There are several varieties of the Wolf besides the common European kind, most of which have been considered by different authors as distinct species, and some of which are even now so considered, though the differences between them are so very slight and unimportant, that it seems hardly advisable to look upon them as anything more than _geographical species_--varieties produced by difference of climate and other surroundings. “The Black Wolf is a name given to a variety which is most frequent in Southern Europe, and particularly in the Pyrenees, and to the south of those mountains, where they are more common than the ordinary Wolf, which the Black Wolf equals in stature, and, if anything, exceeds in strength. Cuvier says it is found, but very rarely, in France.” The Wolf found in Palestine, the subject of so many references in the Old Testament, is, according to Canon Tristram, a very well-marked variety. He says of it:-- “The Wolf is the dread of the shepherd from one end of the country to the other, and a single Wolf is far more destructive than a whole pack of Jackals. Again and again I have put up the Syrian Wolf and fired at it without success. Near Beersheba, in the hill country, in the forests of Bashan and Gilead, in the ravines of Galilee and Lebanon, and in the maritime plains, it is alike distributed. I never saw two together, and I never heard of them hunting in packs. It is much to be wished that some traveller may be able to secure a specimen for examination, for it may possibly prove to be a distinct variety. It is of a lighter fawn colour than any European Wolf I ever saw, and appears decidedly larger. I can confirm the statement of Dr. Russell, that the natives speak of another larger and fiercer species called ‘Sheeb,’ but I could never obtain any clear definition of the distinctions between the two.” The Wolf of India, abundant in the open country, rare in the wooded districts over the whole of the great peninsula, is considered, by authorities such as Mr. Blyth and Dr. Jerdon, as a distinct species, and is called _Canis pallipes_.