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Show 1882.] DR. VAN DYCK ON SYRIAN STREET-DOGS. 369 causes; and these modifications of structure &c. differ in different species under apparently the same conditions. Statements of this nature have sometimes "been misinterpreted, as if it were supposed that variations were indefinite or fluctuating, and that the same variations occurred in all species. In reference to sexual selection, I will here only add that the complete manner in which the introduced dogs and other domestic animals in South America and other countries have been mongrelized, so that all traces of their original race have been lost, often appeared to me a surprising fact. This holds good according to Rengger1 with the dogs even in so isolated a country as Paraguay. I formerly attributed this mongrelization merely to the breeds not having been kept separate and to the greater vigour of cross-bred offspring ; but if the females often prefer strangers to their old companions, as seems to be the case, according to Nordenskibld, in Siberia, and in Syria as shown in the following essay, then we can readily understand how rapid and complete would be the progress of mongrelization. I will now give without further comment the essay which Dr. W . Van Dyck, Lecturer on Zoology to the Protestant College at Bey rout, who has had excellent opportunities for observations during a residence of twenty years, has been so kind as to send me. On the Modification of a Race of Syrian Street-Dogs by means of Sexual Selection. By W . Van D Y C K , M.D. Beyrout is one of the principal ports on the Syrian coast, and has a population of from eighty to one hundred thousand. Like most Oriental cities, its system of street-cleansing is far from perfect, and much of the scavenging is left to the street-dogs, many hundreds of which roam at large through the town and suburbs, picking up a subsistence as they best can. Twenty years ago, and previously, these dogs were quite a homogeneous race, the following being a rough description of a typical specimen :-height at shoulder, 20-22 in. ; length from muzzle to root of tail 32-34 in. ; length of tail, 12-15 in.; colour sandy grey, with some variety of shades (rarely so light as to pass for dirty white), in most cases distinctly darker above than beneath, and not unfrequently grizzled or brindled ; head of medium size, with rather pointed snout and small pointed semipendulous ears ; tail bushy, usually carried up over the back, sometimes much curled ; general aspect decidedly jackal-like, or semi-wolfish ; disposition cowardly, seldom savage. The only departures worthy of mention from the above type, at the time of which I write, were occasional black dogs, mostly with shorter hair than that of the sandy ones, rarely piebald black-and-white specimens. At the present date, the case is very different. The sandy-grey colour still prevails, it is true ; but there is hardly au imaginable colour or combination of colours 1 ' Naturgesohiehte der Siiugethiere vou Paraguay,' 1830, p. 154, 2 5* |
