BEASTS OF PREY 



37 



to thirty breaths in the minute, in running fast this number is increased 

 to from 300 to 350. We observe exactly the same in its ancestral parent 

 the wolf. This accelerated respiration, however, causes the removal of 

 a large quantity of water from the lungs (about 4£ ounces per hour in 

 a dog of middle size), and by the rapid evaporation of this water, just 

 as by the evaporation of the sweat from the skin, a considerable cooling 

 of the body is effected. 



(/) By means of the sweat, moreover, a large number of waste 

 products are removed from the body. In the wolf (or dog), which, 

 as we have mentioned, has no sweat-glands, this function is undertaken 

 by the kidneys. This explains the frequent passing of urine indulged in 

 by wolves and dogs. 



5. In its dentition the wolf very nearly resembles the cat (which 

 see). The jaws are more extended, and lodge a greater number of 

 molars, which, though less sharp, are stronger than those of the cat, 

 so that the wolf (and dog) is able to crush the bones of even large 

 animals. On each side of the upper jaw there are three premolars, and 

 four on each side of the lower jaw. The true molars number two on 



Skull op a "Wolf. (One-fourth natural size.) 



each side of the upper and lower jaws. These, like the posterior portion 

 of the lower carnassial tooth, have broad crowns for crushing and grinding 

 up the food. The structure of the teeth enables these animals also to 

 consume vegetable substances (potatoes, corn-cobs, etc.) ; they (and 

 their relatives), accordingly, are not quite so ferocious and bloodthirsty 

 as the cats, and their intestine is somewhat longer than that of the 

 latter. What has been said in regard to the canine teeth and their 

 importance, the articulation of the mandible, the jugal arches, parietal 

 and occipital crests, width of the mouth, and acidity of the gastric juice 

 in the cat applies equally to the wolf and its congeners. 



6. Like all beasts of prey, the wolf is sly, cunning, and cautious. To 

 make its hunts more successful, it unites with others of its species into a 

 pack. With one bound it leaps at the throat of larger animals (cattle, 



