Newark post., 1922-04-05
racing The Dogs
| Wild Ancestors
diversity of Friend of Man
Said to be Due to Breed
ing-Yet All of Same
Stock

What our friend the dog was before
b grandfathers of the Stone Age
cned him into a domestic animal;
by we cannot domesticate the wolf
ftoday; why all dogs do not resemble
eir wolfish forbears-these and
her interesting questions of canine
Scent are discussd and explained in
inquest, London, by r. l. Pocock
The great diversity of modern dogs,
Pocock tells us, is artificial-the
|ult of breeding-and has nothing
do with ancestral character or ap-
hrance. Comparison between
erhound and a Pekingese, a blood
bnd and pug, reveals far greater
Fergence in external appearance
I'm can be found between the most
dely different species of the dog
be. This divergence, indeed, is so
kat, Mr.. Pocock thinks that it may
difficult to convince readers that
breeds in question had in all prob
lity a common origin, or are at all
nts the descendants of at most
closely related species. He writes:
What we know of the past history
dogs unfortunately throws no light
bn this matter. Away back in what
Failed the New Stone Age, before
had learned the use of metals,
find evidence of the domestication
Ehe dog; and Egyptian and Assyri-
monuments, few thousand years
delineate breeds extraordinarily
some of those with which you are
hiliar. No help, therefore, is to be
aimed in those quarters. But a
dy of the existing wild species of
dog family very soon helps us to
Hate our dogs with one or two
YES.
1n our language we have only four
Eds for canine animals, namely dog,
f, jackal and fox; and these names,
fortunately, have been applied with
fracteristic, if unavoidable loose
S by naturalists to species utterly
ardless of their affinities. Hence,
must not assume that an animal
read of as a dog, wolf or fox
necessarily closely akin to the
kopean species to which those
hes were originally applied. For
ance, the long-eared fox of South
lea differs far more from our fox
the latter does from the wolf;
maed wolf of South America looks
la gigantic fox with preposterous-
(ng legs and resembles a wolf only
tature; the Brazilian crab-eating
which, by the way, does not eat
sis not akin to European dogs,
it it a fox as styled by English
lers in the country it inhabits;
both the hunting dog of Africa
the red dog of India differ from
dogs much more than wolves and
eals do. l have mentioned this
ktion of names because their ap-
ltion is very confusing even to
people one might expect to know
er. All the above mentioned types
he dog tribe, as well as genuine
IS, may be set on one side in the
fch for the origin of our dogs.
es, indeed, are so different that
must regard with the greatest
bicion the claims not infrequently
forward by farmers and others Of
existence of hybrids between
IS and dogs.
Vow, of all the wild species of the
family, the only ones that are
Ely allied to our domesticated
Ids are the wolves and jackals.
kals may be described as small
res or wolves as large jackals.
Re is complete intergradation in
biologists have expressed the
hip between wolves, jackals and
by giving them the name Cans;
wolves and jackals are the only
timely wild species of CAMS known.
ky genuinely wild, because you
think I have forgotten the dingo,
so-called wild dog of Australia.
nobody doubts that this dog,
(h is practically indistinguishable
some of the 'pariahs,' the scav-
|r dogs of the East, was taken in
historic times to Australia from
lthern Asia by the blacks VINO