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Show 26 DOGS. CHAP. I. extinct mammal s, so t h at I'ts I'ntr·oclucti'on must have been anC.ie n tZ. 7 f l half- From this resemblance in several countries o t le domesticated don-s to the wild species still living there,-from tho facility with which they can often be crossed togcther,-from ' oven half-tamed animals being so much valued by savages,.and from the other circumstances previously remarked on whiCh favour their domestication, it is highly probable that the ~omestic don-s of tho world have descended from two good species of wolf ( v~. G. lupus and G. latrans ), and from two OT thr~e other doubtful species of wolves (namely, tho European, Indian, .and North African forms) ; from at least one or two Sou~h Amencan canine species ; from several races or species of the Jackal ; and perhaps from one or more extinct species. Th?so authors. who attribute great influence to the action of climate by Itself may thus account for tho resemblance of t~1e domesticated dogs and native animals in the same countnes ; but I . know of no facts supporting tho belief in so powerful an actiOn of climate. It cannot be objected to the view of several canine species having been anciently domesticated, that these animals are tamed with difficulty: facts have been already given on this head, but I may add that the young of tho Canis prinw~~us of India were tamed by Mr. Iloclgson/8 and became as sensible to caresses, and manifested as much intelligence, as any sporting dog of the same age. rl'hero is not much eli Cference, as we have already shown and shaH immediately further sec, in habits between tho domestic clogs of the North American Indians and the wolves of that country, or between the Eastern pariah dogs and jackals, or between the dogs which have run wild in various countries and the several natural species of the family. The habit of barking, however, which is almost universal with domesticated 27 S lwyn, Geology of Victoria ; 'Journal of Gcolog. Soc.,' vol. xiv., 1858, p. 53G, and vol. xvi., 18GO, p. 148; and Prof. :M:'Coy, in 'Annals and :M:ag. of Nnt. {list.' (3rd series), vol. ix., 18G2, p. 11.7. The Dingo differs from tho dogs of tho central Polyncsin.n islands. Dieffenbach remarll:s ('Travels,' vol. ii. p. 45) that the native Now Zealand dog also differs from tho Dingo. 2s ' Proce clings Zoolog. Soc. ,' 1833, p. 112. See, also, on tho taming of tho common wolf, L. Lloyd, 'Scu.ndinavian Adventures,' vol. i. p. 460, 1854. With respect to tho jackal, see Prof. Gervais, 'I-Iist. Nat.Mamm.,' tom. ii. p. 61. With respect to tho aguara of Paraguay, see Rcnggcr's work. \ \ <::nAP. J. TIIEIR PARENTAGE. 27 dogs, and which does not charact erise a single natural species of tho family, seems an exception; but this habit is soon lost and soon reacquired. The case of the wild clogs on the island of Juan Fernandez having become dumb has often been quoted, and there is reason to believe 29 that the dumbness ensued in the course of thirty-three years; on the other hand, clogs taken from this island by Ulloa slowly reacquired tho habit of barking. The Mackenzie-river clogs, of the Canis lat1·ans type, when brought to England, never learned to bark properly ; but one born in the Zoological Gardens 30 " made his v.oic~, sound as. loudly as any oth~r clog of the same age and SIZO. • Accordmg to Professor Nillson,31 a wolf-whelp reared by .a bitch barks.. I. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire exhibited a jackal ;vhwh ~arked w1th tho same tone as any common clog.32 .A .. n mtorestmg account has been given by Mr. G. Clarke sa of some dogs run wild on Juan de Nova, in the Indian Ocean · :' th:y l:ad entirely lost the faculty of barking ; they had n~ mclmatwn for the company of other dogs, nor did the acqm.r o t1el1r 'v.Oic e, "culn'n g a captivity of several monthsy. On ~he isl~nd they " congregate in vast packs, and catch soa-bu·ds With as much address as foxes could display.'' The feral ~ogs of La Plata have not become dumb; they are of large size, hunt single or in packs, and burrow holes for their young.34 In these habits the feral dogs of La Plata resemble wolves and jackals; both of which hunt either singly or in pa~~\:s, an.d burrow boles.35 These feral dogs have not become umform m colour on Juan Fernandez, Juan de Nova, or La Pla~a.36 In Cuba the feral .dogs are described by Poeppig as neaily all mouse-coloured, w1th short ears and light-blue eyes. • ~9 Roulin, in • :M:cm. 'present. par tl1vcrs Savans,' tom. vi. p. 34:1. 30 Martin, ' History of the Do"' ' p. 14. 01 31 Quoted by L. Lloyd in 'Field Sports of North of Europe,' vol. i. p. 387. 32 Quatrcfoges, ' Soc. cl'Acclimat ' May 11th, 1863, p. 7. ., 33 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. IIist.,' vol. xv., 184:5, p. 140. 34 Azara, 'Voyages dans l'Amcr. 1\icrid.,' tom. i. p. 381 ; his account is fully confirmed by Rcngger. Quatrc-fagcs gives an account of a bitch brotwht from J erusalem to France which b~rowecl a hole and littered in it. See 'Discours,Exposition des Races Canines ' 1865, P• 3. I 35 With r?spcct to wolves burrowing holes, see RIChardson, • Fauna BorcoliAmcricana,' p. 64; and Bechstein, ' Natm·gescb. Dcutschlands,' b. i. s. 617. ~6 See Pocppig, 'Reise in Chile,' b. i. s. 290; Mr. G. Clarke, as above; and Renggcr, s. 155. |