must look for those remarkable peculiarities which distinguish him in so
eminent a degree not only from his immediate neighbours, but also from
every other quadruped. Unfortunately we have not the means of comparing
him in a pure state of nature with the other animals of his tribe; for
although it has been repeatedly attempted to determine his primitive
stock, there can be no doubt that upon this point we are still as much as
ever in the dark. There exist, however, in various parts of the world,
considerable numbers of Dogs, the descendants unquestionably of races
formerly domesticated, which, to all appearance, differ but little in
their habits and manners from the Wolf and the Jackal, to one or other
of which they frequently approach in form, and from each of which it
has been confidently asserted that the domestic species was primarily
derived. But the doubts to which this striking similarity might otherwise
give rise are instantly removed by the readiness with which these wild
Dogs submit to the control of man, and become familiarized with that
state of servitude to which nature appears to have destined them from
the first. Other animals may indeed be tamed; they may become playful,
familiar, and even affectionate; but none of them have hitherto been
taught, even by long-continued training, to exhibit qualities of mind
in any degree comparable to the absolute subserviency, the undeviating
attachment, the submissive docility, and the acute intelligence, which
these invaluable animals almost spontaneously manifest, when placed in
circumstances favourable to their developement.
So much has been written by authors of every description, from the
earliest ages down to the present time, upon every point connected with
their history and habits, and the space which we could devote to their
illustration in the present volume is so small, that we choose rather
not to enter at all upon the subject than to treat of it in the very
abrupt and imperfect manner to which we should necessarily be restricted.
It only remains therefore to add a few observations relative to the
extremely beautiful leash of hounds which are figured at the head of the
present article, before passing to the consideration of the remaining
species of the group which are at present contained in the Menagerie.
These are two males and one female, belonging to the most elegant as
well as the most intelligent variety of the species, that to which
Linnæus, on account of the high degree to which the latter quality was
carried in them, gave _par excellence_ the epithet of _sagax_. They
were presented by Major, now Colonel Denham, on his return from the
most successful expedition that has perhaps ever been made into the
evil-omened regions of Central Africa, from whence they were brought by
that gallant traveller, who also gave Mr. Cops the following account of
their qualifications for the chase. He had repeatedly, he said, made use
of them in hunting the Gazelle, in their pursuit of which he had observed
that they displayed more cunning and sagacity than any dogs with which
he was acquainted, frequently quitting the line of scent for the purpose
of cutting off a double, and recovering it again with the greatest
facility. They would follow a scent after an hour and a half or even
two hours had elapsed; and the breed was therefore commonly employed in
Africa for the purpose of tracing a flying enemy to his retreat. They are
in fact, both for symmetry and action, perfect models; and there are few
sportsmen who will not regret that there appears no chance of crossing
our own pointers with this interesting breed. A mixed race, combining the
qualifications of both, would unquestionably be one of the most valuable
acquisitions to our sporting stock; but, unhappily, this union seems to
be altogether hopeless; for although they have now been more than three
years in England, and are in excellent health and condition, they appear,
like many other animals restrained of their liberty and kept constantly
together, to have no disposition to perpetuate their race. The males are
remarkably good tempered; the female on the contrary is surly and ill
natured.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE WOLF.
_CANIS LUPUS._ LINN.
