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 itips; the -sides are dusky-gray, many of
the long hairs having apparently Tallen 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 hadis, 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 projectingheyond the claws.
DiaCENSIONS
Of the specimen After.it -was mounted.
Length of head and body .
„ tail (vertebrae) , .
gj tail, with the fur ,
Height, pressing! down the fur
.,, of the ear ojn the inner side
Var. E. L u p u s a t e r . Black American Wolf.
Loup noir 'de Canada. Buff on, vól. ix. p. 364. t. 41. (malè.)
Black Wolf. Sat, Long's -Eæped., voLi.tp. 95. Franklin’s J-oum.,~vól. i. p.172.
Gr if f it h ’s Anim. King, cum leone, vol. ii. p. 348 (opt.)
Godman’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 267. Icône ex Griffithii icone mutuato.
Canis Lvcaon. Harlan’s Faun. Amer.,y. 82.
Distance between the ears .
j, from the top of the nose to the
anterior part of the orbit ,
„ between the eyes . . ■
Length of the head -. ,. ,
Inches.
Si
We saw some Black Wolves on the hanks 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 be a 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.
Hood, in Captain Franklin’s, Narrative, records an instance in which a Black
Wolf was shot, and- three black whelps taken from her den.
The, Black Wolves differ in external appearance from the gray ones only in
colour, and their haunts and habits are precisely the- same. Buffon, in his description
of a young Black Wolf from Canada, remarks that the ears were wider, farther
apart, and more pointed, than those of the European Wolf ; the eyes smaller, and
also further apart. The comparatively broad; forehead, indicated, by; the greater
distance, between, the ears' and eyes, is, as- I have-already stated, common to all
the varieties of the Woff of the,northern parts of America, The French naturalist’s
description, of the behaviour of this Wolf, when turned, out against a-bull, is so
characteristic,, not only of the American Wolf, but als© of the Indian dogs, when
under the influence of fear, that I cannot resist quoting1 it at length —-“ Get
animal,” dit il, “ avoit été pris fort jeune en Canada^, et apporté en Frame
par un Qffieier de Marine, qui let garda dans sa maison; pendant quelque tems- ;
mais l’animal, étant devenu féroce en grandissant, il fat mis au combat de taureau
à Paris, où il ne montra pas beaucoup de courage lbrsqu’on le fit entrer en liee
mais dès que l’on, approchoit de la loge-où on le gardoit, il entroit en fureur, se
jetoit brusquement en avant de toute la longueur de sa chaîne, montrait les dents et
aboyoit, non pas comme les chiens, mais seulement par des cris successifs et interrompus
qu’il ne repetoit qu’après d’assez longs intervales.”
I have frequently observed an Indian dog, after being worsted in combat, retreat
into a corner, and howl at intervals far an hour together. They also howl piteously
when apprehensive of punishment, and throw themselves into attitudes strongly
resembling those exhibited by a wolf when caught in a trap. The plate given by
Buffon is but an indifferent representation of the Black Wolf. The individual
was not only young, but its fur, as is customary with animals in captivity, seems to
have been in a bad state*. A most excellent etching, by Landseer, of a Black
Wolf, kept in the Tower, has appeared in Griffith’s translation of Cuvier’s Règne
Animal. Though it may be remarked, that even in this the far is not represented
in the fine condition which the animal exhibits during the winter in its native
climate.
Linnaeus has described the Black Wolf of Europe under the appellation of Canis
Tycoon; and Baron Cuvier and other naturalists have followed his example in
speaking of it as a distinct species; but authors have not clearly pointed out any
* The small size of this specimen, by the way, may have
given rise to Gmelin’s mistake in confounding it with the
black fox under the name of Canis Lycaon.