It seems to have been too hastily taken for granted, in favor of the opinion that there ) is only one species of dog, that all the wild races, even the dholes and the dingo, have • sprung from domestic progenitors.- There is certainly no evidence of this;, and the fact that wild races exist, :exhibiting marked diversities of character,, in countries.videly remote and of very different climates, is referred to with confidence tbe other side, as affording at least a strong presumption in favor .of the supposition that man has, in , different countries, domesticated the species,which he found there.. We do not yet know, enough of the amount and limits of the changes.which circumstances and climate.may produce, to warrant any confident conclusions on that ground.. And -if we were to adopt the views of those who ascribe least to such causes, we might. yet demand them, to show why, although from certain original types no mixed race can originate, there may not yet be other original types capable of such combination, or why limits must be held equally impassable between all that were framed,by an original act of creation.. That there was only one original pair of .thc,human race,. may, be held, without our of necessity holding that there was only one original pair of dogs. But to this considera tion due place has, perhaps, scarcely been given.
That the common fox—or any species of fox—is a parent of any race of dogs, is not the opinion of any naturalist, Some dogs have a somewhat foxlike appearance, and indeed it is now generally admitted. that the dog. and,fox will breed together,,hut as it has not been proved that the individuals of the cross will breed together, this fact does not warrant the assertion that the dog and fox belong to the same species. Instances of commixture between the dog and wolf have occurred in greater numbers, and without the compulsion of confinement, but in this case, too, the only recognized proof of iden tity of species—namely, the permanent fertility of the progeny-4s wanting.
In favor of the specific identity of the dog and wolf, one of the ,strongest arguments is drawn from the equality of the period of gestation-63 days. But it may be remarked that an inequality of the period would have afforded a much stronger argument on the other side.
Against the identity of the dog and wolf, the difference of disposition has been strongly urged. In reply, it is shown by well-authenticated' instances that the wolf is very capable of that . attachment to man which so remarkably characterizes the dog. There is greater value, perhaps, in the argument of col. Hamilton Smith, that " if domestic dogs were merely wolves modified by the influence of man's wants, surely the curs of Mohammedan states, refused domestic care, and only tolerated in Asiatic cities in the capacity of scavengers, would long since have resumed some of the characters of the wolf." Buffon's notion, that the shepherd dog is the original type of the whole species, from which all dogs are derived, is merely fanciful, and his endeavor to support it by a com parative view of the different kinds, only exhibits a certain amount of ingenuity.
The shepherd's dog is one of the kinds of dog having greatest development of brain, but it is still greater in the spaniel. The skulls of dogs, however, neither exhibit very marked distinctions when compared with each other, nor when compared with those of wolves and jackals.
It is universally believed that the diversity of color exhibited by many dogs is a result of domestication, as it is neither found in those which may be supposed to exist in a state of original wildness, nor in those wild races which are certainly known to be the progeny of domestic dogs, a return to uniformity of coloring being apparently one of the most speedy consequences of a return to wildness. Black, reddish-brown, and
white, the uniform colors observed in wild dogs, are, however, the colors which chiefly appear mixed in domestic races.
Pendulous ears are generally regarded as another result of domestication in dogs, as in rabbits; and it is certain that the wild races known have erect and pointed ears; but no wild race has been discovered at all corresponding to the mastiff in some of its other most notable characters, particularly the shortness of the muzzle, and depth of the chops, and it has therefore been conjectured that this and kindred races may have derived their origin from some wild dog of the interior of Asia, which has not yet come under the notice of any scientific observer.
The has been a domestic animal from a very early period. The earliest allusions to it are in the books of Moses, but they indeed correspond with the dislike and contempt still commonly entertained for it by many of the nations of southern Asia. By Homer, however, it is very differently mentioned; and " there is not a modern story of the kind which can surpass the affecting simplicity with which the poor dog's dying recognition of his long-lost master is related by one who wrote, probably, not less than 2,700 years ago." The sculptures of Nineveh, and the hieroglyphics of Egypt, attest the very early domestication of the dog, and the existence of races similar to some of those which exist at the present day; and the high value attached to it by many nations is further attested by the place assigned to it, or its image, as emblematic of the attributes which they ascribed to their gods. We do not now set so high a value on the dog, in consideration of mere usefulness to man, as on some of the other domestic animals; yet to the savage it is perhaps the most important of all, and some have supposed that by its aid the sub jugation of other animals may have been first accomplished. Cuvier makes the strong assertion, that the dog " is the most complete, the most singular, and the most useful conquest ever made by man." The dog, far more than any other animal, becomes a humble friend and companion of man, often seeming actually to know and sympathize with thejoys and sorrows of his master; and on this account it is, that he is alike "the pampered minion of royalty, and the half-starved partaker of the beggar's crust." The uses to which the dog is applied are numerous, and correspond. in some measure, not only with distinct physical characters, but with remarkably distinct instincts of different breeds. Thus, whilst in some countries dogs are chiefly employed as beasts of draught, particularly for drawing sledges in the frozen regions of the north, and in other countries chiefly for the chase, the exquisite scent of some kinds, and the remarkable fleetness of others, variously recommending them for this use, we find them also render ing important services in the care of sheep and other cattle, and endowed with hereditary instincts wonderfully fitted for this purpose, and we find them, with like adaptation of instinct, highly valuable in watching and protecting the abodes and properties of their masters. Not the least interesting of the employments to which the dog has been devoted by man, is that of leading about the blind, which is often done with an intelligent and affectionate solicitude highly worthy of admiration.