144 THE WOLVES. 



Asia, we are still insufficiently acquainted with 

 several that are known to exist, to pronounce with 

 confidence upon the names by which they may have 

 been noticed in former ages; and as there are 

 grounds for surmising the reality of the disappear- 

 ance of some, which have been replaced by an in- 

 crease of others, not so well known in antiquity, 

 we can as yet only attempt an approximation to a 

 better understanding of the questions at issue ; and 

 this will be attempted, though with considerable 

 diffidence, as we proceed through the several groups 

 of canines they may affect. 



In America, there are admitted species and per- 

 manent varieties of the wolf, which we seem to look 

 for in vain in the old continent. The difference, 

 however, arises more from the circumstance, that in 

 the former they are still in a state of nature, with 

 their characteristic qualities not as yet so broken by 

 human civilization as has been the case in the lat- 

 ter, where, if we search, both different species and 

 varieties are likewise found, and even to a greater 

 amount ; but their distinctions are more obliterated 

 by the long-continued intervention of active and 

 civilized nations. They therefore continue to be 

 confounded or considered as varieties of climate 

 only ; which, after all, is a very easy mode of dis- 

 posing of every difficulty. If now, with these 

 remarks in view, we examine the wolves of Eastern 

 Europe and Western Asia, such as the ancients 

 knew them, and without adverting to those of the 

 north and west of Europe, we shall find, by refer- 



