344 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



has hitherto been known only in its wild state, surrounded 

 with enemies and dangers, among which no feelings could 

 be developed, but those of fear, hatred, and distrust. Cer- 

 tain it is, that Dogs suffered to run wild in the woods, from 

 birth, become just as savage and ferocious as Wolves, and 

 yet we cannot suppose that they are so essentially. So true 

 it is, that to acquire a complete knowledge of the character 

 of a species, of its fundamental intellectual qualities, it 

 must be seen under every circumstance adapted for their 

 manifestation. On this subject, as on most others, the 

 world, we trust, is fast outgrowing the prejudices of its 

 childhood. The love of the marvellous and the terrible is 

 rapidly losing its hold upon the public mind. Tales of 

 wonder are either banished to the nursery, or reserved for 

 the purposes of temporary amusement ; and, even to those, 

 they often fail to contribute, from their want of veri-simi- 

 litude, and the superior attractions of truth. A traveller, 

 who should attempt to entertain us now, like Mandeville or 

 Raleigh, would meet but an indifferent reception. The 

 wide dissemination of knowledge has given birth to better 

 taste, and sounder judgment ; and the present era, we 

 trust, will be characterized, in history, as the true age of 

 reason, philosophy, and science, alike removed from the 

 follies of superstition, and the rashness of impiety*. 



To return from this digression : — Extraordinary as those 

 feelings, which we have been just describing, may appear 

 in this species, we find the germ of them in the attachment 

 which the young Wolves exhibit for each other, the tender- 

 ness of the She-Wolves for their young, and that affection 



* It is, perhaps, needless to remark, that the above observations apply 

 only to England, France, and America, and, with some limitations, to 

 Germany. Jn the latter country, though illumination is widely spi'ead, the 

 marvellous still predominates in literature, and the mystic, in some branches 

 of philosophy. As to the rest of the world, the less we say about it, peiv 

 haps, the better. — E. P. 



