Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/719

 WOLCOTT studied medicine, and in 1767 went to Jamaica as medical attendant to Sir William Trelawney, the governor. Though an avowed unbeliever, with his patron's promise of a living, he re- turned to England to be ordained. The living did not fall vacant, and he was forced to ac- cept a small curacy in Jamaica until the gov- ernor's death in 1768. He then returned to England, resided in London, ridiculed the roy- al academy in his "Lyric Odes," and became a professed satirist. His verses brought him a good income, until the government bought his silence by a pension. Collections of his writings appeared between 1789 and 1812. WOLCOTT. I. Roger, a colonial governor of Connecticut, born in Windsor, Conn., Jan. 4, 1679, died in that part of the same town which is now East Windsor, May 17, 1767. He was appointed commissary of the Connecticut co- lonial forces in the attack on Canada in 1711, and served in the subsequent French wars, at- taining the rank of major general at the siege of Louisburg in 1 745. He was elected governor of the colony in 1751, and reflected for the next three years. He had previously been repeat- edly member of the assembly and of the coun- cil, judge of the county court and of the supe- rior court, and deputy governor. He published "Poetical Meditations" (1725), and wrote a poem entitled "A Brief Account of the Agency of the Honorable John Winthrop, Esq., in the Court of King Charles II., A. D. 1662," in which he gives a description of the Pequot war. This has been printed in the collections of the Massachusetts historical society. II. Oliver, a signer of the Declaration of Indepen- dence, son of the preceding, born in Windsor, Conn., Nov. 26, 1726, died in Litchfield, Dec. 1, 1797. He graduated at Yale college in 1747, received a captain's commission from the gov- ernor of New York, and raised a company for the defence of the northern frontier, where he remained until the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1751 he was appointed sheriff of Litchfield co., Conn., and in 1774 a member of the state council. He was also chief judge of the court of common pleas, a judge of the probate court, and a major general of militia. In 1775 he was appointed one of the commissioners of In- dian affairs for the northern department. In 1776 he commanded the 14 Connecticut regi- ments raised to act with the army in New York, and in the same year he took his seat in congress. After the declaration was signed he returned to the army, and was at the battle of Saratoga, but continued to serve in congress at intervals till 1783. He was lieutenant gover- nor of Connecticut from 1786 to 1796, when he was elected governor, which office he held at the time of his death. His eon OLIVER (1760-1833), a lawyer, was secretary of the United States treasury 1795-1800, afterward circuit judge till 1802, and from 1818 to 1827 governor of Connecticut. WOLF, the typical form of the canidas or dogs, whose family characters have been described WOLF G95 under DOG. The European wolf (canis Ivpvs Lmn.) is about 4 ft. long, with a tail of 16 in., and is commonly yellowish gray above and dirty yellowish white below; it is about the size of a large dog, but leaner and more gaunt, and with a wicked expression of countenance from the obliquity of the eyes; the pupils are round, the ears erect, and the tail carried near- ly straight and hanging down. It is cowardly but powerful, hunting deer and animals of that size in packs, often committing great ravages among sheep, calves, and the smaller domestic animals, but rarely attacking man unless ren- dered fearless by hunger; it is very cautious and difficult to entrap, except when food is very scarce. It was formerly common over most of Europe, but is now so only in the most unfrequented and mountainous regions of N. Europe and Asia. Its osteological and anatomical characters are almost identical with those of the dog, and the period of gestation the same. When taken young it has been sue- European Wolf (Cauls lupus). cessfully tamed. A species of wolf is repre- sented with the dog on Egyptian monuments, and is figured on tombs of the fourth dynasty, 4,000 years ago. It .becomes almost white in Sweden and Siberia. In North America there are two well marked sections of wolves; in the smaller, to which the prairie wolf belongs, the skull is slender and the muzzle elongated and fox-like, with not very prominent cranial crests ; in the other, containing the large wolf, the skull is higher, with larger crests, broader muzzle, and relatively smaller orbits. Some rank the South American fox-like canidce among the wolves, comprising the genera ly- calopex and pseudalopex of Burmeister. The North American or common gray wolf ((?. occidental, Rich.) is usually grayish above, with a mixture of black points giving a griz- zled appearance, and lighter or yellowish gray below ; it varies from this to nearly white, and is hence called C. variabili* by Prince Maxi- milian ; it is from 3 to 4 ft. long, with a tail of 17 to 20 in. It is stouter than the Euro- pean wolf, with wider muzzle, larger head, more arched forehead, shorter ears and legs, longer and finer hair, and more bushy tail;