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ji . II ■pmnai^ai 
 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. GEOLOGIST. 
 
 VNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES, ..^-^^^r* * 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PTTBLICATIOTTS, No. 8. 
 
 \0^ *A 
 
 
 FUR-BEARING ANIMALS: 
 
 A MONOGRAPH 
 
 OF 
 
 North American Mdstelidj;, 
 
 IN WHICH AN ACCOUNT OP 
 
 THE WOLVERENE, THE MARTENS OR SABLES, THE ERHINE, THE MINK 
 
 AND VARIOUS OTHER KINDS OF WEASELS, SEVERAL SPECIES OF 
 
 SKUNKS, THE BADGER, THE LAND AND SEA OTTERS, AND 
 
 NUMEROUS EXOTIC ALLIES OF THESE ANIMALS, 
 
 18 CONTKinUTKD TO THB 
 
 HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELLIOTT COUES, 
 
 CAPTAIN InD assistant SUUdEON UNITED STATES AKMT, 
 SECRKTART ANU NATURALIST OF THB BUBVET. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTY FIGURES ON TWENTY PLATES. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 aOVBENMBNT PEINTINO OFFIOB. 
 
 1877. 
 
 »■> i ^ > ' 
 
 
 ite*' eoo o' 
 
 O (1 1 id 
 
' e * n rt ft 
 
 * *" . t . 
 
 1 o * a p ' 
 
PREFATORY NOTH 
 
 U. S. Geological and Geographical 
 
 Survey of the Territories, 
 Washington, B. C, July n, 1877. 
 
 This treatise on Fur-bearing Animals of North America, pre- 
 pared by Dr. Elliott Coues, Assistant Surgeon United States 
 Army, at present on duty with the Survey, is published as a 
 specimen fasciculus of a systematic History of North American 
 Mammals, upon which the author has been long engaged. 
 
 In the forthcoming work, which will be published by the 
 Survey as soon as it can be prepared for the press, it is proposed 
 to treat the Mammals of North America, living and extinct, in 
 the same comprehensive and thorough manner in which the 
 single family of the Mmtelidce has been elaborated. 
 
 The form of the final work, however, will necessarily be modi- 
 fied, in order to bring the whole matter within reasonable com- 
 pass, as well as to adapt it more perfectly to the wants of the 
 general public, which it is designed to meet. The technical 
 and critical portions of the treatise will be condensed as far as 
 may be deemed compatible with itsdistinctively scientific charac- 
 ter, while the aspects of the subject which are of more general 
 interest, such as the life-histories of the species and the eco- 
 nomic or other practical relations which animals sustain toward 
 man, will be presented in ample detail. 
 
 Other considerations have also had weight with me in de- 
 ciding to publish this Monograph of the Mustelida in advance 
 of the general "History", and as a separate volume. This 
 family of Mammals is one of special interest and importance, 
 from an economic point of view, as all the species furnish valua- 
 ble peltries, some of which, like Sable, Ermine, and Otter, are 
 in great demand ; while their pursuit is an extensive and im- 
 portant branch of our national industries. 
 
 It is believed that the Monograph satisfactorily reflects the 
 present state of our knowledge of these animals, and forma 
 
 III 
 
 5GT% 
 
mmm 
 
 IV 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 a desirable contribution to the literature of the general subject. 
 The Mustelid(v, like most other families of North American 
 Mammals, have not been systematically revised for many years,, 
 daring which much new material, hitherto unused, has become 
 available for the purposes of science; while the steady and 
 rapid progress of scientific inquiry has rendered it necessary t» 
 reopen and discuss many questions in a new light. The same 
 principles and methods of study which the author has suc- 
 cessfully applied to the elucidation of the Rodentia of North 
 America have been brought to bear upon the investigation of 
 the Miiatelidiv. 
 
 The Memoir is based upon specimens secured by the Survey 
 under my direction, together with all the material contained 
 in the National Museum, for the opportunity of examining 
 which the Survey acknowledges, in this as in other instances, 
 its indebtedness to the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 The illustrations of the present volume, with few exceptions,* 
 were engraved by Mr. H. H. Nichols, of Washington, from pho- 
 tographs on wood made under Dr. Coues's direction by Mr. T. W. 
 Smillie, of Washington. This method of natural history illus- 
 tration may still be regarded in the light of an experiment ; but 
 the cuts may be considered fine specimens of the engraver's^ 
 art, when it is remembered that photography gives no lines, 
 to be followed by the graver. Though showing less detail^ 
 particularly of the under surfaces of the skulls, than might 
 have been secured by hand-drawing, the cuts possess the merit 
 of absolute accuracy of contour. 
 
