much they might degenerate from the domestic
breed. The honest and intelligent shepherd-dog was regarded by Buffon as
the "_fons et origo_," from which all other dogs, great and small, have
sprung; and he drew up a kind of genealogical table, showing how
climate, food, education, and intermixture of breeds gave rise to the
varieties. At Katmandoo there are many plants found in a wild state,
which man has carried with him in his migrations, and wild animals,
which may present the typical forms whence some of our domestic races
have been derived; among these is a wild dog, which Mr. Hodgson
considers to be the primitive species of the whole canine race. By
Professor Kretchner, the jackal was regarded as the type of the dogs of
ancient Egypt, an idea supported by the representations on the walls of
the temples. This question, however, of the origin of the canine race,
is so thoroughly obscured by the mists of countless ages, as to be
incapable of direct proof. Philosophers may indulge themselves with
speculations; but in the absence of that keystone, proof, the matter
must rest on the basis of theory alone.

The following are some of the chief differences between wolves, wild
dogs, and domestic dogs. The ears of the wild animals are always
pricked, the lop or drooping ear being essentially a mark of
civilization; with very rare exceptions, their tails hang more or less
and are bushy, the honest cock of the tail so characteristic of a
respectable dog, being wanting. This is certainly the rule; but, curious
enough, the Zoological Gardens contain at the present moment, a
Portuguese female wolf which carries her tail as erect and with as bold
an air as any dog. Wolves and wild dogs growl, howl, yelp, and cry most
discordantly, but with one exception, do not bark; that exception being
the wild hunting-dog of South Africa, which, according to Mr. Cumming,
has three distinct cries; one is peculiarly soft and melodious, but
distinguishable at a great distance: this is analogous to the
trumpet-call, "halt and rally," of cavalry, serving to collect the
scattered pack when broken in hot chase. A second cry, which has been
compared to the chattering of monkeys, is emitted at night when the dogs
are excited; and the third note is described as a sharp, angry bark,
usually uttered when they behold an object they can not make out, but
which differs from the true, well-known bark of the domestic dog.

The common or European wolf is found