6 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



of the dog, rolling themselves on the floor of the den, and seemingly inviting their keeper to caress 

 them. That they are capable of attachment to the person is also evident from the circumstance of 

 the extreme delight which they always evinced on the appearance before their den of an officer of the 

 Guards who was quartered in the Tower, and who was accustomed to pay them a daily visit. The 

 animals no sooner observed him approaching, than by their bounds and antics they manifested all the 

 joy of the dog on encountering his master. In their general appearance, they are more formidable 

 than the common wolf, but they have not the malignant scowl of the latter ; and it is evident that 

 their prevailing dispositions are of a more noble and dignified cast. On their first introduction to the 

 Tower, their colour was not so black as it is at present, partaking more of the dark grey, or rather 

 of the clouded colour, which induced Mr. Say, in the notes to the published narrative of Major Long's 

 Expedition from Pittsburg to the Rocky Mountains, to give the animal the name of the Clouded 

 Wolf. The skin and the sides of the mouth are nearly white, and round the neck appears a ring, in 

 which the grey tinge predominates, and this tinge extends to the lower part of the belly, where it be- 

 comes almost a white. The hair of the inside of the fore-legs also approaches to white, and the upper 

 part of the animal, being almost a deep black, gives the animal a pleasing and diversified appearance. 

 The extreme thickness of the hair bespeaks it to be a native of a high northern latitude, consistently 

 with the provisions of Nature, which bestows on each animal a covering suitable to the climate in 

 which it is destined to live. 



A great naturalist has said, " Shew me the tooth of an animal, and I will give you its whole 

 history, although I never saw the animal in my life ;" nor was this a presumptuous nor an extravagant 

 boast. By the magnitude of the tooth an estimate may be formed of the size of the animal ; and by 

 the configuration of the tooth, adapted either for grazing or the laceration of flesh, we attain to the 

 knowledge of the animal being herbivorous or carnivorous. The inspection of the mouth of a wolf 

 declares it at once to be a carnivorous animal, and the strength of its jaws demonstrates the power 

 which it possesses in crushing the bones of its prey. In these characteristics, the Hudson's Bay wolves 

 far exceed the European ones. They tear their food with an avidity truly rapacious, not stopping 

 to masticate it, but swallowing it in lumps as they tear it from the bone. Having divested the bone 

 of all the flesh, they then begin to quarrel for the former, in which the natural ferocity of the animal 

 is fully exhibited; but in these quarrels the female is always obliged to yield to the superior 

 strength of the male. 



Although these animals have now been domesticated for a considerable length of time in this 

 country, they have shewn no disposition whatever to propagate their species ; consequently, their time 

 of gestation, and other circumstances connected with their natural history, cannot be satisfactorily 

 ascertained. 



In height, the male, which is the larger of the two, appeal's to be about three feet, and from the 

 end of the mouth to the tip of the tail about seven feet. Their skin is eagerly sought after by the 

 natives of the country, as it forms a part of their winter clothing, and also an article of traffic with the 

 Hudson's Bay Company. A very fine skin was brought to this country by Captain Franklin, and 

 presented by him to the Zoological Society, in whose possession it now remains. 



The Hudson's Bay wolves sometimes wander on the ice of the sea in quest of young seals, which 

 they catch whilst they are asleep. But this repast often proves their death, for the ice is sometimes 

 suddenly detached from the shore,- and carries the wolves to a great distance from the land before 

 they are sensible of it. In this manner some districts are happily delivered from the presence of 

 these formidable animals. 



