644 THE DOG. 



with which we contrive to inspire them ? The tamed wolf, 

 doubtless, manifests a taste for poultry, as well as his mas- 

 ter ; but even a single generation is not always required to 

 banish a propensity which seems almost instinctive. M. 

 Frederick Cuvier mentions the case of a she-wolf who had 

 been taken in a trap when an adult, but who became so 

 gentle, that she could be left in a poultry-yard, without 

 her offering the least violence. That tamed wolves may 

 attack other animals and devour them, is what the ruder 

 dogs will do, if not subjected to due discipline. Is it not 

 marvellous, then, that the Wolf, even before a few genera- 

 tions have passed between that of his wild state and his pre- 

 sent condition, should be taught to abandon such a propen- 

 sity I With regard to the Wolf's attacking his master and 

 devouring him, no instance of the kind, it is believed, is on 

 record. Colonel Hamilton Smith, indeed, mentions a story 

 told him by a butcher of New York regarding a tamed wolf, 

 which the man asserted had attacked him when he entered 

 at night the shambles in which the animal was confined. 

 But, giving all credit to the story as it was told by the man, 

 what does it prove ? The wolf, it seems, had been chained 

 for two years in a slaughter-house, and lived, we are assured, 

 " in a complete superabundance of blood and offal," that is, 

 he was kept in a situation in which he was the constant wit- 

 ness of all that was calculated to excite and keep alive his 

 fiercest appetites. It would have been a marvel if, under 

 such circumstances, the animal had not remained wild and 

 savage. Besides, we know nothing of the manner in which 

 this wolf was treated by his master, except that he was 

 chained in a slaughter-house. But wolves, we may believe, 

 are, like dogs, resentful of injuries, as well as grateful for 

 benefits. It is known that the larger dogs of this country will 

 fly upon their master, as upon any one else, if they are mal- 

 treated by him. Even fox-hounds, though trained up under the 

 terror of continued discipline from the litter, will fall upon 

 their keeper, if he suddenly enters their kennel under night 



