30 HYJENA. 



rage. They produce from three to nine young ones, usually 

 about the month of May. They attain their full growth 

 in three, and are supposed to live from fifteen to twenty 

 years. No part of the Wolf is considered at all 

 valuable, except his skin, which makes a warm and 

 durable fur. Numerous are the attempts which have 

 been made to exterminate these noisome beasts. Poi- 

 soned carcases of animals are often thrown in their way : 

 whole provinces sometimes rise in arms to hunt them. 

 More suspicious than almost any other animals, they are 

 scarcely ever heard to bark or growl in the woods ; and 

 so fearful are they of snares, that they will even avoid 

 a bit of rope which they may see hanging upon the 

 ground. When caught in a trap or snare, their courage 

 forsakes them, and they become as abject and cowardly 

 as before they were daring and desperate. We are in- 

 formed by Gesner, that, one night, a friar, a woman, and 

 a Wolf were all caught in one trap : the woman lost her 

 senses with the fright, the Wolf his life, and the friar his 

 character. 



This animal is larger and stronger than a dog. His 

 head is long, his nose pointed, and his ears erect and 

 sharp. The tail is bushy, and black at the tip. The hair 

 is long, though not shaggy. All the upper parts of the 

 body are of a yellowish-brown colour. 



Hyaena. Of the Hyaena, many absurd notions were 

 anciently credited : among others, that its neck consisted 

 of but one bone, which was without joint ; that it every 

 year changed its sex ; and that it had the power of 

 imitating the human voice. Hyaenas are found, in great 

 numbers, in Asiatic Turkey, Syria, Persia, and many 

 parts of Africa, generally inhabiting caverns and rocky 



