Colonel Sykes thus describes the Dukhun (Deccan) Dog, Canis Dukhunensis, Sykes, Kolsun of the Mahratta.s, Cuon Dukhunensis : paler underneath ; tail bushy, pendulous ; pupil rounded. This is the Wild Dog of Dukhun. its head is compressed and elongated ; its nose not very sharp, the eyes are oblique : the pupils round, irides light brown. The expression of the countenance that of a coarse ill-natured Persian Greyhound, without any resemblance to the Jackal, the Fox, or the Wolf, and in consequence essentially distinct from the Canis Quao or Sumatrensis of General Hardwicke. Ears long, erect, somewhat rounded at the top, without any repli cation of the tragus. Limbs remarkably large and strong in relation to the bulk of the animal, its size being intermediate between the Wolf and the Jackal. Neck long. Body elongated. Between the eyes and nose red brown : end of the tail blackish. From tho tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail 33 inches in length tail 84 inches. Height of the shoulders 164 inches." Colonel Sykes adds that none of the domesticated dogs of Dukhun are common to Europe. The first in strength and size is the Brinjaree Dog, somewhat resembling the Persian Greyhound but much more powerful. The Pariah Dog he states is referrible to M. Cuvier's second section. This is very numerous, not individual property, but breeds in the towns and villages unmolested. The Colonel remarks that the Turn sprit Dog, long backed, with short crooked legs, is frequently found among the Pariahs. There is also a petted minute 'variety of the Parish Dog, usually of a white colour, and with long silky hair, corresponding to a common Lapdog of Europe ; this is taught to carry flambeaux and lanterns. The last variety noticed is the dog with hair so short as to appear naked like the Canis Zgyptius. It is known to Europeans by the name of the Polygar Dog. (` Zool. Proc.,' part L) In 1832 the skin of the Wild Dog of Nepaul was compared by Colonel Sykes with a specimen of the Kolsun of the Mahrattaa above described, and he stated his impression to be that the animals are identical, differing only by the denser coat and more woolly feet of the Nepaul race, a difference readily accounted for by the greater cold of the elevated regions inhabited by it. Colonel Sykes is also of opinion that the Kolsun is identical with the Buansuah, an Indian dog, described by Mr. B. H. Hodgson under the name of Cuon primcerus. Specimens of these dogs are to be seen in the British Museum, in the Catalogue of which institution they are not only made specifically distinct, but are placed under the genus Cuon as distinct from Canis.
Mr. Bell, in his History of British Quadrupeds,' also discusses this difficult question. "In order," says Mr. Bell, "to come to any rational conclusion on this head, it will be necessary to ascertain to what type the animal approaches most nearly, after having for many successive generations existed in a wild state, removed from the influence of domestication and of association with mankind. Now we find that there are several different instances of the existence of dogs in such a state of wildness as to have lost even that common character of domestication, variety of colour and marking. Of these two very remarkable ones are the Dholo of India and the Dingo of Australia : there is besides a half-reclaimed race amongst the Indians of North America ; and another also partially tamed in South America which deserve attention ; and it is found that these races in different degrees, and in a greater degree as they are more wild, exhibit the lank and gaunt form, the lengthened limbs, the long and slender muzzle, and the great comparative strength which characterise the wolf; and that the tail of the Australian dog, which may be considered as the most remote from a state of domestication, assumes the slightly bushy form of that animal. 'We have here then a con siderable approximation to a well-known wild animal of the same genus, in races which, though doubtless descended from domesticated ancestors, have gradually assumed the wild condition ; and it is worthy of especial remark, that the anatomy of the wolf, and its osteology in particular, does not differ from that of the dogs in general, more than the different kinds of dogs do from each other. The cranium is absolutely similar, and so are all or nearly all the other essential parts; and to strengthen still further the probability of their identity, the dog and wolf will readily breed together, and their progeny is fertile. The obliquity of the position of the eyes in the wolf is one of the characters in which it differs from the dogs ; and although it is very desirable not to rest too much upon the effects of habit on structure, it is not perhaps straining the point to attribute the forward direction of the eyes in the dogs to the constant habit, for many successive generations, of looking forwards to their master and obeying his voice."
Another criterion, and a sound one, is the identity of gestation. Sixty-three days form the period during which the bitch goes with young. Precisely the same time elapses before the she-wolf gives birth to her offspring. Upon Buffon's instance of 73 days, or rather the possibility of such a duration in the gestation of a particular she wolf, we do not lay much stress when opposed by such strong evidence of the usual period being 63 days. The young of both wolf and dog are born blind, and see at the same or about the same time, namely, at the expiration of the 10th or 12th day.
Hunter's important experiments proved without doubt that the Wolf and the Jackal would breed with the Dog; but he had not sufficient data for coming to the conclusion that all three were identical as species. In the course of those experiments he ascer tained that the jackal went 59 days with young, whilst the wolf went 63 days ; nor does he record that the progeny of the dog and jackal would breed together : and ho knew too well the value of tho argument to be drawn from a fertile progeny not to have dwelt upon the fact if be had proved it; not to have mentioned it, at least, if he had ever heard of it sufficient ground for concluding that they may not, all of them, have descended from one common stock. The turuspit and the mastiff, the pug and the greyhound, are perhaps more unlike each other than any of the varieties of other domestic animals; but if it be true that variation depends upon habit and education, the very different employments to which dogs Shave in all ages been trained, and the various climates to which they have been naturalised, must not be lost sight of as collateral agents in producing these different forms. The care too with which dogs of particular breeds are matched with similar ones, for the purpose of keeping the progeny as pure as possible, has doubtless its effect in promoting such distinctions.' The same author thus sums up his opinion :—" Upon the whole, the argument in favour of the view which 1 have taken, that the wolf is probably the original of all the canine races, may be thus stated : the structure of the animal is identical, or so nearly so as to afoul the strongest h priori evidence in its favour. The dog must have been derived from an animal susceptible of the highest degree of domesti cation, and capable of great affection for mankind ; which has been abundantly proved of the wolf. Dogs having returned to a wild state, and continued in that condition through many generations, exhibit Mr. Bell disposes of the objection arising from the alleged untameably savage disposition of the wolf by relating two anecdotes, one on his own authority and the other on that of Mona. P. Cuvier, in proof of the susceptibility of attachment to man, and the appetite— for it is an appetite—for his caresses on the part of the wolf. The first occurred in the Gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, London, and was exhibited in the person of a she-wolf, who came forward to be caressed, and even brought her pups to be caressed also, whenever Mr. Bell or any one whom she knew approached her den. indeed she killed all her unfortunate young ones in succession by rubbing them against the bars of her cage in her zeal to have them fondled by her friends. The second happened in the M6nnger-10 du RA at Paris, and no faithful dog could show moro affecting instances of attachment to his master, or distress on account of his absence, than did the male wolf which is the subject of )tons. F. Cirrier's touching account. " With all these analogous properties of form and structure"—we quote Mr. Bell—" as well as of disposition, I cannot but incline at least to the opinion that the wolf is the original source from which all our domestio dogs have sprung : nor do I see in the great variety which exists In the different races characters which approximate more and more to those of the wolf, in proportion as the influence of domestication ceases to act. The two animals will breed together, and produce fertile young. The period of gestation is the same." We have given above the skull of a wolf, that it may be com pared with those of the different varieties of dogs.