98 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



not be made to stand on his feet, but when pulled out of 

 the corners, would lie down, shrinking together as much as 

 possible. The woman, a stout Irish girl, made no scruple 

 of going up to him and handling him, which he did not 

 attempt to resent ; but when his chain was slackened, gladly 

 rushed back to his odoriferous closet. His tail was bushy, 

 much like a fox's ; his nose very sharp ; and his ears short, 

 erect, pointed, and black : the general colour and appearance 

 were similar to those of Sleeper's. 



C. — Does the wolf attain to a great age ? 



F. — We have very limited means of arriving at any 

 satisfactory conclusion respecting the period of life of wild 

 animals, especially the Carnivora. As they live by violence 

 and rapine, and as the supply of their wants necessarily be- 

 comes more and more precarious as the vigour of youth de- 

 parts, it is probable they do not often nearly complete the 

 period of life allotted to their respective species. Some in- 

 stances, however, no doubt occur, in which the animal attains 

 the utmost verge of existence. A few years ago, some men 

 were going up Lee's Pond, a lake about six miles long, near 

 Stanstead, which was frozen at the time, when they saw 

 before them a party of wolves crossing the pond. One in 

 the centre appeared sick, and was surrounded by the rest in 

 the manner of a body-guard. One of the men, who had a gun, 

 pursued them, when some of the wolves took to flight, leav- 

 ing others with the supposed sick one, which, however, 

 dropped off one by one as the pursuit grew hotter, leaving at 

 last only two with it : the man then fired at one of these 

 two, but without killing it, and they both then fled. On 

 coming up to the remaining one, they found it was an old 

 she-wolf, completely blind, as was supposed from age alone, 

 as her teeth were almost worn down. After her last attend- 

 ants had left her, she attempted to continue her course, but 

 in a very uncertain manner, sometimes turning on her steps. 