This sullen and forbidding-looking animal, the most ravenous and
ferocious that infests the more temperate regions of the earth, of many
parts of which he is the terror and the scourge, is distinguished from
the humble, generous, and faithful friend of man, the domestic dog, by
no very remarkable or striking character; and yet there is something
in his physiognomy, gait, and habit, which is at once so peculiar and
so repulsive, that it would be almost impossible to confound a Wolf,
however tame, with the most savage and the most wolflike of dogs. For the
separation of the two species, Linnæus, as we have seen in the preceding
article, had recourse to the tail; and having determined that that of
the dog was uniformly curved upwards, he attributed to that of the Wolf
a completely opposite direction, that is to say, a curvature inwards;
assigning, at the same time, a straight or a deflected position to those
of all the other animals of the group. The deflected, or down-pointing,
direction is, however, equally common in the Wolf with the incurved;
and this petty distinction, which has little to do with structure, and
still less with habits, is hardly deserving of serious attention. More
obvious and more essential differences will be found in the cast of his
countenance, which derives a peculiar expression from the obliquity
of his eyes; in the breadth of his head, suddenly contracting into a
slender and pointed muzzle; in the size and power of his teeth, which
are comparatively greater than those of any dog of equal stature; in the
stiffness and want of pliability of his limbs; in his uniformly straight
and pointed ears; and in a black stripe which almost constantly, and in
nearly every variety of the species, occupies the front of the fore leg
of the adult. His fur, which differs considerably in texture and colour,
from the influence of climate and of seasons, is commonly of a grayish
yellow, the shades of which are variously intermingled; as he advances in
age it becomes lighter, and in high northern latitudes frequently turns
completely white, a change which also takes place in many other animals
inhabiting the polar regions.
Entirely dependent upon rapine for his subsistence, the nose of the Wolf
is fully equal to that of the sharpest-scented hound. The size and speed
of the elk and of the stag are insufficient to protect them from his
violence; he pursues them with equal swiftness and cunning, and, when he
has succeeded in running them down, finds little difficulty in rendering
them his prey. To effect this purpose with the greater certainty he
frequently unites himself with a numerous train of his fellows, who are
however bound together by no other tie than the common object of their
pursuit; and when this is once attained immediately separate and proceed
each to his own retreat, whence they again emerge to reunite in the
common cause whenever the necessary stimulus is supplied. In inhabited
countries he seldom ventures to show himself openly or in packs, but
sleeps away the greater part of the day in the shelter of the forest,
and only prowls abroad by night when impelled by the cravings of his
appetite. The sheep-cote and the farm-yard become then the scenes of his
ravages; and such is his ingenuity, and so great the rapidity of his
motions, that he will frequently carry off his prey almost before the
eyes of the shepherd, although the warning voice of the watchful dog had
given timely notice of the approach of the marauder. His ferocity is
sometimes carried to such a pitch that he becomes dangerous to man; and
when hard pressed by famine, to which in spite of all his skill in the
chase and his sagacity in the pursuit of meaner rapine he is by no means
a stranger, he will fall at unawares upon the solitary and unprotected
traveller, or, prowling about the habitation of the villager, carry off
from it his unsuspecting and defenceless children.
Happily for England this formidable beast has long been extirpated from
its woods; but the comparative extent of his domain has been thereby but
little reduced. It may be roughly stated as comprehending the whole
northern hemisphere, of which only very small portions are exempted from
his ravages. He is easily tamed when young, and may even (according to
M. F. Cuvier, who has published a history of a domesticated individual
bordering in many particulars very closely on the marvellous, but of the
truth of which the well known character of that scientific naturalist is
a sufficient guarantee) be rendered susceptible of the highest degree
of attachment to his master, whom he will remember after prolonged and
repeated absence, and caress with all the familiar fondness of a dog.
Such traits as this are, however, to say the least, very uncommon; and
he is, even in captivity, generally speaking, ill tempered and morose.
The old male, the father of the litter now in the Tower, was extremely
savage; the female, on the contrary, is very tame, and, which is more
remarkable, continued so even during the period of suckling her young,
which were five in number. Neither before, at, nor after this period did
her temper undergo any change: she suffered her keepers to handle her
cubs, of which she was excessively fond, and even to remove them from the
den, without evincing the smallest symptom either of anger or alarm.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.
_CANIS NUBILUS._ SAY.
To distinguish between the numerous races of Wolves which are scattered
more or less abundantly over nearly the entire surface of the earth;
to determine that such and such variations are the result of original
formation, and that such and such others are merely the product of
accidental circumstances; in other words, to establish clear and
tangible grounds of specific distinction between animals so varied in
external appearance, but corresponding so perfectly in every essential
particular, while the shades of character by which they differ, although
in many cases strikingly marked, are for the most part so unimportant,
or so little permanent, as scarcely to be deserving of notice,--is
unquestionably one of the most difficult problems, to the solution of
which the zoologist has to apply himself.
