WITTENBERG 



G343 



WOLF 



had as its central aim the freeing of Russia 

 from economic dependence on other nations. 



So great was the opposition his energetic 

 measure wakened that in 1903 he was removed 

 from the finance Ministry and placed at the 

 head of a committee of Ministers, a merely 

 honorable position. When, however, the Rus- 

 sian demands for constitutional reform became 

 too strong to be denied, it was this committee 

 which worked out a new administrative prob- 

 lem. 



In 1905 Witte was the chief Russian plenipo- 

 tentiary in the peace negotiations with Japan 

 at Portsmouth, N. H., at the close of the 

 -oJapanese War, and on his return he 

 became president of the first constitutional 

 Ministry. Differences with the emperor and 

 lack of popular support led to his resignation 

 from office in May, 1906. 



WITTENBERG, vit'enberK, a town in the 

 province of Saxony, in Prussia, famed in his- 

 tory as the place in which Luther began the 

 Reformation. Its most interesting features are 

 the old Schlosskirche, on the doors of which 

 were nailed the famous ninety-five theses, and 

 the houses of Luther and Melanchthon, which 

 have been carefully preserved. Wittenberg lies 

 on the Elbe River, and is fifty-five miles south- 

 west of Berlin. It is a manufacturing center 

 of considerable importance, producing woolen 

 and linen goods, hosiery, machinery, pottery, 

 electrical goods and other commodities. The 

 market place contains statues of Luther and 

 Melanchthon. The University of Wittenberg, 

 founded by Frederick the Wise in 1502, was 

 incorporated with the University of Halle in 

 1817 (see subhead, under HALLE). Population 

 in 1910, 22,419. 



WO AD, wohd, a leafy, many-branched herb 

 bearing yellow flowers, found in Great Britain 

 and the Mediterranean countries. The species 

 called dyer's wood was formerly cultivated for 

 a blue dye obtained from its leaves, with 

 which the ancient Picts are believed to have 

 stained their bodies. The leaves were made 

 into a paste, fermented for about two weeks 

 and worked into balls, which were dried in the 

 sun and allowed to ferment a second time. In 

 the present age indigo is largely used in place 

 of woad dye, although a finer color is obtained 

 by mixing the two. 



WOBURN, woo' burn, MA^S., a city in Mid- 

 dlesex County, is an important leather manu- 

 facturing center and an attractive residence 

 t< n miles northwest of Boston. It is 

 served by the Boston A Maine Railroad and by 



interurban lines. In 1910 the population was 

 15,308; in 1916, 15,969 (Federal estimate). 

 The public library, which contains a fine art 

 collection, is the most prominent public build- 

 ing. The output of factory products, including 

 leather, the leading article, and chemicals and 

 glue, has an approximate annual value of $6.- 

 000,000. Settled as Charlestown Village in 1640, 

 Woburn was incorporated as a town in 1642 

 and became a city in 1888. 



WO'DEN. See ODIN. 



WOLF, a rapacious, flesh-eating animal be- 

 longing to the dog family. It resembles a 

 gaunt, long-legged dog with a wide head, long 

 nose and pointed muzzle. Its thick tail is 

 drooping, but its e^ars are always erect. Its fur 

 varies in color 

 and thickness ac- 

 cording to the cli- 

 mate in which it 

 lives, the longer, 

 thicker and 

 lighter coats be- 

 longing to the 

 northern species. 



The most com- 

 mon of the spe- 

 cies, formerly 

 abundant in 

 America, is the 

 gray wolf, found in wild regions throughout tin 

 Middle States. The large white wolf is com- 

 mon in the Arctic regions, and formerly in- 

 habited the northern plains of the United 

 States; the black wolf is found in the South. 

 and the cunning red wolf lives in the South- 

 western plains. The prmric wolf of the West, 

 where it is erroneously called the coyote, has 

 the pointed muzzle of a fox, and like the red 

 fox it is a burrowing animal and digs its den in 

 the ground. Because of its short howl, which 

 resembles the bark of a dog, it is also known 

 as the barking wolf. The coyote, also an in- 

 habitant of the arid sagebrush country, is 

 scarcely larger than a fox. It is a cowardly, 

 slinking creature, with a thick, wolfish head, 

 small, sharp ears and a long, slender nn; 

 and is known far off in the blackness of the 

 night by its dismal howl. Except in the Brit- 

 ish Isles and Northern Germany, the common 

 grayish wolf, resembling the gray wolf of 

 America, is found throughout Europe, and in 

 Russia and Scandinavia it causes much destruc- 

 tion of weaker animal life. 



In the spring and summer the wolf lives 

 alone or in pairs, making a den in a hol- 



HEAD OF THE WOLF 



