Canis domesticus. Linn. Var.

The generic characters of this well known group, comprehending not only the various races of the Dog, the Wolf, and the Jackal, but also the numerous species of Foxes, which differ from the rest only in the form of the pupils of their eyes (which are round in the former, and transversely linear in the latter) may be shortly enumerated as follows. They are all furnished in the upper jaw with six sharp incisors and two canine teeth in front, and with six molars on each side; the same number of each description is also to be found in the lower, with the addition of a seventh grinder. Their tongue is perfectly smooth, the papillÆ which cover it being soft and velvety to the touch, instead of rough and pointed as in the HyÆnas and Cats. They have five toes to each of the fore feet, of which only the four outermost touch the ground, the fifth being always more or less elevated. On the hind feet the number of the toes is no more than four, for although the rudiment of a fifth is distinctly visible in the skeleton, it is rarely observable in the living animal. On these toes they constantly support themselves in walking, the soles of their feet, or rather that part of the legs which corresponds to the soles of plantigrade animals, never being applied to the surface of the ground on which they tread. Their claws are blunt, strong, but little curved, and not at all retractile; and their use is evidently limited to turning up the earth. Their muzzle is more or less elongated to afford space for the ample series of lateral teeth; and the strength of their jaws, as well as the extent of opening between them, is by this means much diminished. In most of these particulars they exhibit a striking contrast with the more perfect of the carnivorous races, and afford grounds for expecting an equally manifest falling off from their ferocious and sanguinary propensities. The dogs are in fact by no means equally carnivorous with the cats; and their teeth, especially the grinders, are fitted as well for the demolition of vegetable as of animal substances.

In a wild state, however, they subsist themselves principally by preying upon the inferior animals, feeding with nearly equal relish upon the warm and palpitating fibres of a fresh and almost living victim, and upon the mangled carcass which taints the air with its unsavoury exhalations. Their habitation is in the depths of the forest, where the larger species form themselves dens in the close and thick underwood, while the smaller burrow in the earth for shelter. Their lengthened muzzle and the great extent to which all the cavities connected with the nose are dilated, are admirably fitted for giving to the organ of smell the fullest developement of which it is capable. It is the perfection of this organ, combined with the general lightness and muscularity of their frame and the firm agility of their elongated limbs, which renders many of the species such excellent hunters, by enabling them to scent their prey at an immense and sometimes almost incredible distance, and to run it down in the chase with indefatigable swiftness and unrelaxing pertinacity.

The very terms of the specific character by which LinnÆus attempted to distinguish the domesticated from the other dogs, “the tail curved upwards (towards the left),” may be regarded as affording in themselves a sufficient proof of the difficulty of the task, when so great a naturalist, after taking a complete review of all the particulars of their organization, was compelled to rest contented with a distinction drawn from so trifling and apparently insignificant a remark. It would in fact appear to be absolutely impossible to offer in any form of words whatever a character sufficiently comprehensive to combine the almost infinite varieties of this Protean race, and at the same time to separate them from those other races from which they are generally believed to be specifically distinct. To this observation of LinnÆus almost the sole addition that has been made by later zoologists consists in a remark of M. Desmarest, that whenever a spot of white is found upon any part of the tail of a domestic dog, the tip of that very variable organ is also constantly white; so that we are still driven to recur to the tail alone for the only uniform physical characteristics that have been pointed out to distinguish an animal, which every one recognises at first sight, and which indeed it is impossible to mistake.

But it is to the moral and intellectual faculties of the Dog that we must look for those remarkable peculiarities which distinguish him in so eminent a degree not only from his immediate neighbours, but also from every other quadruped. Unfortunately we have not the means of comparing him in a pure state of nature with the other animals of his tribe; for although it has been repeatedly attempted to determine his primitive stock, there can be no doubt that upon this point we are still as much as ever in the dark. There exist, however, in various parts of the world, considerable numbers of Dogs, the descendants unquestionably of races formerly domesticated, which, to all appearance, differ but little in their habits and manners from the Wolf and the Jackal, to one or other of which they frequently approach in form, and from each of which it has been confidently asserted that the domestic species was primarily derived. But the doubts to which this striking similarity might otherwise give rise are instantly removed by the readiness with which these wild Dogs submit to the control of man, and become familiarized with that state of servitude to which nature appears to have destined them from the first. Other animals may indeed be tamed; they may become playful, familiar, and even affectionate; but none of them have hitherto been taught, even by long-continued training, to exhibit qualities of mind in any degree comparable to the absolute subserviency, the undeviating attachment, the submissive docility, and the acute intelligence, which these invaluable animals almost spontaneously manifest, when placed in circumstances favourable to their developement.

So much has been written by authors of every description, from the earliest ages down to the present time, upon every point connected with their history and habits, and the space which we could devote to their illustration in the present volume is so small, that we choose rather not to enter at all upon the subject than to treat of it in the very abrupt and imperfect manner to which we should necessarily be restricted. It only remains therefore to add a few observations relative to the extremely beautiful leash of hounds which are figured at the head of the present article, before passing to the consideration of the remaining species of the group which are at present contained in the Menagerie.

These are two males and one female, belonging to the most elegant as well as the most intelligent variety of the species, that to which LinnÆus, on account of the high degree to which the latter quality was carried in them, gave par excellence the epithet of sagax. They were presented by Major, now Colonel Denham, on his return from the most successful expedition that has perhaps ever been made into the evil-omened regions of Central Africa, from whence they were brought by that gallant traveller, who also gave Mr. Cops the following account of their qualifications for the chase. He had repeatedly, he said, made use of them in hunting the Gazelle, in their pursuit of which he had observed that they displayed more cunning and sagacity than any dogs with which he was acquainted, frequently quitting the line of scent for the purpose of cutting off a double, and recovering it again with the greatest facility. They would follow a scent after an hour and a half or even two hours had elapsed; and the breed was therefore commonly employed in Africa for the purpose of tracing a flying enemy to his retreat. They are in fact, both for symmetry and action, perfect models; and there are few sportsmen who will not regret that there appears no chance of crossing our own pointers with this interesting breed. A mixed race, combining the qualifications of both, would unquestionably be one of the most valuable acquisitions to our sporting stock; but, unhappily, this union seems to be altogether hopeless; for although they have now been more than three years in England, and are in excellent health and condition, they appear, like many other animals restrained of their liberty and kept constantly together, to have no disposition to perpetuate their race. The males are remarkably good tempered; the female on the contrary is surly and ill natured.