join in the gambols, and is carried off by its treacherous enemy. Several peasants that I conversed with mentioned their having been eye-witnesses of this circumstance."

Notwithstanding the savage ferocity of the wolf, a few instances of his having been tamed are on record. Buffon brought up one, which remained very quiet and docile till about eighteen months old, when he broke his fetters and ran off, after killing a number of fowls and a dog, with which he had lived in the greatest familiarity. Sir Ashton Lever also had a tame wolf, which, by proper education, was entirely divested of the natural ferocity of his species. M. de Candolle, the celebrated naturalist of Geneva, in one of his lectures on the subject of the changes which take place in animals when under the dominion of man, related that a lady residing near Geneva had a tame wolf, which appeared to be as strongly attached to his mistress as a

spaniel. She had occasion to leave home for some weeks; the wolf manifested the greatest distress after her departure, and at first refused to take food. He was much dejected during the whole time of her absence; and, on her return, as soon as the animal heard her footsteps, he bounded into the room in an ecstasy of delight; and, springing up, placed a paw on each of her shoulders, but the next moment fell back and instantly expired.

Mons. F. Cuvier has also recorded a very remarkable instance of the affection of a tame wolf for his master. He was brought up in the same manner as a puppy, and remained till full grown with his original owner, who, being obliged to go abroad, presented him to the menagerie at Paris. For many weeks after this separation he was quite disconsolate; scarcely taking any food, and being indifferent to his keepers; at length he began to manifest attachment to those about him,

and seemed to have forgotten his old affections. After an absence of eighteen months his master returned: the wolf heard his voice in the gardens of the menagerie, and on being set at liberty displayed the most vehement joy. Again separated from his friend, his grief was as intense as on the former occasion. His master again returned after an absence of three years. It was evening: the den of the wolf was concealed from view, yet no sooner did he hear the voice of the man, than he set up the most anxious cries. When the door was opened, he rushed towards his friend, leaped upon his shoulders, licked his face, and threatened to bite his keepers when they attempted to separate them. When the man left him he fell sick, and refused his food; and, after his recovery, which was long very doubtful, it was always dangerous for a stranger to approach him: he appeared to scorn the formation of new friendships.

Mac

The wolf is valuable for his skin alone, which makes a warm and durable fur. kenzie informs us, that in one year (1798) the Canada Fur Company exported to England three thousand eight hundred wolf-skins.

THE JACKAL.

THERE is no essential difference between the jackal and the dog. The average length of three individuals belonging to the Zoological Society, is about two feet, and they are about one foot in height at the most elevated part of the back. The tail, bushy, as in the fox, is about seven inches in length. The head, neck, thighs, and outer part of the limbs and ears, are of a dirty yellow; under the neck and body, and the inner surface of the limbs, somewhat white; while the back and the sides of the body to the

tail are of a gray yellow, which is abruptly divided from the surrounding lighter colours. The long hairs of the tail have black tips, so that the extremity of the tail itself appears black. The eyes are small, the pupils round as in the dog; the eye-balls, muzzle, and nails black.

The jackal, of the species called the Asiatic, abounds all over the continent of Africa and the countries of Southern Asia, where he renders the same kind of service as the vulture and the hyæna, in devouring every species of animal substance, the effluvia of which would otherwise taint the air, and possibly engender disease and pestilence. Prowling about by night in troops, the jackals will enter towns and villages, ravaging poultry-yards and gardens, and even destroying children, if they are left unprotected. Penetrating into stables, and outhouses, they consume every article made of leather; and, familiarly entering the tent of