 This opportunity is taken to reprint, by permission, a Gironlar ' 
 relating to the proposed " History ", which was addressed by 
 Dr. Coues to the Medical Staff of the Army, of which he is a 
 member. The Circular is sufficiently explicit to require no com- 
 ment ; but I may here express my high appreciation of the 
 courtesy with which the wishes of the Survey have been met 
 by the Surgeon General of the Army. 
 
 F. V. HAYDEN, 
 United States Qeologiat. 
 
 * The several figures on the electrotype plate VI were kindly loaned by Mr^ 
 £. A. Samnele, of Boston, from the Massachusetts Agrioalturol Report for 1861. 
 The figures on plate XII were drawn on wood by Mr. S. W. Keen, of Waelw 
 ingtoD, from photographs furnished by Mr. H. W. Parker, of the Agricultural 
 College, Amherst, Mass. 
 
' [Reprinted.] 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 SURGEON GENBKAL'S OFFICE, 
 
 Washington, March 31, 1877. 
 
 CIRCULAR ORDERS, ) 
 No. 1. S 
 
 The attention of the Medical Officers of the Army is partioa* 
 larly invited to the following communication addressed to them 
 by Assistant Surgeon Elliott Ooues, U. S. Army. 
 
 It is hoped that their assistance and co-operation will be 
 cheerfully given for the reasons stated and in the manner indi> 
 cated by Dr. CouES. 
 
 Bt order of the Surgeon General: 
 
 C. H. CRANE, 
 
 Assistant Surgeon General^ U. 8. Army, 
 
 Office ok U. S. Geoix)Oical and Geookaphical Survey, 
 
 Waahington, D. C, Maroh 13, 1&77. 
 To THE Medical Officers of the Army : 
 
 Medical Officers of the Army, and others who may be interested in the 
 matter, are respectfally and earnestly invited to cooperate with the under- 
 8i);ned in the preparation of a worl; entitled "History of North American Mam- 
 malt," to be published by the Government. 
 
 It is now twenty years since the last general work apon the Qaadrnpeds 
 of this country appeared. The progress of our knowledge during this period 
 renders the demand for a new treatise imperative. It is proposed to make 
 the forthcoming "History" a standard scientific treatise, covering the whole 
 ground, and fully exhibiting the present state of our knowledge of the sub- 
 ject. The plan of the work may be briefly indicated ; its scope includes^ 
 1. The Classification of North American Mammals according to the latest 
 and most approved views of leading therologists, including diagnoses of 
 the orders, families, genera and species. 
 H. The most acceptable Nomenclature of each species and variety, with ex- 
 tensive Synonymy. 
 
 3. The elaborate technical Description of each species and variety, including 
 
 much anatomical detail, especially respecting the skull and teeth. • 
 
 4. The Geographical Distribution of the species — an important matter, con- 
 
 cerning which much remains to be learned. 
 
 5. The "Life-histories" of the species, or an account, as full and complete 
 
 as it can be made, of their habits. This is also a matter reqniriug niucti 
 further study. 
 
 6. The Bibliography of the subject. 
 
 V ■ 
 
VI 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. 
 
 
 While tbu strictly aciuntilic cbarncter of the work will bo iiiiiintained, tho 
 " life-historieH," being of general interest, will be divested us fur as pussiblo 
 of tecbuicalitit-H, and treated with u free bund, in popular style. The author 
 has long been engaged in gathering material for this work, already fur ad~ 
 vaucetl, and hopes to publish at no distant day. His resources and facilitieH 
 for the preparation of the defcriptive and other technical portions of tho 
 treatite have been ample ; but he has still, in common with other naturalists, 
 much to learn respecting the Geographical Distribution and Habits of North 
 American Mammals. To these points, therefore, special attention is invited, 
 with the expectation that much important and valuable information may 
 be secured with the assistance of Medical and other Orticers of tho Army, 
 many of whom enjoy unusual facilities for ac(iuiring a knowledge of this 
 subject, and whose individual experiences, in many casen, represent a fund 
 of information not yet on sciontitic record, but which, it is hoped, may now 
 be made fully available. 
 
 The Geographical Distribution of animals can be thoroughly worked out 
 only by means of observations made at very many different places. To thi* 
 end it is desirable that lists should be prepared of the various species fount! 
 in any given locality, noting their relative abundance or scarcity, times of 
 appearance and disappearance, nature of their customary resorts, and other 
 pertinent particulars. A sutlioient number of such reports, from various 
 stations, would greatly increase our knowledge, and render it more precise.. 
 It is believed that the " History of the Post," as already prepared by Medi- 
 cal Otiicers, usually includes information of this kind, which, by the permia~ 
 sion of the Surgeon General, is made available for the present purpose. 
 