In internal and anatomical structure, on which modern naturalists are
agreed that the greatest reliance ought to be placed in the distinction
of closely approximating species, there is in the various races of
Wolves no deviation from the common type of sufficient importance to
warrant their separation from each other; neither does their outward
form, excepting only in size and in the comparative measurement of
parts, differ in any remarkable degree. In colour it is true that the
most striking variations are observable, their hair exhibiting almost
every intermediate shade between the opposite extremes of black and
white. But it must be obvious that on this character, taken by itself,
it would be absurd to insist as a ground of specific distinction, when
we reflect on the influence which climate and other external accidents
must necessarily exercise on animals so extensively dispersed, and so
variously circumstanced.
There are, however, strong grounds for believing that the fine pair of
animals, whose portraits are prefixed to the present article, exhibit
real and substantial marks of distinction of sufficient value to sanction
their separation from the other species. Considerably larger and more
robust than the Common Wolf, and differing greatly in the expression
of their physiognomy, neither in figure nor in countenance are they
remarkable for that starved and gaunt appearance which is the common
and well known attribute of the latter. In fact, they have altogether
a more fierce and formidable, but at the same time a more noble and
less sinister, aspect. Their hair, which is of considerable length,
especially along the middle of the back and shoulders, where it forms a
sort of indistinct and scattered mane, is mottled with various shades
of black, gray, and white, giving to the whole animal that dark and
clouded colour which constitutes one of its most peculiar and striking
characteristics. The colouring, which, on the upper parts of the body,
is deep black, becomes somewhat lighter on the sides, and assumes a yet
lighter shade beneath: the chin and angles of the mouth are nearly white;
the gray tinge predominating over the darker shades in various other
parts, but by no means in so regular a manner as to merit a particular
description. The ears are remarkably short; and the tail is also somewhat
shorter in proportion than that of the common wolf, not reaching, in its
solid form, beneath the posterior bend (which in all these animals is
formed by the heel) of the hind legs.
The animals at present in the Tower, the only individuals of this
species that have been brought alive to Europe, were presented about
four years since by the Hudson’s Bay Company, by some of whose hunters
they had been trapped in the northern regions of America. A fine skin
of the same species was brought home by the late overland expedition to
those countries, under the command of Captain Franklin, and presented
to the Museum of the Zoological Society. There is also another instance
of its occurrence recorded in the capture of a solitary specimen, in
the Missouri territory, by the party engaged in Major Long’s expedition
from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. This specimen was accurately
described, in the notes to the published narrative of that expedition, by
Mr. Say, who at once recognised it as a distinct species, and affixed to
it the scientific name which we have adopted without hesitation for these
animals, with the most striking peculiarities of which his description
coincides in every essential particular.
Their habits in a state of nature are, in all probability, perfectly
similar to those which characterize their immediate neighbours, from
which, in captivity, they differ in no remarkable degree. Like the common
kind, they are exceedingly voracious, tearing their meat and swallowing
it in large gobbets, and afterwards gnawing the bones (for which they
frequently quarrel) with truly wolvish avidity. Although they have been
so long confined, they retain their original ferocity undiminished: a
circumstance, it may be mentioned by the way, which has prevented us
from giving their measurement. Judging, however, from the eye, we may
confidently venture to assert that their size, especially that of the
male, is considerably superior to that of the specimen described by Mr.
Say, which measured about four feet and a quarter from the tip of the
nose to the origin of the tail.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE JACKAL.
_CANIS AUREUS._ LINN.
