DOG KIND. 45 



bringing them back to their native forms and in- 

 stincts ; we might, by crossing the strain, restore 

 that race of those bold animals which the ancients 

 assure us were more than a match for the lion." 



However this animal may be useful in North 

 America, the wolf of Europe is a very noxious 

 animal, and scarcely any thing belonging to him 

 is good, except his skin. Of this the furriers 

 make a covering that is warm and durable, though 

 coarse and unsightly. His flesh is very indiffe- 

 rent, and seems to be disliked by all other ani- 

 mals ; no other creature being known to eat the 

 wolfs flesh, except the wolf himself. He breathes 

 a most fetid vapour from his jaws, as his food is 

 indiscriminate, often putrid, and seldom cleanly. 

 In short, every way offensive, a savage aspect, a 

 frightful howl, an insupportable odour, a perverse 

 disposition, fierce habits, he is hateful while liv- 

 ing, and useless when dead. 



THE FOX. 



THE Fox very exactly resembles the wolf and 

 the dog internally; and, although he differs 

 greatly from both in size and carriage, yet when 

 we come to examine his shapes minutely, there 

 will appear to be very little difference in the des- 

 cription. Were, for instance, a painter to draw 

 from a natural historian's exactest description the 

 figure of a dog, a wolf, and a fox, without having 

 ever seen either, he would be very apt to con- 



