70 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
DESCRIPTION. 
It is covered with long hairs, intermixed with a thick woolly down, more or less conspicuous 
on different parts of the body. The long hairs are mostly black, but there are a few white 
ones interspersed. The wool.or down is of a dull yellowish-gray colour ; least of it is seen on 
the back, which has consequently nearly a black colour; the fur covering the spine is long, 
blackish towards the roots, and shining black at the tips; the sides are dusky-gray, many of 
the long hairs having apparently fallen off; the belly is blacker. The anterior parts of the 
legs are hoary from an intimate intermixture of black and white hairs, in which the former 
predominate. The posterior surfaces of the legs are covered with long, white and gray fur. 
The tail is black, with a few white hairs, and has a black tip. The wool on the tail is of the 
same colour with that on the body, but it is not visible until the long hairs are turned aside. 
The chin and extremity of the upper lip are white, and there are many long white hairs on 
the cheek. The feet are very hairy, the hair on the soles projecting beyond the claws. 
DIMENSIONS 
Of the specimen after it was mounted. 
Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. 
Length of head and body 4 2 Distance between the ears P 210) 34 
op tail (vertebra) 1 2 >, from the top of the nose to the 
s tail, with the fur ’ - iI 6 | anterior part of the orbit 10) 5} 
Height, pressing down the fur 2 ae 5, between the eyes A > "2 24 
», of the ear on the inner side 0 3h Length of the head c 1 1 
Var. E. Lupus ater. Black American Wolf. 
Loup noir de Canada, “Burron, vol. ix. p. 364. t. 41. (maie.) 
Black Wolf. Say, Long’s Exped., vol. i. p.95. FRANKLIN’S Jowrn., vol.i. p. 172. 
GriFritH’s Anim. King. cum Icone, vol. ii. p. 348 (opt.) 
Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 267. Icone ex Griffithii icone mutuato. 
Canis Lycaon. Harian’s Faun. Amer., p. 82. 
We saw some Black Wolves on the banks of the Mackenzie, but they are more 
common on the river Saskatchewan, and in districts further south. Mr. Say 
informs us that they abound on the Missouri. The Indians do not consider them 
to bea distinct race, but report that one or more black whelps are occasionally found 
in a litter of a Gray Wolf. In conceding to their opinion, I do not mean to 
assert that the offspring of Black Wolves are not most frequently black. Five 
Black Wolves are mentioned by Say, as having been taken from one den ; and Mr. 