The Jackal, one of the greatest pests of the countries which he inhabits,
is spread over nearly the whole of Asia and the north of Africa,
occupying in the warmer regions of those continents the place of the
Wolf, of whom in many particulars he may be considered as offering a
miniature resemblance. In size he is about equal to the common fox, but
he differs from that equally troublesome animal in the form of the pupils
of his eyes, which correspond with those of the dog and of the wolf, in
the comparative shortness of his legs and muzzle, in his less tufted and
bushy tail, and in the peculiar marking of his coat. The colouring of
his back and sides consists of a mixture of gray and black, which is
abruptly and strikingly distinguished from the deep and uniform tawny of
his shoulders, haunches, and legs: his head is nearly of the same mixed
shade with the upper surface of his body, as is also the greater part of
his tail, which latter, however, becomes black towards its extremity;
his neck and throat are whitish, and the under surface of his body is
distinguished by a paler hue.
Unlike the wolf or the fox, he always associates himself with his species
in numerous troops, which burrow together in the earth, hunt in concert,
and act in conjunction for their mutual defence. These bands not only
prey upon the smaller quadrupeds and domestic poultry, but, emboldened
by their numbers, give chase to and attack the larger animals. They
frequently follow in the train of more noble beasts, and make their meal
off the remains of the carcases which have been half devoured by the Lion
or the Tiger. When taken they become almost immediately tame and docile;
offering no resistance and evincing no signs of ferocity. The specimen in
the Tower is remarkably quiet; it is a male, and has been a resident for
upwards of three years.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CIVET, OR MUSK CAT.
_VIVERRA CIVETTA._ LINN.
The group of animals to which we have next to turn our attention is
perhaps the most puzzling, and certainly the least understood, among
the true Carnivora; hence there exists no little difficulty in defining
its limits and distinguishing the species which compose it. Under the
generic name of Viverra, Linnæus comprehended a series, or, to speak
more properly, a congeries, of quadrupeds, differing from each other
so remarkably in form, in structure, and in habits, as to render
it absolutely impossible to find characters by which they might be
circumscribed and isolated from their fellows. His definition of the
genus therefore, although purposely expressed in terms the most vague
and indistinct, neither excludes such animals as from their obvious
affinities he could not refrain from referring to other groups, nor
includes full one half of the species which he has arranged beneath
it. The Ichneumon of the Nile, the Suricate of the Cape, the Coati
of South America, the Stinking Weasels of the North, the Civet of
Barbary, the Genette of the East, the Ratel of South Africa, and others
equally distant in affinity, were sweepingly compelled into this
ample receptacle, which was converted into a genuine “refuge for the
houseless,” in which every carnivorous quadruped, known, unknown, or
imperfectly known, that appeared to be without a place elsewhere, was
charitably afforded a temporary asylum.
In this arrangement, which brought animals truly digitigrade, with
retractile claws, tongues covered with sharp papillæ, canine teeth of
great power, and molars formed for tearing flesh, consequently in a
high degree sanguinary and carnivorous in their habits, into close and
intimate contact with others, which are positively plantigrade, with
exserted claws, smooth tongues, and teeth of little power and evidently
incapable of lacerating animal food, and which are therefore in all cases
more or less, and in several instances wholly, vegetable eaters, it
was impossible for naturalists long to coincide. The genus thus formed
presented so heterogeneous a combination, that the difficulty was rather
where to stop in the dispersion of the dissimilar materials of which it
was composed, than where to commence the necessary operation; and in
consequence nearly a dozen genera, not hanging together in one continued
series, but scattered through various parts of the system, and most of
them essentially distinct, have been the result of the dismemberment of
this single group.
The true Civets, to which the genus Viverra is now restricted, yield in
the extent of their carnivorous propensities to the cats alone, whom they
approach very closely in many points of their zoological character, as
well as in their predatory, sanguinary, and nocturnal habits. In addition
to the six incisors and two canines, which are common to the whole of the
true Carnivora, they have on each side and in each jaw six molars, one
of which is peculiarly adapted for lacerating flesh, while the rest are
more or less of the ordinary form. Their tongues are furnished with the
same elevated and pointed papillæ which give so remarkable an asperity
to those of the cats; and their claws are half retractile. The toes are
five in number on each of the feet, and their extremities alone are
applied to the ground in walking; the animals are consequently completely
digitigrade. But the most distinctive character of the group consists in
an opening near the tail, leading into a double cavity of considerable
size, furnished with glands and follicles for the secretion of the
peculiar odoriferous substance so well known as the produce of the Civet,
and from which the animal derives his name.
