FOX, SIR William, New Zealand states man: b. Westoe, Durham, England, 1812; d. 1893. In 1832 he was graduated at Wadham College, Oxford, went to New Zealand in 1842 as agent of the New Zealand Company. He returned to England in 1850 and there pre sented the claims of the New Zealanders for self-government. Although at first unsuccess ful, he persisted and at length secured autonomy for the far-distant colonies. He was prime minister of the colony several times — in 1856, 1861, 1863, 1869-72 and 1873. He secured a lasting peace with the aborigines. His pub lished works include 'The Six Colonies of New Zealand' (1851) ; 'The War in New Zealand' ; 'How New Zealand Got Its Consti tution' (1890).
FOX, William Johnson, English orator and political writer: b. near Wrenthaum, England, 1786; d. London, 3 June 1864. A weaver's son, he early showed signs of ability and was picked out to be educated for the Independent minis try. Once ordained, his rationalistic opinions cut him off from all the denominations. He be came a radical active in politics, and spoke and wrote with persistent vehemence against the Common Laws. He was elected to Parliament in 1847, but was twice defeated at subsequent elections. His vigorous pen and eloquent voice aided the cause of popular social and political progress in England at a critical time in her history.
FOX, Williams Carlton, American diplo matist: b. Saint Louis, Mo., 20 May 1855. He first came into prominence as United States consul at Brunswick, Germany (1876-88). Subsequently he was United States vice-consul general at Teheran, Persia. He organized the American Missionary Hospital during the cholera epidemic there in 1892, and established and edited the only strictly diplomatic and con sular journal ever attempted in the United States. He was chief clerk of the Bureau of American Republics 1898-1905, and its director 1905-07. He was appointed Envoy Extraor dinary to Ecuador in 1907, remaining in this relation until 1911, when he retired. He was arbitrator in the controversy between the gov ernment of Ecuador and the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company in 1907.
FOX, one of a group of small, long-eared, bushy-tailed animals of the dog-tribe (Canes), mostly included in the genus Vulpes; specifi cally, in literary usage, the red fox (V. vul garly), called renard by the French and reinscke fucks by the Germans. Foxes differ from wolves and jackals in being smaller, having shorter legs, longer, more furry and pointed ears, a more slender elongated muzzle, and a longer and more bushy tail; and they incline to that yellowish red color called "foxy.° But these distinctions are difficult of limitation (see FENNEC; FoxDoc), and some naturalists refuse to recognize a separate genus for them. One fixed character is found in the pupil of the eye, which when contracted becomes elliptical in the foxes but remains round in other dogs. All the typical foxes are inhabitants of north erly latitudes, and well represented by the common red fox, which may be regarded as distributed throughout the whole northern hemisphere, though variously named in differ ent countries, where local diversities exhibit themselves; thus the American variety is called V. pennsylvanicus, but it is not essentially dif ferent from those of the Old World. Its vari ations are as great here as in Europe and Asia, especially among those of the Far North, Where certain color-phases have superior value in the fur-trade. Thus a fox marked with a dark line along the spine and another over the shoulders, is called a "cross" fox, and fine specimens are worth an extra price. Wholly
black ones are uncommon; but the rarest and most valuable pelt is that of a "silver" fox, that is, a black one in which so many hairs are white-tipped that a hoary or silvered ap pearance is given to the skin. The red fox is fostered for the sport of fox-hunting (q.v.) in Great Britain, and in some parts of Eastern America, but in most countries he is regarded merely as a fur-bearer, or a poultry thief or worse, and is trapped, shot and poisoned continuously. Nevertheless, the animal sur vives and multiplies in the midst of civilization, by virtue of its power of comprehension of and adaptation to new conditions; so that he has ac quired, very justly, a reputation for alertness, wit and cunning in contrivance for food and safety. In America this species is constantly extending its range southward at the expense of the gray fox. Another species yielding a valuable fur is the Arctic or blue fox (V. lagopus), which is found on all Arctic coasts, and although brownish in summer, becomes in winter pure white; but the under fur is always bluish, and in those of Alaska this color pre vails over brown in summer. Certain of the Aleutian Islands have lately been devoted by local fur companies to rearing these foxes in semi-captivity, where they are cared for, and a selected number annually sacrificed to trade. North America has two other well-marked species. One is the swift or kit fox (V. velox) of the plains, which is only 20 inches long, ex ceedingly swift of foot, expert in digging and cunning at concealment. It has reddish-yellow fur in summer, but becomes dull gray in win ter, with black patches each side of the nose. The other species is the gray fox, which was once generally distributed over the United States but has become extinct in the north eastern part since the general clearing and set tlement of the country. It is a woodland animal, still numerous in the South and West. Its hair is stiffer and duller in color than that of the red fox and it is so peculiar in struc tural respects (among others in having a con cealed mane of stiff hairs on the top of the tail) that it has been classified in a separate genus as' Urocyon argenteus. Several well known species dwell in Asia, the best-known of which is the familiar fox of northern India (V. bengalensis).
Foxes everywhere are burrowing animals or else adapt to family needs holes in rocks, hol lows of old stumps and similar conveniences. They hide by day and go abroad at night in search of small prey, stalking and catching birds on their nests, or at roost on the ground., ground-squirrels, mice, frogs and insects, and also eating largely of certain roots, fruits and other vegetable food. They are hardy, hunt all winter and climb mountain peaks. They never hunt in packs, as do wolves; and their voice is nearer a bark than a howl. They do not readily submit to domestication, and seem to have contributed little if anything to the composition of domestic breeds of dogs.
Consult for information on Old World foxes, the writings of Bell, Brehm, Blanford, Mivart and Beddard, well-summed up in Lydek ker's 'Royal Natural History' (Vol. I). For American foxes, read Richardson, Hearne, Au dubon, Merriam, the writings of Nelson, Turner and Murdoch on the natural history of Alaska, and the general remarks in Cram and Stone's 'American Animals) (1902).
FOX, or MUSKWAKE INDIANS. See SAC AND Fox INDIANS.