since even in that country they are not all marked agreeable to the above description, some being found of an uniform colour, and even all white. [Footnote AF: It might have been suspected, from its variety of colours, that this Mexican wolf is a lynx, which species, as well as the wolf, is found in both continents. But it is sufficient to cast one's eyes on the figure which Recchi has given, to discover that it resembles totally the wolf and not at all the lynx.] 14. THE ALCO. We have already observed that there were in Peru and Mexico, before the arrival of the Europeans, domestic animals called _alco_, which were of the same size, and nearly of the same disposition, as our small dogs; and which the Spaniards called _Mexican_ or _Peruvian dogs_, from this similitude, and from their having the same attachment and fidelity to their masters. In fact, the species of these animals does not seem to be essentially different from that of the dog; and besides, the term alco may probably be a generic and not a specific term. Recchi has left us the figure of one of these alcos, which is called _ytzcuinte porzotli_ in the Mexican tongue; it was prodigiously fat, and probably degenerated from its domestic state and too great an abundance of food. The head is represented so small, that it has not any proportion to the size of the body; its ears are hanging, which is another mark of domesticity. The muzzle resembles that of a dog; the fore-part of the head is white, and the ears are partly yellow. The neck is so short as to leave no interval between the head and shoulders. The back is curved and covered with yellow hair. The tail is white, short and pendulous, but does not descend lower than the thighs. The belly is large, tense, and marked with black spots; it has six very apparent tits. The legs and feet are white, and the toes, like those of a dog, are armed with long and pointed claws. Fabri, who has given this description, concludes, after a very long dissertation, that this animal is the same as that called alco, and I think his assertion well founded; but we must not look upon it as conclusive, for there is still another race of dogs in America, to which it applies equally as well. "Besides the dogs, says Fernandes, which the Spaniards have transported into America, we met with three other species, which resemble ours both in their natures and manners, and which do not essentially differ in figure. The first and the largest of these American dogs is called _xoloiztcuintli_. This is frequently three cubits long, and what is particularly remarkable, he is entirely without hair, and only covered with a soft, close skin, marked with yellow and blue spots. The second is cloathed with hair, and in size resembles our little Maltese dogs. He is marked with white, black, and yellow. His deformity is singular but not disagreeable. His back is arched, and his neck so exceedingly short, that the head seems to shoot immediately out of the shoulders;