The Wolf. 41 



much in Yorkshire, that a retreat was built at Flixton, 

 to defend passengers from their attacks. They infested 

 Ireland many centuries after their extinction in Eng- 

 land : the last presentment for killing Wolves was made 

 in the county of Cork about the year 1710. They abound 

 in the immense forests of Germany, and they are also 

 found in considerable numbers in the South of France. 

 Everywhere that they are wild, so great is the general 

 detestation of this destructive creature, that all other 

 animals endeavour to avoid it. In a state of captivity, 

 however, the Wolf is remarkably anxious to attract the 

 attention of man, and rubs itself against the bars of its 

 cage when noticed. Indeed, the Wolf is by no means so 

 untractable as is frequently supposed ; but his temper is 

 rather uncertain, and his destructive habits render him 

 a dangerous pet. A curious instance of combined doci- 

 lity and destructiveness is related by Mr. Lloyd, which, 

 as it also illustrates the cunning of this animal, we 

 adduce here. Mr. Lloyd says " I once had serious 

 thoughts of training a fine female Wolf in my possession 

 as a pointer ; but was deterred, owing to the penchant 

 she exhibited for the neighbours' pigs. She was chained 

 in a little enclosure, just in front of my window, into 

 which those animals, when the gate happened to be left 

 open, ordinarily found their way. The devices the 

 Wolf employed to get them in her power, were very 

 amusing. When she saw a pig in the vicinity of her 

 kennel, she, evidently with the purpose of putting him 

 off his guard, would throw herself on her side or back, 

 wag her tail most lovingly, and look innocence personi- 

 fied. And this amiable demeanour would continue 

 until the grunter was beguiled within the length of her 

 tether, when, in the twinkling of an eye, the prey was 

 clutched." The Wolf is sometimes affected with mad- 

 ness, in symptoms and consequences exactly similar to 

 that which affects the dog ; but this disease, as it gene- 

 rally happens in the depth of winter, cannot be attri- 

 buted to the great heat of the dog-days. In the northern 

 parts of the world, wolves are said, frequently, in the 

 spring, to get upon the fields of ice adjoining the sea, for 

 the purpose of preying upon the young seals, which 



