The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-15

hunt, though when thus united and
pressed with hunger, they will attack
almost anything. In India / have
never seen more than two or three
wolves together.
Perhaps the following facts will show
in homely way how natural ii is. un-
der certain circumstances, for the new
she-wolf to adopt the child:
A gentleman of my acquaintance had
a fox terrier which pupped on the
same day that the kitchen cat kittened.
Out of curiosity my friend exchanged
two of the puppies for two kittens;
they were held in the respective nests
for a few minutes and then left. The
result was that the cat reared the two
puppies and the dog the two kittens.
The fox terrier lived in the stable and
after her kind, would certainly worry
any cat she could catch. Still, the two
kittens grew up to be cats and she
never thought of molesting them. In
another case a young tabby cat had
her first litter of kittens in a farm hay
loft and, being over anxious for her
family, brought a young rat to them.
The kittens, whose eyes were scarcely
opened. were not ready for flesh food
and the young rat remained with them
unframed until discovered by a stable
boy. The matter was reported to the
master, who gave orders that the
young rat was not to be interfered
with. So the rodent thrived well with
it's strange foster-mother. and, matur-
ing much sooner than the kittens,
would, on being disturbed, leave the
nest and hide under some hay until the
supposed danger had passed, when he
would return and creep under the cat
for warmth. The cat was seen on
more than one occasion returning to
her kittens with newly caught rat in
her jaws.
Children recovered from wolves at
different times have been identified by
their parents through birthmarks and
other means. 1 have never heard or
read of a girl wolf-child having been
found. The reason for this may be
that they have soon broken down un-
der the strain of so terrible an exist
ence. and have persisted in the jungle,
where the stronger male child has sur
vived. A little girl of IS months was
stolen from a Hindu's hut by wolt
not 20 yards from my bungalow and
was never recovered.
The appearance of the wolf child is
forbidding, the features being coarse
and brutalized and the expression sad,
timid and anxious, without any signs
of human intelligence. l believe that
after the unhappy creatures have been
reclaimed and kindly treated none nave
ever been seen to smile. Their mode or
progress is on all fours-not, as a rule,
on the hands and feet, but on the knees
and elbows. The, reason the knees are
used is to be accounted for by the fact
that owing to the great length of the
human leg and thigh in proportion to
the length of the arms, the knee would
naturally be brought to the ground,
and the instep and top of toes would be
used instead of the sole and heel or the
almost inflexible foot. Why the elbow
should be employed instead or the hand
is less easy to understand. but probably
IL is better suited to give support to
the head and fore part of the body.
One would naturally suppose, howeV>H.
that by using his arms instead or his
hands. the head of the child must be
brought very near to the ground, and
the eyes, being directly downward, he
would have difficulty in looking before
him, and also that while travelling
through the underwood and over rough
ground. the face would be torn by
brambles and stones. The skin covering
the knees and insteps, elbows and fore
arms. of course, grows very hard and
horny, and is FURNISHED from constant
contact with the ground. The fact OF
the creatures travelling in this manner
should prove interesting to naturalists,
who affirm that. owing to his peculiar
formation, man is the only animal truly
bimanous and biped, and could not, IL
he wished, walk on all fours with any
degree of comfort. Children in all coun-
tries crawl before attaining strength
for an upright position, and the wolf
child. having only wolves and other
Jungle auadrupeds to set him an exam
pie. naturally copies their mode of loco
motion, having to follow his foster
mother and family through low jungle
runs, caves and under brushwood.
which would not permit of an upright
position. Old scars and scratches have
been, noticed on the legs and arms of
some of these wolf children, which,
from their appearance. would lead one
to believe that they had been inflicted
at some time by the young wolves
while either quarreling over their food
or romping in play with their human
| foster brother.