WOLVES. 133 



WOLTES. 



STRONG, gaunt, ferocious, cunning, cowardly, and 

 sinister-looking, Wolves (Ccmis Lupus) still inhabit the 

 forest and mountainous districts of Europe, Asia, and 

 America ; a few being occasionally met with in plains. 

 Happily they have been extirpated from Great Britain 

 and Ireland, but in many parts of populous countries 

 on the European continent, an unusually severe winter 

 brings them to the habitations of man. 



Their resemblance to dogs internally and externally 

 has led to the supposition that they were the original 

 parents of the latter ; but I have elsewhere alluded to 

 this unsettled question. 



The muscles of the head, neck, and shoulders of wolves 

 are extremely powerful ; and the snap with which they 

 bite is never to be mistaken, being apparently peculiar 

 to them. They drink by suction ; and it is said that 

 if the offspring which they have by a dog should lap, 

 they take a dislike to it. The cry which they make is 

 not a regular bark, but a hoarse, ugly noise ; and the 

 howl which they delight in setting up at night is one 

 of the most melancholy sounds possible. They vary 

 much in colour, being white, black, grey, brown, etc. 

 Their digitigrade walk, sharp muzzle, oblique eyes, and 

 hanging tail, in their wild state, are less conspicuous 

 in domestication ; and they gradually assimilate them- 

 selves in appearance to our hounds. 



Innumerable are the true histories which have been 

 transmitted to us concerning wolves. Their nightly 

 prowling, their quiet, untiring perseverance in pursuit, 

 their skulking disposition, their artful stratagems, all 



