342 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



very different proportions by different species, and even by 

 different individuals. 



The Wolf is one of those ferocious animals in which at- 

 tachment may be carried to the greatest extent, and which 

 presents us with one of the most singular examples of the 

 developement to which the desire of affection may attain-— 

 a desire so extraordinary, that it has been known to pre- 

 vail, in this animal, over every other necessity of his nature. 

 The individual, instanced by M. F. Cuvier, must un- 

 doubtedly have been, naturally, of a very excellent dispo- 

 sition. Brought up like a young Dog, he became familiar 

 with every person whom he was in the habit of seeing. 

 He would follow his master every where, seemed to suffer 

 much from his absence, was obedient to his voice, evinced, 

 invariably, the most entire submission, and differed, in 

 fact, in nothing, from the tamest of domestic Dogs. His 

 master being obliged to travel, made a present of him to 

 the Royal Menagerie, at Paris. Here, shut up in his com- 

 partment, the animal remained for many weeks, without 

 exhibiting the least gaiety, and almost without eating. He 

 gradually, however, recovered ; he attached himself to his 

 keepers ; and seemed to have forgotten all his past affec- 

 tions, when his master returned, after an absence of eighteen 

 months. At the very first word which he pronounced, the 

 Wolf, who did not see him in the crowd, instantly recog- 

 nised him, and testified his joy by his motions and his 

 cries. Being set at liberty, he overwhelmed his old friend 

 with caresses, just as the most attached Dog would have 

 done after a separation of a few days. Unhappily, his 

 master was obliged to quit him a second time, and this ab- 

 sence was again, to the poor Wolf, the cause of most pro- 

 found regret. But time allayed his grief. Three years 

 elapsed, and the Wolf was living very comfortably with 

 a young Dog, which had been given to him as a com- 

 panion. After this space of time, which would have been 



