a 
' was observed on one side or on the other. 
296 
spondence in all the parts of their skeletons was 
found to exist, and at the same time some im- 
portant variations, especially in the degree of 
elevation of the frontal sinuses. The teeth were 
always of the same number and general form ; 
sometimes an additional false molar, or a tubercle, 
It is 
well known that all dogs have five toes on the 
fore-feet, and only four on the hinder, while there 
is a slight trace of a rudimental fifth toe in the 
hinder metatarsal bone, which, however, shows no 
appearance on the outside. These toes being of 
unequal length, usually preserve the same rela- 
tions in all the races ; but sometimes a fifth toe 
exhibits itself on the internal surface of the hin- 
der-feet. 
and imperfect, and this last is the maximum of 
variation found in the skeletons of all the races of 
dogs. It thus appears abundantly evident, that 
animals now possess certain characters which 
remain permanent, and resist all modifications, 
whether arising from climate or domestication, 
or from a natural tendency to run into connate 
varieties. 
Time, however, it has been said, may effect a 
perceptible modification in the entire characters 
of species. Fossil remains, and other geological 
monuments, appear to show that millions of years 
have elapsed since the first species of animals 
inhabited the earth, and it is asked, may they 
not have undergone many modifications during 
the interval? It is evident that we can only 
ascertain the effect which a very long time will 
produce, by comparing it with the change actual- 
ly observed to have taken place during a shorter 
period. MM. Cuvier and Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire 
sought out the most ancient documents which 
Keypt could afford, for the purpose of solving 
this question, so important to the naturalist, 
and essential to a knowledge of the past history 
of our globe. M. Cuvier examined with great 
care the ancient Egyptian obelisks transported 
to Rome, and found a perfect resemblance be- 
tween the general form of the animals engraved 
thereon, and the common species of our own day. 
M. Geoffroy collected as many mummies of the 
lower animals and of man as he could find, and 
was led to form a similar conclusion. These 
monuments must have been from 2,000 to 3,000 
years old. “For a long time,” says M. Lacépéde 
in the report he made upon these objects in com- 
mon with MM. Cuvier and Lamarck,—“ for a 
long time philosophers have been anxious to know 
whether species change their forms during the 
course of ages. This question, apparently trivial, 
is yet essential to the history of the globe, and 
to the solution of a thousand other questions not 
far removed from the gravest objects of human 
veneration. Never were we in a better condi- 
tion to decide the question upon a great number 
of remarkable species, and for a long period of 
years. The superstition of the ancient Egyptians 
would almost seem to have been inspired by Na- 
It is, however, generally very short 
SPECIKS. “ 
ture, for the purpose of bequeathing to us a 
monument of her history. A people of fantasti- 
cal opinions, by embalming with so much care 
the brute beings, objects of their stupid adora- 
tion, have left in their sacred grottoes complete 
cabinets of zoology. The climate has united with 
the art of embalming to preserve these bodies 
from all corruption, and we have now the means 
of ascertaining with our own eyes what was the 
condition of these animals 3,000 years ago. One 
can scarcely restrain the raptures of imagination 
upon seeing at the present day an animal pre- 
served, with the smallest bone and hair perfectly 
distinguishable, which had 3,000 years since in 
Thebes or Memphis its priests and altars. But 
without wandering into all the subjects to which 
these associations give rise, we shall confine our- 
selves to noticing the simple fact—that these 
animals perfectly resemble those of the present 
day.” 
Although the bones of a species do not vary to 
any extent, yet the identity of osteological cha- 
racters is not alone sufficient to establish an 
identity of species ; and some species which pos- 
sess a most exact similarity of structure are held, 
by the general consent of naturalists, to be of 
different species. It is almost impossible to dis- 
tinguish the skeleton of the wolf from that of the 
wild dog of New Holland. Their teeth are the 
same; the vertebre of the tail are equal in num- 
ber; the feet have the same number of toes; 
and the bones of the head exhibit the same re- 
lations, except that the orbital fossz are slightly 
larger in the wolf. The same thing occurs in the- 
wolf of Canada, which is smaller than the com- 
mon wolf, and larger than the dog of New Hol- 
land, The jackal also resembles the wolf-dog 
very closely, especially in the form of the head. 
There is likewise a most exact similarity in re- 
spect to the organs of sense among the New Hol- 
land dog, the Canadian wolf, and the jackal. 
Again, the quality and arrangement of the hair 
exhibit no essential differences, for they all may 
have either woolly or silky hair, according as 
they have been naturalized in cold or temperate 
countries. In fact, they only differ in colour. 
Yet all these genera merely vary from white to 
brown or black, and excepting the black wolf, 
which has the hair of a uniform colour, the others 
have hairs of fawn, black, or white so mingled 
together, that it is difficult to set down any co- 
lour as peculiar to either species, and which will 
not pass by insensible shades into another. What 
then, it may naturally be inquired, forms the dis- 
tinction between a species and a mere variety ; 
and how are we to ascertain those permanent 
characters which were assigned to our domestic 
animals at the origin of things? If these ques- 
tions be considered in a purely abstract form, no 
difficulty can arise, as we have only to include in 
the same species all those animals, whose differ- 
ences of external form and garb can be traced to 
some acknowledged causes of variation ; while 
