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Show 1890.] ON THE DOMESTIC DOG. 21 The following table gives the measurements of different specimens. Table XXX.-Pariah Dogs. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Av. -Ci 43 6£ a ftH i-t 03 43 o EH 290-32 320-32 305-45 284'48 301-58 303-84 305-50 301-64 a 43 . SJ3 ft-.* 149-19 168-61 188-18 167-24 150-47 156-07 180-74 165-78 ft. 03 Uft o (^ H O ,0 138-70 156-09 155-40 127-58 153-96 144-30 151-37 146-77 CM 43 O rt 43 P, 33 90-32 108-12 105-45 110-68 90-47 94-61 102-76 100-34 -H =8 a PH hi 88-70 110-89 121-81 94-82 105-50 106-92 124-78 107-63 a =8 a PH hi 106-45 125-20 131-27 125-86 121-42 115'38 133-94 122-79 a hi 28-22 31-20 30-90 32-41 30-15 29-23 35-57 31-09 rH a hi 16-93 21-13 20-0 21-55 21-42 18-0 21-65 20-12 rH a pq 23-38 25-52 26-72 27-93 27-30 26-15 27-65 26-38 967 13-28 10-90 10-68 10-79 11-84 13-21 11-48 a I pq 13-70 17-88 17-27 17-24 15-87 16-51 16-41 32-58 33-65 30-90 39-13 33-65 31-23 38-16 34-18 oi a hi 15-32 14-63 13-09 13-27 12-69 13-38 16-51 12-69 Ico" la hi 8-94 8-27 7-14 8-46 10-09 8-58 No. 1 (Bengal). Nos. 2, 3, 4 (Nepaul). No. 5 (Bengal). Nos. 6 & 7 (Nepaul). All from Nat. Hist. M u s. Various opinions have been expressed with regard to the origin and relations of the D I N G O . Ogilby! says " there are strong grounds for believing that the Dingo or native dog (of Australia) is not an aboriginal inhabitant of the continent, but a subsequent importation, in all probability contemporary with the primitive settlement of the natives. Many circumstances might be advanced m support of this opinion ; the simple fact of his anomaly is itself a strong corroboration of it; and his absence from the contiguous islands of Tasmania and New Zealand, inhabited by races of human beings differing in language and origin from the natives of Continental Australia, appears almost to demonstrate his introduction from the north, where he is found in New Guinea, in Timor, in many of the smaller groups scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean, and in all the great islands of the Indian Archipelago. The extirpation of the Thylacinus harrisii and Dasyurus ursinus from the continental portion of Australia, is a strong corroboration of this supposition." T£ouatt states that it approaches in appearance the largest kind of Sheep-dog. Its head is elongated, forehead flat, ears short and erect or directed slightly forwards. Its body is covered with hair of two kinds-(1) woolly and grey, (2) silky aud deep yellow or fawn. It seldom barks. 'Stonehenge' says that it resembles the Fox so closely in the shape of its body that an ordinary observer could readily mistake it for one of that species, while the head is that of a wolf. Pelzeln, as already mentioned, believes this dog to have had a common origin with the Pariah. It is not in his opinion a native of Australia, the varieties of its colouring being a proof of this fact. The measurements of several specimens will be found in the next table. 1 Trans. Lima. Soc. xviii. p. 121. |
