T
B.
C A N I S LUPUS. VAR.
THE BLACK WOLF. AMERICA.
C H A R A C T E R SPECIFICUS, &e.
Canis Cauda incurvata. LIN. SYST. NAT. p. 58.
Lupus. GKSN. O f ADR. 64. RAJ. QUADR. 173.
Dog with incurvateci tail.
T l i e Wolf.
S P E C I F I C
L I N .
C H A R A C T E R , &c.
THE black Wol f , though perhaps not fpecifically clifFerent f rom the common, or grey Wol f ,
:s yet fo ftrikingly diftingiiilhed by its colour as to merit particular attention. Black Wolves
are found both in the northern parts of Europe and in Nortlr America; but thofe of Europe
are fomewhat larger than the common Wolf, while, on the contrary, thofe of America are
confiderably fmaller. The manners of the Wo l f are in the higheil degree favage and ferocious;
It preys on almoft all kinds of animals both living and dead. Wolves frequently affemble in
troops, and attack the flocks and cattle by night, and even fometimes enter towns. The Wolf,
as the Count de Bnffon has well obferved, has ib great a refemblance to the Dog, both externally
and internally, that he feems to have been formed upon the fame model; but the natural
dHpofitions of the animals are fo oppofite that they are not only incompatible, but repugnant
b y nature and inimical by inftinft. Yet, notwithftanding this, it is certain that feme few inftances
have been known of the W o l f and D o g intermixing, and producing a hybrid offspring,
which has again been prolific; and upon this foundation a celebrated anatomift has grounded
his idea of an identity of fpccies.
I T