The present species is from two to three feet in length, exclusive of the
tail, which is nearly half as much more; and stands from ten to twelve
inches high. His body, which is more elongated in its form than that of
any of the animals hitherto described, is covered with long hair, the
ground colour of which is of a brownish gray intermingled with numerous
transverse interrupted bands or irregular spots of black. A series of
longer hairs of the latter colour occupy the middle line of the back,
from between the shoulders to the extremity of the tail, and form a
kind of mane, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure. The legs and
greater part of the tail are perfectly black, and the upper lip and sides
of the neck nearly white. A large patch of black surrounds each eye, and
passes from it to the angle of the mouth; and two or three other bands
of the same colour pass obliquely from the base of the ears towards the
shoulder and neck, the latter of which is marked by a broad black patch.
In his natural habits the Civet closely resembles the fox and the less
powerful species of cats, subsisting by rapine, and attacking the birds
and smaller quadrupeds, which form his principal food, rather by night
and by surprise than by open force and in the face of day: reduced to a
state of captivity, he becomes moderately tame, but not sufficiently so
to allow himself to be handled with impunity. In many parts of Northern
Africa large numbers of them are kept for the purpose of obtaining their
perfume, which bears a high price and is much esteemed. The individual
sketched above is a male of large size, and remarkable for never having
deposited any of the perfume, although for more than twelve months an
inhabitant of the Menagerie.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE JAVANESE CIVET.
_VIVERRA RASSE._ HORSF.
The present species is remarkably distinct from the preceding both in
form and colour. Its ground is of a much lighter gray, on which it offers
a broad longitudinal dorsal line of black, and two or three narrower ones
of the same colour on each side, composed of confluent spots. These spots
are also thickly but somewhat irregularly scattered over the rest of the
body, and may be considered as forming a series of flexuous dotted lines.
The legs are black externally; and the head is grayish and without spots.
A deep longitudinal black line occupies the side of the neck above, and a
second more oblique is placed below. The body, which is from fifteen to
eighteen inches in length, is narrow and compressed, and more elevated
behind than before; the back is strongly arched. The line of the profile
is perfectly straight, the muzzle narrow and tapering, and the ears
short and rounded. The tail is of equal length with the body, and tapers
gradually to the tip; it is marked with eight or nine broad rings of
black, alternating with an equal number of grayish.
Like the other animals of its group, its habits are predatory; in
confinement it retains much of its original ferocity, and is extremely
spiteful and savage. The two individuals from which our figure was taken
have inhabited the Menagerie for nearly twelve months; they are both
males, and occupy different dens. They are fed, like the preceding, and
indeed like all the carnivorous quadrupeds which it remains to mention,
on a mixture of vegetable and animal food; and deposit large quantities
of civet, which strongly impregnates the air of the apartment in which
they are kept. This perfume is highly esteemed by the Javanese, who
apply it not only to their dresses, but also to their persons. Even the
apartments and furniture of the natives of rank are generally scented
with it to such a degree as to be offensive to Europeans.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE GRAY ICHNEUMON.
_ICHNEUMON GRISEUS._ GEOFF.
From the Civets, to which it closely approaches in the number and in some
degree also in the form of its teeth, in the asperity of its tongue, and
in the semi-retractility of its claws, the group of which the Egyptian
Ichneumon forms the type is distinguished by its narrower and more
pointed muzzle, by the shortness of its lower lip, and more especially by
the absence of the double cavity beneath the tail, which is replaced by
a single pouch of considerable size, but destitute of secreting glands.
Their hair is long, crisp, brittle, and always more or less variegated in
colour, in consequence of each separate hair being marked by alternate
rings of different shades.
The colour of the species now before us, which is a native of India,
is a pale gray, the hairs being for the most part of a dirty yellowish
white, relieved towards their extremities by narrow rings of brown. The
head and limbs are darker than the rest of the body.