55o CARNIVORA 



In the reign of Henry III the number of wolves in some parts of 

 the country Avas sufficient to induce the king to make grants of land 

 to various individuals upon the express condition of their taking- 

 measures to destroy these animals wherever they could be found. 

 In Edward II's time the king's forest of the Peak, in Derbyshire, 

 is especially mentioned as infested with wolves, and it was not 

 until the reign of Henry YII (1485-1509) that wolves appear to 

 have become finally extinct in England. This, however, is rather 

 a matter of inference from the cessation of all mention of them in 

 local records than from any definite evidence of their extirpation. 

 Their last retreat was probably in the desolate wolds of Yorkshire. 

 In Scotland, as might be supposed from the nature of the country, 

 the wolf maintained its hold for a much longer period. There is a 

 well-known story of the last of the race being killed by Sir Ewen 

 Cameron of Lochiel in 1680, but there is evidence of wolves having 

 survived in Sutherlandshire and other pai'ts into the following 

 century (perhaps as late as 1743), though the date of their final 

 extinction cannot be accurately fixed. In Ireland, in Cromwell's 

 time, wolves were particularly troublesome, and said to be increas- 

 ing in numbers, so that special measures were taken for their 

 destruction, such as the offering of large rewards for their heads, 

 and the prohibition (in 1652) of the exportation of " wolf-dogs," the 

 large dogs used for hunting the wolves. The active measures 

 taken then and later reduced their numbers greatly, so that 

 towards the end of the century they became scarce, but, as in the 

 case of the sister island, the date of their final disappearance cannot 

 now be ascertained. It has been placed, upon the evidence of 

 somewhat doubtful traditions, as late as 1766. 



Remains of C. lupus are common in the European Pleistocene ; 

 while the Indian Pliocene C. cautieyi, of which the upper teeth 

 are shown in Fig. 251, was probably the ancestor of G. pallipes. 

 C. neschersensis, of the Upper Pliocene of France, was a smaller 

 extinct Wolf. A lower jaw from the French Pleistocene, described 

 under the name of Lycorus, has only three premolars, but evidently 

 belongs to the Wolf. 



The Jackals are smaller than the Wolves, with the bushy tail 

 about one -third the length of the head and body, and the car- 

 nassials relatively shorter as compared with the tubercular molars. 

 The Common Jackal (C. aureus, Fig. 252) has a very wide distri- 

 bution, ranging from South-Eastern Europe through South- Western 

 Asia to India and Burma, and also occurring in Northern Africa ; 

 being replaced in the Ethiopian region by closely allied species. 

 Remains indistinguishable from C. aureus occur in the Pliocene 

 Siwaliks of Northern India. Jackals hunt at night in packs, 

 uttering the piercing cries so well known to all who have resided 

 in countries where these animals are found. 



