398 
MAMMALIA. 
authorise the supposition that domesticity would change the 
animal so as to cause it to lose this smell. It might be replied, 
that the odour is an accidental circumstance, and is due to the 
putrid flesh on which the Jackal feeds ; at any rate, that it dis- 
appears in the tamed animal in the second or third generation. 
Nevertheless, it is difficult to affirm anything either one way or 
the other. The origin of different species of animals is full of 
obscurity, possibly never to be dissipated. 
Wolf ( Canis lupus ). — It may be said that the Wolf is not 
distinguished from the Dog by any zoological characteristics ; 
Fig. 153. — Wolves and young. 
its eyes being only situated more obliquely, and a little more 
inclined towards the nose. Its pelage arid size vary, according 
to the country in which it is found. Certain Wolves measure, 
not including the tail, only thirty inches ; others twice that 
length. Its powers of enduring the effects of hunger and 
fatigue are extraordinary. It is found throughout the whole of 
Europe, excepting Great Britain and the neighbouring islands, 
where it has been exterminated. It also inhabits the cold and 
temperate regions of Asia and America. 
In some natural excavation, situated in a wood, the Wolf takes 
up its abode. From here at night it cautiously steals forth with a 
