Africa present a striking resemblance in form and colour 
to the black-backed jackal of the same regions, although they have lost the distinct 
black back characteristic of the latter. Equally noteworthy is the resemblance 
observed between certain South American domestic dogs and the wild Azara’s 
dog of the same regions. From this evidence Darwin was inclined to believe that 
domestic dogs were descended from the common wolf and the coyote, from the 
various local varieties of the former, from the Indian wolf, from Azara’s dog and 
another South American species, from at least two species of jackals, and perhaps 
from one or more extinct species. “ Although it is possible or even probable 
that domesticated dogs, introduced into any country and bred there for many 
generations, might acquire some of the characters proper to the aboriginal 
Canidce of the country, we can hardly thus account for introduced dogs having- 
given rise to two breeds in the same country, resembling two of its aboriginal 
species.” 
Mr. Bartlett, who is likewise a believer in the multiple origin of domestic dogs, 
observes that “ the fashion of hunting led, in all probability, to the separation of 
domestic dogs into two well-known breeds, viz., those that hunt by sight, as dis¬ 
tinguished from those that hunt by scent; for there can be no doubt that at a very 
early period dogs were used in the chase of wild animals. . . . The usefulness of 
dogs being established at a very early period would naturally lead to great care 
being bestowed upon them, and doubtless to the breeding of them in a domestic 
vol. i.— 33 
