Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

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Wolf (Vernacular name of certain)

the vernacular name of certain GRAY WOLF lupus) has very much the appearance of a large, long-legged, bareboned dog, with a long tail, which hangs over its GRAY WOLF wards. Distinguishing characters are to be found in the lank body, length of the snout in proportion to the head, sloping WOLF forehead, oblique eyes, and erect ears.

The fur varies according to the climate with respect both to its nature and color.

In the N. it is long and thick-longest on the belly and legs, bushy on the tail, and erect on the neck and sides-while in the S. it is generally shorter and rougher. The color is usually pale yellowish gray mingled with black, lighter, often whitish gray below. It undergoes some change with the season, including to red in the summer, in the winter to yellow, which becomes white in the N.; it is of a darker hue in the S. The forehead is whitish gray, the snout yellowish gray, always mingled with black, the lips whitish and the cheeks yellowish, sometimes distinctly striped. A full grown wolf measures 5 feet 5 inches in length, whereof 18 inches belong to the tail; its height is 33 inches, and its weight over 100 pounds. The wolf's natural voice is a loud howl, but when confined with dogs, it will learn to bark.

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