A canine jaw from another shell-heap examined subsequently, presented features with which Professor Cope was unfamiliar.
On the base of the large sand mound at Tick Island, Volusia County,[10] the skeleton of a dog was found by us, the skull and certain other bones of which, forwarded to Professor Cope, were passed upon as follows by that eminent authority: “The bones you send are those of a dog but of what species I am not sure. It is no wolf or coyote but differs from ordinary breeds of domestic dogs. Nevertheless, it may be some form domesticated by the Indians, with which I am not familiar.”
Fifteen feet from the surface of the Light-house mound, or 3 feet below the level of the surrounding territory, was discovered the skeleton of a dog.
The cranium has been submitted to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, who was, unfortunately, unable to spare time for an exhaustive examination, being about to leave town for the summer. According to Dr. Merriam the skull is not that of a coyote, nor does it belong to any type of domestic dog with which he is familiar.
Professor Cope is of opinion, after an examination of the skull, that it belongs to neither wolf nor coyote, but is probably that of a domestic dog, though by no means of necessity one obtained from Europeans.
There are, however, according to Professor Cope, certain domestic dogs whose crania cannot be distinguished from those of wolves.
Professor Cope also made an examination of a canine skull from the great shell deposit at Damariscotta, Maine, in which no articles of European origin have ever been met with at a depth greater than a few inches from the surface. The Damariscotta skull, according to Professor Cope, strongly resembles that from the Light-house mound.
Professor Putnam, who has made a careful study of the skull from the Light-house mound, writes as follows:
“I have lately secured for comparison several dog skulls, among which is that of a mongrel greyhound. This skull resembles that of the coyote more than it does the gray wolf. It differs from the coyote, however, in being slightly more convex. In the coyote the frontals are flatter than in the gray wolf.
“I have a skull of an Irish setter which agrees with that of a gray wolf, except that it is slightly higher over the orbits, and there is more of a concavity along the union of the frontal bones. The jaws are also shorter, but the teeth are of about the same size.