106 Canids. MAMMALIA Canidjs. 
were worrying. They were so immerons that not 
only the dogs were defeated, but the jackals absolutely 
rushed out of the cover in pursuit of them ; and wlien 
Mr. Kinloch and his party rode up to whip them oil', 
their horses were bit, and it was not without difficulty 
a retreat was effected. The pack was found to have 
suffered so severely, as not to be able to take the field 
for many weeks.” The same writer speaks of the 
Jackal as an extremely troublesome customer. He 
is exceedingly vigilant, and seldom fails to carry his 
purpose. In spite of your efforts to scare him away, 
even with the aid of fire-arms, he will perseveringly 
“ wait at your door, nay, will enter your house, and 
avail himself of the smallest opening for enterprise; 
he will rob your roost, and steal kids, lambs, pigs, and 
sometimes even take a pup from its sleepy mother; 
he will strip a larder, or pick the bones of a carcase — 
all with equal avidity. It is curious to see them 
fighting almost within reach of your stick, for proximity 
to expected booty. It may readily be supposed that 
when any meat or poultry is purloined by servants, the 
Jackal bears the blame. An officer in our battalion in 
one night lost twenty- seven fowls from the hut in 
which they were kept ; on which one of his servants did 
not hesitate to declare that, on hearing their uproar 
during the night, he had run to see what was the 
matter, and saw twenty-seven jackals, each bearing 
away his bird ! ” Jackals, as we have seen, will 
devour any kind of offal, and it is credibly stated that 
they will dig up and greedily feed upon the half-buried 
corpses of a battle-field. The odour of the Jackal is 
very offensive, but it appears to wear off in the 
domesticated animal. The matter which gives rise to 
the disagreeable smell is secreted by a gland at the 
base of the tail. This dermal or skin gland was at one 
time supposed to exist only in the foxes, until a distin- 
guished comparative anatomist — Professor Retzius, of 
Stockholm — showed that this organ occurs in wolves 
and jackals also. It is not necessary to place the 
slightest reliance in the old story about jackals acting 
as purveyors to the lion, there being no sufficient 
grounds for such a notion. 
THE WOLF {Canis lupus), Plate 7, fig. 24. — Pro- 
bably no wild animal is more dreaded in civilized 
countries than the common Wolf, its ferocity and 
strength having very often proved disastrous to the 
traveller, and to the residents of oirtlying villages. Its 
general appearance is too well known to require any 
lengthened description. The body is about four feet 
long, exclusive of the tail, which measures from fourteen 
to eighteen inches, according to circumstances. The 
straight direction and dependent position of this organ 
has been considered as a character sufficiently important 
to distinguish the wolf from the dog ; but when those 
who argue for the specific distinctness of the two animals 
are thus obliged to resort to such trifling characters, 
it shows the very slender nature of the grounds on 
which their arguments are based. Without regarding 
the point in dispute as entirely decided, we strongly 
adhere to the view of Professor Owen and others, who 
regard all kinds of dogs as domesticated varieties of 
the wolf. The fur of the Wolf is long, especially on 
the throat and below the ears ; its texture rough, wiry. 
and harsh. Ordinarily it is of a yellowish-grey colour, 
being much lighter beneath the neck and belly. Some 
varieties are dark, almost pure black. In northern 
regions the fur becomes light-coloured during the winter, 
and is very frequently quite white; yellow and pied 
varieties have also been described. There are indeed 
many wolves differing very markedly in size and colour, 
and it is quite impossible to determine accurately how 
many of them represent distinct species. Even if this 
were the proper place to discuss the matter, our space 
would not allow a full and complete discussion of the 
subject. The black variety is very common in the 
south of Europe, especially on the Spanish side of the 
Pyrenees. They are very large, tall, and strong in that 
quarter, and their habits are excessively crafty. Colonel 
Hamilton Smith says, that they formerly congregated 
“ in the passes of the Pyrenees in large troops; and even 
now the Lobo will accompany strings of mules as soon 
as it becomes dusky. They are seen bounding from 
bush to bush by the side of travellers, and keeping 
parallel with them as they proceed, waiting an oppor- 
tunity to select a victim, and often succeeding, unless 
the muleteers can reach some place of safety before 
dark, and have no dangerous passes to traverse.” 
These black wolves are likewise to be found in the 
mountain slopes of Friuli and in the neighbourhood of 
Cattaro. The common grey variety is very widely 
distributed, occurring in various parts of Europe, Asia, 
Africa, and North America. In early historic times it 
roamed at large in the forests of Great Britain, as 
abundantly, perhaps, as it now occurs in some districts 
of France, Hungary, Russia, Norway, and Sweden. 
Their rapacity is much increased during the winter 
months, especially if the cold season prove unusually 
severe and protracted, wdien the supply of food neces- 
sarily becomes limited. On these occasions their depre- 
dations prove most disastrous. Thus, Dr. Weissenborn 
informs us, that in one severe winter on the continent, 
they became remarkably bold and violent. About the 
middle of the month of January large numbers infested 
the neighbourhood of Stuttgard, where they succeeded 
in capturing a poor lad, twelve years of age, only a 
few miles outside the city. At night they prowled 
about in packs; and one batch of them, ten in number, 
having forced their way into a farmyard near Agram, 
they committed most serious havoc among the cattle. 
Many crossed over into Prussia from the Polish fron- 
tiers, and a solitary individual deliberately attacked a 
horse in one of the busiest and principal streets in the 
city of Kbnigsberg. Many other instances have been 
given of their daring under the extremities of famine. 
The most horrible account is that recorded by Captain 
Williamson in Northern India. On this occasion their 
want of food was not the result of cold, but it was 
owing to the extreme drought of the year 1783, which 
caused a dreadful scarcity of all kinds of food and 
animals during the ensuing season. This famine was 
especially felt in the fertile province of Oude. Thou- 
sands of the natives, we are told, perished from starva- 
tion, “ while numbers fell an easy prey to the wolves, 
which, being bereft of their usual means of subsistence 
by the general destruction of all eatable animals, were 
at first compelled, and afterwards found it convenient. 