 As a rule, the habits of largvr "game" animals, such as are ordinarily ob- 
 jects of the chase for pleasure or protit, and of all those which sustain obvion* 
 economic relations with man, as furnishing food or furs, or as committing 
 depredations upon crops or live stock, are the best known ; yet there ia 
 nino'ii to be learned even respecting these. The habits of many of the imatler, 
 insigniticaut or obscure species are almost entirely unknown. Full and ac- 
 curate information respecting tho habits of the numerous species of Plares, 
 Squirrels, Shrews, Moles, Mice, Rats, Bats, Weasels, Gophers, &e., is par- 
 ticularly desired. The Bats offer a peculiarly inviting and little explored 
 field of research. Among points to which attention may be directed, in any 
 case, are the following : 
 
 Date and duration of the rut. -Period of gestation. — Usual time of repro- 
 duction. — Number of yonng produced. — Duration of lactation. — Care of thei 
 young, by one or both parents. — State of monogamy or polygamy. — Time* 
 of disappearance and re-appearance of such animals as are migratory, and 
 of such as hybernate. — Completeness or interruption of torpidity. — Time* 
 of changing pelage, of acquiring, shedding and renewing horns. — Habit* 
 connected with theae processes. — Habits peculiar to the breeding and rut- 
 ting seasons. — Construction of nests, burrows, or other artiiicial retreats. — 
 Natural resorts at different seiisons. — Nature of food at various seasons ; 
 mode of procnriug it; laying-up of supplies; <|uantity required. — VariouA 
 cries, of what indicative.— Natural means of offense and defense, and how 
 employed. — General disposition, traits, characteristics. — Methods of captur- 
 ing or destroying, of taming or domesticating. — Economic relations witU 
 
 (/ :i 
 
CIRCULAR. 
 
 tn 
 
 man ; how injiiriotiM or beneficial, to what extent, used for what pnrposoH, 
 yielding what products of value. 
 
 Other pointa will doubtless suggest theiiiHolveH to the observer. Anatom- 
 ical noteH of careful «liHHOCtionN of soft parts, particularly of the difjestivo 
 and reproductive organs, are valuable. Anecdotal records of personal ex- 
 periences possess at least the interest which attaches to originality, and are 
 very acceptable. Persous are frequently deterred from commuoicating their 
 observations for fear that what they have to otf^r may not be wanted. This 
 is generally a mistake. In the tirst place, duplication of data serves the 
 important purpohe of corroborating and coiitirmiiig the accuracy of reports 
 furnished, and in all cases of seasonal phenomena, which of course vary 
 with latitude, the same observations may be prolitably repeated at different 
 stations. Secondly, persons wlio write books are generally supposed to 
 know more than they really do. 
 
 Specimens of common and well-known animals, especially if bulky, are 
 of course less desirable than those of rare and obscure species ; but speci- 
 mens of any species securer! beyond the ordinary geographical range, or 
 illustrating unusual conditions, such as albiuism, melanism, or malforma- 
 tions, or representing euibryonio stages of growth, are always in demand. 
 Small dry parcels may be conveniently mailed direct to the undersigned; 
 large packages should be sent in accordance with Circular Orders, No. 2, 
 War Department, Surgeon General's.OfHce, April 13, 1875, (copy herewith [*]), 
 or by express, if the Quartermivster's I Jepartmont cannot furnish trauspor- 
 
 11 WA.i4 DKIPARTMICNT', 
 
 Surgeon General's Office, 
 
 ' H'lishiiigton, Jpril l,\, 1875. 
 
 CIRCULAR ORDERS, 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 The following General Order from the Adjutant (jroneral's OHice is pub- 
 lished for the information of Medical Otlicers : 
 
 (JrENEKAL OKDEHH 1 
 
 No. -19. ) 
 
 WAR DEPAUTMENT, 
 
 Adjucant Gknbkai.'k OKncK. 
 
 Wanhingtvn, April 6, IfiT.I. 
 
 The Quarteriuaiitur'8 Departiuent is iiiithoriKed to traii!iport to the Medical Musiniin at 
 Wasliinjit'jn such objects as may bo turned over to its otticers for that iiurpuse at any 
 military post or station by the otticers of the Medical Department. 
 
