Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/720

 696 WOLF many authors consider it a permanent variety of the European species, while others not only regard it as distinct, but make several species of it. Among the varieties which have re- ceived names are the white wolf on the upper waters of the Missouri, the dusky in the north- western states, the black in the south, and the rufous in Texas ; these vary also in shape, be- ing more slender and longer - legged at the south. The giant wolf described by Townsend, from Oregon, was probably only a very large specimen of the common gray species. Gray wolves were formerly abundant all over North America ; in the far west they follow the trail of the buffalo herds, picking up the sick and straggling or feeding on the refuse of the hunters; they also run down deer in packs, and occasionally attack and devour horses, and man himself, when furious with hunger. In the middle and New England states a few still linger in the mountainous districts, especially where there are deer. The wolf has four to nine young at a time in the spring, which it pro- tects in burrows ; it crosses with domestic dogs, '- Coyote or Prairie Wolf (Canls Utrans). and the Indians try to improve their sledge dogs in this way ; it can hardly be distinguished from these dogs except by its superior size and strength ; the howl ia much like that of the dog. The prairie wolf (C. latrant, Say), the coyote of the Mexicans, is intermediate in size between the fox and the wolf, having the sharp muzzle of the former and the shape and tail of the latter ; it is the American represen- tative of the old world jackal. It is 36 to 40 in. long, with a tail of 16 to 18 in. ; the color is usually dull yellowish gray on the back and sides, with black cloudings; under parts and inside of limbs dirty white ; the ears very large, triangular, erect, and mostly coated with hair ; there are four toes on each foot, and on the fore feet a sharp claw on the inside, 2 in. above the sole, attached to the rudimentary thumb ; tail bushy but tapering, and the hair coarse. The voice is a kind of snapping bark, whence the name of barking wolf. It is found on the plains of the Missouri and the Sas- katchewan, extending from Mexico to lat. 55 N. ; it lives and breeds in burrows, having the young, sometimes 10, in April; it hunts in packs, and is very fleet. WOLF, Christian von, baron, a German philoso- pher, born in Breslau, Jan. 24, 1679, died in Halle, April 9, 1754. He graduated at Leip- sic in 1703, and subsequently lectured there. In 1706 the invasion of Charles XII. drove him from that city, and in 1707 he became professor of mathematics and natural history at Halle. In 1723, having been accused by his theological colleagues of heterodoxy, he was deprived of his place by Frederick William I. and summarily expelled from the country. This gave rise to great agitation, and his ser- vices were sought in many seats of learning, after he had accepted a professorship at Mar- burg. In 1740, after the accession of Fred- erick the Great, he was reinstated at Halle, and was made vice chancellor of the univer- sity, privy councillor, and professor of natural and international law. In 1743 he was made chancellor of the university, and in 1745 baron. Wolf systematized and extended, but partly also modified, the theories of Leibnitz, and the Leibnitzo-Wolfian philosophy ruled Germany during the 18th century until the time of Kant. The works of Wolf in German ( Vemunftige Qedanktn, 7 vols., 1712-'33) and Latin (22 vols., 1728- '50) treat of all the branches of philoso- phy excepting resthetics, which was first devel- oped by his pupil Baumgarten. His systematic philosophical treatises are: Philosophia Ra- tionalis (1728) ; Psychologia Empirica (1728) ; Philosophia Prima, sine Ontologia(l78&); Co- mologia Oeneralis (1731); Philosophia Mora- te(1732); Ptychologia Rational!* (1784); The- ologia Naturalis (1736-'7); and Philosophia Practiea Unitersalu(173S-'9). Ilis chief math- ematical writings are included in Elementa Mn- theteos Universes (5 vols. 4to, 1732-'41). His other publications include Jus Natures (8 vols., l740-'48) and Jus Gentium (1749). See Ludo- vici, Ausffthrlicher Entwurf einer rolhtandigen Historie der Wolfschen Philosophic (3 vols., Leipsic, 1737), and Wolf's autobiography, ed- ited by Wuttke (1841). WOLF, Frfcdrlth Anirnst, a German scholar, born at Hainrode, near Nordhausen, Feb. 15, 1759, died in Marseilles, Aug. 8, 1824. He studied and gave private lessons at Gdttingen, and in 1778 published an edition of "Mac- beth." In 1779 he became a teacher at Ilfeld, in 1782 rector of thp public school at Osterode, and in 1783 professor of philosophy and direc- tor of the pedagogic institute at Halle. When the university of Halle was closed in 1806, Wolf went to Berlin, and participated in the establishment of the university there, and for a time was employed in the ministry of public instruction. He stood at the head of German classical scholars, and was equally distinguished as a lecturer and a writer. His most celebra- ted work is Prolegomena ad Homerum (1795) (see HOMEH, vol. viii., p. 779), and he edited Homer, Demosthenes, Cicero, Plato, and other ancient authors. See Arnoldt, Wolf in seinem Verhdltnisse zum Schulwesen und eur Pddago- gik (2 vols., Brunswick, 1861-'2).