WOLVES. 
209 
dogs, great and small, have sprung ; and he drew up a kind of 
genealogical table, shewing how climate, food, education, and 
intermixture of breeds, gave rise to the varieties. At Kata- 
mandoo there are many plants found in a wild state, which man 
has carried with him in his migrations, and wild animals, which 
may present the typical forms whence some of our domestic 
races have been derived ; among these is a wild dog, which Mr. 
Hodgson considers to be the primitive species of the whole 
canine race. By Professor Kretchner, the jackal was regarded 
as the type of the dogs of ancient Egypt, an idea supported by 
the representations on the walls of the temples. This question, 
however, of the origin of the canine race, is so thoroughly ob- 
scured by the mists of countless ages, as to be incapable of 
direct proof. Philosophers may indulge themselves with specu- 
lations; but in the absence of that keystone, proof, the matter 
must rest on the basis of theory alone. 
“ The following are some of the chief differences between 
wolves, wild dogs, and domestic dogs : — The ears of the wild 
animals are always pricked, the lop or drooping ear being es- 
sentially a mark of civilization; with very rare exceptions, their 
tails hang more or less and are bushy, the honest cock of the 
tail, so characteristic of a respectable dog, being wanting. This 
is certainly the rule ; but, curious enough, the Zoological Gar- 
dens contain at the present moment a Portuguese female wolf 
which carries her tail as erect and with as bold an air as any 
dog. Wolves and wild dogs growl, howl, yelp, and cry most 
discordantly, but, with one exception, do not bark ; that excep- 
tion being the wild hunting-dog of South Africa, which, accord- 
ing to Mr. Cumming, has three distinct cries; one is peculiarly 
soft and melodious, but distinguishable at a great distance : this 
is analogous to the trumpet-call, “ halt and rally,” of cavalry, 
serving to collect the scattered pack when broken in hot chase. 
A second cry, which has been compared to the chattering of 
monkeys, is emitted at night when the dogs are excited ; and 
the third note is described as a sharp angry bark, usually uttered 
when they behold an object they cannot make out, but which 
differs from the true, well-known bark of the domestic dog. 
“ The common or European wolf is found from Egypt to Lap- 
land, and is most probably the variety that formerly haunted 
these islands. The wolves of Russia are large and fierce, and 
have a peculiarly savage aspect. The Swedish and Norwegian 
are similar to the Russian in form, but are lighter in colour, and 
in winter totally white.. Those of France are browner and 
smaller than either of these, and the Alpine wolves are smaller 
still. Wolves are very numerous in the northern regions of 
America; ‘ their foot-marks,’ says Sir John Richardson, ‘may 
