WOLF. 295 



in the Paris Qazette may be trusted, he was 

 known to have destroyed at least twenty persons, 

 chiefly women and children. With the usual ag- 

 gravation of popular description, he Avas repre- 

 sented by some who had seen him, as far surpass- 

 ing in size the rest of his species, and striped 

 somewhat in the manner of a tiger. Public 

 prayers were said to have been offered up for his 

 destruction. 



The time of gestation in the Wolf is (according 

 to Buffon) about three months and a half; and the 

 young whelps are found from the end of April to 

 the beginning of July ; and this difference in the 

 time of gestation, which in the Wolf is 100 days, 

 and in the Dog only 60, he considers as a proof 

 of the real difference between the two species. 



Notwithstanding the savage nature of the Wolf, 

 he is still capable, when taken young, of being 

 tamed. A remarkable instance of this is said to 

 have been exhibited in a Wolf belonging to the 

 late Sir Ashton Lever, which was, by proper edu- 

 cation, entirely divested of the ferocious charac- 

 ter of its species. 



