52. POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

diction as an article of food necessary. The alternative
seems to be some species of lizard, “perhaps the Lacerta
gecko, a species found in countries bordering the Mediterra-
nean ; of a reddish-grey, spotted with brown. It is thought
at Cairo to poison food over which it passes, and especially
salt provisions, of which it is very fond. It has a voice
somewhat resembling that of a frog, which is intimated by
the Hebrew name, importing a sigh or groan.”*

Canis FAMILIARIS.—The Dog.

This well-known and most useful animal would, from its
familiarity to every one, seem to need little description, and
the number of the species, supposed to amount, with varie-
ties, to a hundred, would render it impossible to enter into
any detail respecting it. The dog is arranged by Cuvier in
three divisions, depending on the length of the muzzle:
the long-muzzled dogs include those most nearly in a
state of nature, such as the wild dog of Nepal, Canis pri-
mavus, considered by Mr. Hodgson to be the original stock
of all the domestic varieties ; those which have this part of a
moderate length, including those species which are the most
serviceable to man, of which the shepherd’s dog is an ex-
ample; and the third division, which embraces the short-

* Pictorial Bible. ,