130 THE WOLVES. 
In stature and strength the wolves of Europe 
vary but slightly, and equal or surpass the largest 
and most powerful dogs. Their laniary and carni- 
vorous teeth are proportionably larger and stronger, 
the incisors distinctly trilobate, grooved within, and 
in general more irregular and projecting than in do- 
mestic canines. The eyes are placed more obliquely ; 
they are smaller, more distant, and apparently higher 
in the head; the forehead is broader and lower ; 
the ears are pointed, smaller, and more open than in 
dogs; they have the body deeper, the belly fuller, 
and less drawn up; the neck is more thickly fur- 
nished with a bristly sort of mane, which produces 
a turgid appearance about it ; the shoulder is higher, 
the back sloping, the after extremities more crouch- 
ing and lower, and the hind-legs more bent under 
the body. The tail, hanging close between them, 
wants the flexibility of that of foxes, and the re- 
curved attitude of that of dogs: they walk more on 
the ball of the feet than dogs, the fur is coarser, 
and their odour is very offensive. Their whole aspect 
indicating vigilant malignity, fear, and cruelty, dis- 
tinguishes them from the familiar species, even 
when in size and similarity of fur they approximate 
most closely. The muzzle, contracted below the 
eyes, is pointed; the edge of the lips black. On 
the cheek there are two or more hairy warts, and 
the bristles of the whiskers on the lips are short. 
Wolves howl more frequently when the weather is 
about to change to wet. They grovel with the nose 
in the earth, instead of digging with their paws, 
