ccviii Journal of Proceedings.
approached him. So they romped and fed together for a fortnight, when
the terrier was removed home. On the 17th of October five puppies
were born, which in colour altogether resembled their male parent; being
a dull fawn, with a tinge or shade of black running along the back, a
modicum of white occasionally showing on the breast, feet, or tip of the
tail. As they grew up, a little alteration took place, some of the young
ones more than others showing the attributes or character of the wolf in
the erect ears and wild crafty countenance ; others, again, to the casual
observer might have seemed ordinary mongrel-bred puppies. Age must
no doubt produce further changes ; and it will be interesting to note
whether these hybrids will in their turn be prolific. * * * The sire to the
puppies in question is a little under 20 lbs. in weight ; the mother about
17 lbs. At least one of these interesting hybrids is to be deposited at the
Zoological Gardens, where the public will be able to see it. The common
wolf freely mates with the dog; the progeny in nine cases out of ten
inheriting only the worst attributes of its parents."
We are glad to hear that " Charlie " is still (December, 1891) alive
and well at the Zoological Gardens. Mr. E. Payze writes (30th Novem-
ber, 1891) : —
" I twice paired him with a fox-terrier bitch, and had five cubs each
time. The only one of these that I know to be alive is at Mr. J. Brown's,
Wanstead. The mother was lemon-colour and white, but the cubs were
just like the father. The cubs were nasty spiteful animals, having the
bad temper of both parents, and the good qualities of neither."
Before publishing the above, we fortunately communicated with Mr.
Bartlett (the Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens), and he wrote as
follows under date December 3rd, 1801 :—
" The animal you ask about is alive. At the time it came here, we
considered that it was a ' Prairie Wolf,' but we now find that it is a
North African Jackal. The two species are very much alike, differing
only in size. ' Charlie,' as we call him, bred with a fox-terrier. The pups
did not show much of the father [this does not quite accord with Mr.
Payze's opinion, see above], but were most like the mother. They were
not to be trusted ; always running after sheep or any other animal."
The illustration is that which appeared in ' Land and Water' at
the time, which has been kindly lent to us by the Editor.
This is not the first time that similar animals have been found in the
forest. In the Chelmsford Museum is a specimen which was killed many
years ago in the Ongar Woods after committing several depredations.
It was supposed to have been imported in 1862 with other cubs, all
thought to be young foxes. It was presented to the Museum by the late
Rev. Merdaunt Barnard. Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., wrote to us as
follows with regard to this specimen :—" Some twenty or twenty-fife
years ago an animal was sent to Saffron Walden to be mounted. I saw
it but for a few minutes before it was packed for return to its owner.
It was in a lying-down position, the fur was of a uniform drab-gray
colour, its ears rather broad, and its nose much more obtuse than that of
a fox. It was said at the time to be a young wolf, but I said, no ! it was
either a dingo or a mongrel. When I saw the portrait of the living
animal from Epping Forest, which had been given to the Zoological
Gardens (but it needed a Bewick to depict it !), I did not hesitate to