144 THE WOLVES. 
Asia, we are still insufficiently acquainted with 
several that are known to exist, to pronounce with 
confidence upon the names by which they may have 
been noticed in former ages; and as there are 
grounds for surmising the reality of the disappear- 
ance of some, which have been replaced by an in- 
crease of others, not so well known in antiquity, 
we can as yet only attempt an approximation to a 
better understanding of the questions at issue; and 
this will be attempted, though with considerable 
diffiidence, as we proceed through the several groups 
of canines they may affect. 
In America, there are admitted species and per- 
manent varieties of the wolf, which we seem to look 
for in vain in the old continent. The difference, 
however, arises more from the circumstance, that in 
the former they are still in a state of nature, with 
their characteristic qualities not as yet so broken by 
human civilization as has been the case in the lat- 
ter, where, if we search, both different species and 
varieties are likewise found, and even to a greater 
amount; but their distinctions are more obliterated 
by the long-continued intervention of active and 
civilized nations. They therefore continue to be 
confounded cr considered as varieties of climate 
only; which, after all, is a very easy mode of dis- 
posing of every difficulty. If now, with these 
remarks in view, we examine the wolves of Kastern 
Kurope and Western Asia, such as the ancients 
knew them, and without adverting to those of the 
north and west of Europe, we shall find, by refer- 
