The Peruvian dogs were made to play a singular part during eclipses of the moon, being beaten as long as the darkness continued. The Mexican _Techichi_, a variety of the common dog, which was called in Anahuac _Chichi_, was the only completely dumb dog. The literal signification of the word _Techichi_ is “stone-dog,” from the Aztec, _tetl_, a stone. This dog was eaten according to the ancient Chinese custom, and the Spaniards found this food so indispensable before the introduction of horned cattle, that the race was gradually almost entirely extirpated.[CZ] Buffon confounds the Techichi with the Koupara of Guiana,[DA] which is, however, identical with the Procyon or _Ursus cancrivorus_, the _Raton crabier_, or the crab-eating Aguara-guaza of the coasts of Patagonia.[DB] Linnæus, on the other hand, confounds the dumb dog with the Mexican _Itzcuintepotzotli_, a canine species which has not hitherto been perfectly described, and which is said to be characterised by a short tail, a very small head, and a large hump on the back. The name signifies a hump-backed dog, and is derived from the Aztec _itzcuintli_, another word for dog, and _tepotzotli_, humped or a humpback. I was much struck in America, especially in Quito and Peru, with the great number of black hairless dogs. They are termed _Chiens turcs_ by Buffon, and are the _Canis ægyptius_ of Linnæus. This species is common amongst the Indians, who, however, generally despise them, and treat them ill. All European dogs multiply rapidly in South America; and if no species are to be met with equal to those of Europe, it is partly owing to want of care, and partly to the circumstance that the finest varieties (as the elegant greyhound and the Danish tiger breed) have never been introduced.