CHAPTER XVII.

The wolf--His aspect and extreme ferocity--His cunning in hunting his prey--His unsocial nature--Antiquity of the race--Where found, and their varieties--Annihilated in England by the perseverance of the kings and people--Decrees and rewards to encourage their destruction by Athelstane, John, and Edward I.--Death of the last wolf in England--Death of the last in Ireland 221