286 
AMERICAN GREY WOLF. 
exhausted as to be unable to keep his legs. A light wagon was imme- 
diately sent out for him, and the old dog was received at the fort in 
triumph, together with the body of his vanquished adversary. He was, 
nevertheless, laid up in hospital for several days, as was his master, whoso 
leg became inflamed, and prevented his mounting his horse again for a 
fortnight. 
“ The next morning I saw the wolf hanging by the heels, at the front of 
the piazza of Hoskins’s quarters ; and he was, beyond all comparison, the 
largest wolf that I ever laid eyes upon. His dimensions were taken at 
the time ; but I have no memoranda, and I will not venture to speak from 
memory. 
“ The colour and general appearance, however, of these two specimens 
(the skins of which were preserved) were, I very well recollect, alike ; 
viz. a mixture of rusty black and grey about the head, back, and flanks, 
interspersed with a yellowish rusty brown. But the striking marks of 
distinction were the large size and the breadth of the head, and the small- 
ness of the tail, when compared with other species ; the tail was decidedly 
short and scant of hair : the head was very remarkable — I speak of it as I 
saw it in the flesh — the front view, taking in what would be included 
within a line, drawn between the ears, and two others from those to the 
point of the nose, presented very nearly an equilateral triangle ; the head 
of the common wolf being much more ovate. Had the skull been stripped 
of its integuments, I doubt not it would have shown, to a certain degree, 
a corresponding enlargement in the occipital region. 
“ I feel no hesitation in asserting that these wolves were of the species 
recently described by Mr. Townsend as L. Gigas ; for I did not at the 
time, nor have I at any time since, entertained in my own mind a doubt 
of this wolf being a distinct species. 
“ Without instituting any strict inquiry, from personal examination, as 
to species or varieties, I have seen a good deal of the wolves of the west 
during some years past, and from a difference I have observed in the man- 
ners or character of those I have met with in the field, I incline to the 
belief that an additional species, between L. Occidcntalis and L. Latrans , 
will yet be satisfactorily established. 
“ G. A. M.” 
Philadelphia, July, 1851. 
