CANTS LUPUS. 7 



Wolves are generally greyer \\ith longer fur, and may be of a very light 

 colour. A specimen from Moscow, in the British Museum, has 

 remarkably long, soft hair, of a pale colour, and altogether devoid of a 

 rufous tint on the outside of the limbs. 



The Wolf is a striking example of the variability common to so many 

 of the Canidse. This variability is by no means confined to its furry 

 coat, but also affects the details of the skeleton and dentition, and the 

 general proportions and size of its whole bodily frame. 



Various zoologists have regarded different local forms of the Wolf 

 both in the Old World and the New as so many distinct species. 

 We have already observed, in our Introduction, that many members of 

 the canine family vary so much that the specific separation of them 

 must be largely a matter of individual opinion concerning which 

 zoologists may reasonably differ. Acting on our principle not to 

 separate as probable species, forms which we have not found to differ 

 by any characters which seem constant *, we feel compelled to treat 

 the various local forms here referred to as varieties of Canis lupus. 



We have seen that the European Wolf varies greatly not only in 

 having predominantly either a red or a grey hue, but in being (as 

 sometimes in Spain) almost black, or (as in North Europe) of an 

 extremely light tint. 



We might therefore expect to find a similar range of variations in 

 the Wolves of Asia and America. 



In Plate II. we give a representation of a black wolf from Thibet. 

 It is not, however, completely black, having a reddish tinge on the 

 hinder part of either thigh, while the margins of the mouth, a patch 

 on the breast, the under surface of the lower jaw, and the paws are 

 white. 



The individual figured is one of a pair which the Zoological Society 

 of London received from Lieut. A. A. Kinloch and Lieut. J. Biddulph 

 in August 1867, and which they had obtained from some Tartars in 

 Thibet, at the foot of the Lanak pass. These beasts had shaggy fur, and 

 were uniformly black except on the muzzle, the feet, and a patch on the 



* See ante, p. v. 



