OCR Text |
Show 100 STEPPES AND DESERTS. is identical with the Procyon, or Ursus cancrivorus, the Raton crabier, or crab-eating Aquaraguaza of the Patagonian coast. (Azara sur les quadrupedes du Paraguay, t. i. p. 315.) Linnreus, on the other hand, confounds the dumb variety of dogs with the Mexican Itzcuintepotzotli, a kind of dog still only imperfectly described, said to be distinguished by a short tail, a very small head, and a large hump on the back. The name signifies humped dog, and is formed from the Aztec, itzcuintli (another word for dog), and tepotzotli, humped, a humpback. I was particularly struck in America, and especially in Quito, and generally in Peru, with the great number of black dogs without hair, called by Buffon "chi ens turcs" (Canis regyptius, Linn.). Even among the Indians this variety is common, but it is generally despised and ill-treated. All European breeds of dogs perpetuate themselves very well in South America, and if the dogs there are not so handsome as those in Europe, the reason is partly want of care, and partly that the handsomest varieties (such as fine greyhounds and the Danish spotted breed) have never been introduced there. Herr von Tschudi makes the singular remark that, in the Cordilleras, at elevations of 13,000 feet, tender races of dogs, and the European domestic cat, are exposed to a particular kind of mortal disease. "Innumerable attempts have been made to keep cats as domestic animals in the town of the Cerro de Pasco, 13,228 French (or 14,100 English) feet above the level of the sea, but such attempts have failed, both cats and dogs dying at the end of a few days, in fits, in which the cats were taken at first with convulsive movements, then tried to climb the walls, fell back exhausted and motionless, and died. In Y auli I had several opportunities of observing this chorea-like disease; it seems to be a consequence of the absence of sufficient atmospheric pressure." In the Spanish colonies, the hairJess dog was looked upon as of Chinese origin, and called Perro Chinesco, or Chino. The race was supposed to have come from Canton or from Manila: according to Klaproth, it has certainly been extremely common in China since very early times. Among the animals ii;J.digenous to Mexico, there was an entirely hairless, dog-like, but very large wolf, called Xoloitzcuintli (from the Mexican xolo or |