In a little time the infant begins to feel the pangs of hunger,
and hearing the cubs sucking, soon follows their example. Now the
adoption is complete, all fear of harm to the child from wolves
has gone, and the foster-mother will guard and protect it as
though it were of her own flesh and blood.
"The mode of progression of these children 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 arm, the knee would naturally be
brought to the ground, and the instep and top of the toes would
be used instead of the sole and heel of the almost inflexible
foot. Why the elbow should be employed instead of the hand is
less easy to understand, but probably it is better suited to give
support to the head and fore-part of the body.
"Some of these poor waifs have been recovered after spending ten
or more years in the fellowship of wolves, and, though wild and
savage at first, have in time become tractable in some degree.
They are rarely seen to stand upright, unless to look around, and
they gnaw bones in the manner of a dog, holding one end between
the forearms and hands, while snarling and snapping at everybody
who approaches too near.
Pages:
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880