398 



MAMMALIA. 



authorise the supposition that domesticity would change the 

 animal so as to cause it to lose this smeU. It might be replied, 

 that the odour is an accidental circumstance, and is due to the 

 putrid flesh on which the Jackal feeds ; at any rate, that it dis- 

 appears in the tamed animal in the second or third generation. 

 Nevertheless, it is difiicult to affirm anything either one way or 

 the other. The origin of di£Ferent species of animals is full of 

 obscurity, possibly never to be dissipated. 



JVoIf [Canis liqms). — It may be said that the Wolf is not 

 distinguished from the Dog by any zoological characteristics; 





Fig. 153. — Wolves and young. 



its ej'es being only situated more obliquely, and a little more 

 inclined towards the nose. Its pelage and size vary, according 

 to the country in which it is found. Certain Wolves measure, 

 not including the tail, only thirty inches ; others twice that 

 length. Its powers of enduring the effects of hunger and 

 fatigue are extraordinary. It is found throughout the whole of 

 Europe, excepting Great Britain and the neighbouring islands, 

 where it has been exterminated. It also inhabits the cold and 

 temperate regions of Asia and America. 



In some natural excavation, situated in a wood, the Wolf takes 

 up its abode. From here at night it cautiously steals forth with a 



