222 REV. G. S. DOBBIE ON INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION 
constitutes a considerable portion of their diet, wolves are 
less likely to form packs, and are consequently much less 
dreaded than in the north. In the Scandinavian peninsula 
they are still numerous, and are said to be extending their 
range southwards. In Russia they will long maintain their 
ground; for even if they were exterminated in the European 
provinces, no natural barrier exists to prevent fresh im- 
portations from Asia. In 1875, 161 persons were killed 
by wolves in European Russia. Still, in many parts of 
that vast territory, especially in Livonia, great progress 
towards their extermination has been made by the use of 
strychnine. A sporting writer deplores the fact; for while 
the result has been favourable to the elk, the fox, in the 
absence of its mortal enemy, has increased to such an 
extent that the extinction of the Hare * in this region appears 
to be imminent. But the triumph which man has recently 
achieved over this fierce natural foe is most conspicuous in 
France. At the beginning of the century thousands of 
wolves were captured there annually; but the following 
statistics will show that their annihilation is rapidly 
approaching :— 
In 1883, 1316 were captured. In 1890, 401 were captured. 
», 1884, 1035 by 5, 1891, 404 a 
» 1885, 900 ‘ »» 1892, 327 ts 
» 1886, 760 3 », 1893, 261 ‘ 
» 1887, 701 2 5, 1894, 245 * 
»» 1888, 505 A » 1895, 249 2 
», 1889, 515 . », 1896, 171 + 
The arrangement of their distribution in France is some- 
what remarkable. Of 171 killed in 19 Departments in 
1896, 34 were claimed by Charente, 23 by Dordogne, 20 
by Meuse, 13 by Corréze, 12 by Vosges, and 12 by Haute 
Marne. 
The Jackal (Canis dalmatinus, Wagn.) still lingers in 
Dalmatia and the south-eastern provinces of the Balkan 
Peninsula, as well as in the Caucasus, but it is an exotic 
even in the warmest parts of Europe. 
The family Mustelide comprises the vast majority of the 
European Carnivora. Its members are of comparatively 
* The Alpine or Mountain Hare (Lepus variabilis, Pall.) 
