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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
8
Half
a
century
ago
it
was
believed
that
all
the
evidence
which
could
be
brought
to
bear
upon
the
problem
pointed
to
an
independent
origin
of
the
dog.
Youatt,
writing
in
1845,
argued
that
"this
power
of
tracing
back
the
dog
to
the
very
earliest
periods
of
history,
and
the
fact
that
he
then
seemed
to
be
as
sagacious,
as
faithful,
and
as
valuable
as
at
the
present
day,
strongly
favours
the
opinion
that
he
was
descended
from
no
inferior
and
comparatively
worthless
animal;
and
that
he
was
not
the
progeny
of
the
wolf,
the
jackal,
or
the
fox,
but
was
originally
created,
somewhat
as
we
now
find
him,
the
associate
and
friend
of
man."
When
Youatt
wrote,
most
people
believed
that
the
world
was
only
six
thousand
years
old,
and
that
species
were
originally
created
and
absolutely
unchangeable.
Lyell's
discoveries
in
geology,
however,
overthrew
the
argument
of
the
earth's
chronology
and
of
the
antiquity
of
man,
and
Darwin's
theory
of
evolution
entirely
transformed
the
accepted
beliefs
concerning
the
origin
of
species
and
the
supposed
invariability
of
animal
types.
The
general
superficial
resemblance
between
the
fox
and
many
of
our
dogs,
might
well
excuse
the
belief
in
a
relationship.
Gamekeepers
are
often
very
positive
that
a
cross
can
be
obtained
between
a
dog
fox
and
a
terrier
bitch;
but
cases
in
which
this
connection
is
alleged
must
be
accepted
with
extreme
caution.
The
late
Mr.
A.
D.
Bartlett,
who
was
for
years
the
superintendent
of
the
Zoological
Gardens
in
London,
studied
this
question
with
minute
care,
and
as
a
result
of
experiments
and
observations
he
positively
affirmed
that
he
had
never
met
with
one
well-authenticated
instance
of
a
hybrid
dog
and
fox.
Mr.
Bartlett's
conclusions
are
incontestable.
However
much
in
appearance
the
supposed
dog-fox
may
resemble
the
fox,
there
are
certain
opposing
characteristics
and
structural
differences
which
entirely
dismiss
the
theory
of
relationship.
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