54- 



and the roe deer cerlaiuly was, formerly, a native of England. The 

 beaver is no longer to be found amongst us, and the roe deer is not 

 now to be met with in any part of this country to the south of 

 Scotland. The latter, however, remained wild in England and Wales 

 until the reign of King Henry VIII.' The fox would probably have 

 also disappeared ere now, if it had not been for his superior cunning, 

 and his conducing to the sports of the field. The otter is become 

 rather scarce, and the seal is now rarely found upon the coasts of 

 England. The poor harmless badger, althouj^h still occasionally met 

 with in some uniuclosed or wild parts, has, notwithstanding his inoffen- 

 sive and unobtrusive habits, become exterminated in several of the 

 English counties, and has become rare in most of them. 



The enquiries pursued in this paper Avill, however, be with reference 

 to the wolf only. 



It is admitted by all writers upon the Natural History of the 

 British Isles, that wolves once abounded in England, Wales, 

 Scotland, and Ireland ; and it is an intei'esting circumstance, that 

 we know with tolerable exactness, something of the dates of their 

 extinction in Scotland and Ireland. The last wolf that is known to 

 have been wild in Scotland was killed about the year 1680 ;* and the 

 last presentment for killing wolves in Ii'eland, was made in the county 

 of Cork, about the year 1710." 



It is remarkable that when BufFon wrote in the last century, he, or 

 Daubenton who assisted him, did not believe that wolves had become 

 extinct in Great Britain. 



The following remarkable passage occurs in BulTon's " Natural His- 

 tory :" "Les Anglais pretendent en avoir purge leur Isle, cependant on 

 m'a assure qu'il y en avait en Ecosse, comme il y a peu de bois, dans 

 la partie meridionale, de la Grand Bretagne, on a eu plus de facilite', 

 pour les detruire." — Buffon's " Natural Plistory," vol. 7, page 50, title 

 " Du Loup ;" in which work Buffou was assisted by Daubenton, the 

 naturalist. As Buffon was born in 1707, and Daubenton in 1710, it is 

 quite possible that one or both of them received the information upon 



time when he wrote, " There are likewise martirns, bevers, foxes, and wezels." See his 

 " Description of Scotland," vol. 2, p. 11. See also " Archaiologia," vol. 37, p. 110, and 

 " Remains of Pagan Saxondom," p. 36, pi. 13. 



1 Leland's " Itinerary," vol. 7, pp. 16 [28] and 63 [SI.] 



" It is said to have been killed liy Sir Ewcii Cameron. See Tennant's" Brilish Zoology," 

 vol. 1, p. 63, and tlie authorities there cited. Tenuant's " History of Qiiadriipeds," vel. 1, 

 p. 231. 



' Pennant's " British Zoology," vol. 1. p. 64. Pennant's "History of Quadrupeds," vol. 1, 

 p. 331 ; citing Smith's " History of Cork," vc'.. 2, p. 226. But in " Notes and Queries," pub- 

 lished ill 1850, 2nd series. No. 14, p. 282, and No. 32, p. 120, correspondents state that 

 wolves were not extinct in the mountains of Wicldow until many years after 1710. 