 By 0K1>EK OF THE SECKETAHY Ol' WaII : 
 
 E. D. TOWNSEXP, 
 
 Adjutant Qeiural. 
 
 Medical Officers in turning over package.s to the Quartermaster's Depart- 
 ment for transportation will take receipts in duplicate, and will forward 
 one of the receipts to the Surgeon General. All packages for the Museum 
 should be plainly marked "Surgeon General, U. S. A., Washington, D. C," 
 with "Army Medical Museum" inscribed in the lower left hand corner. 
 
 By okder ok the Sukgeon Geneimi. : 
 
 C. H. CRANE, 
 
 AHuhlant Surgeon (Jenerttl U. H, Army. 
 
VIII 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^t:. 
 
 tation. SpeoimenB, after examinatioa by the ODdenigued for the parpoae* 
 of the work in hand, will be depoaited, ia the name of the donor, in the 
 Amy Medical Mnaenm, or in the National Masanm. 
 
 Printed instraotions for collecting and preeerving specimens will be fnr< 
 nlahed on application to the Smithsonian Institution. Medical Of cers 
 reeeiviag this Circular are requested to bring it to the notice of others who 
 may be interested in the matter, and are cordially invited to open corre- 
 •pondence with the writer upon the subject. 
 
 It is proper to add, that, for all information or specimens furnished, full 
 oredit will be given in every instance, both in the text of the treatise in 
 which such material is utilized, and in the records and publications of the 
 Moaeum in which it is finally deposited; and that the author will regard 
 cooperation in this work as a personal favor, to be fully appreciated and 
 gratefully acknowledged. 
 
 ELLIOTT C0UE8, 
 Aatktant Surgton, U. S. Army. 
 
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Family MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Oeneral oonsiderationn— Systematic position and relations of the Mtu- 
 <e{id<e— Division into subfamilies— Schedule of the North American 
 genera— Their difi'erential characters — Diagnoses of the North 
 American subfamilies — The anal glands of MuBtelime—The fossil 
 North American species of Mustelina — Derivation and significa- 
 tion of names applied to Muatelida 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Subfamily MUSTELINE: The Wolverene. 
 
 The genus G«/o— Generic characters — Gulo Iu«cii«, the Wolverene — Syn- 
 onsrmy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external 
 characters — Measurements— Anal glands — Description of the skuU 
 and teeth — Measurements of skulls, European and American— 
 Nomenclature of the species — Relation of the European and Ameri- 
 can animal— General history, geographical distribution, and habits 
 of the species — Its distribution in the Old World 
 
 38 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 MUSTELINE— Continued: The Martens. 
 
 The genus JtfM«(eIa — Genenc characters, &c. — Analysis of North 
 American species — Mustela pennanti, the Pekan or Pennant's Mar- 
 ten—Synonymy—Habitat—Specific characters — Description of 
 external characters — Dimensions — Skull and vertebrae— General 
 history, habits, and geographical distribution — Interpolated mat- 
 ter relating to exotic species of Muntela — M. martea — Synonymy — 
 Description of its skull and teeth— if. /atna— Synonymy — Notes 
 on its characters — M. zihellina — Synonymy — Measurements of 
 skulls of the three species — Comparative diagnoses of M. martM, 
 americaiia, and foina — Mustela americana, the American Sable or 
 Marten — Synonymy — Description and discussion of the spe- 
 cies — Table of measu'-'-ments — Geographical variation in the 
 skull— General histui d habits of the species 
 
 IX 
 
 50 
 
HBP 
 
 is. 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.C. 
 
 CHAPTEU IV. 
 MUSTELINE.:— Conthuied: The Weasels. 
 
 Tho genus I'nlnrhix — Gouorio chiirat'torH niid reumrka — DiviHion of tlio 
 genua into suhyoneiii— AnalyMiM of tho North Aniuricim Hpeoios — 
 Tho HubtfenuH Galc—J'utoriun vuhjarU, the Coinnioii WeaHol — Syu- 
 ouyuiy— Habitat— 8pecitic oharactera — Qcneral characters anil re- 
 hitionshipH of the specieH— (leo^iiiphical diHtributioii — Habits — 
 J'utoriua trniinca, tho Stoat or Erniiue— Synonymy — Habitat — Spe- 
 citio characters— DiscuHsion of spocitio cliaravters luitl relation- 
 ships — Table of mt>a«urenients— Note on the skull and teeth — 
 Description of external oharactorH — Conditions of the change of 
 color — General history and habits of the species — Its distribution 
 In tho Old World — PutoriuH huijivuuda, the Long-tailed Weasel — 
 Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description — Measure- 
 ments — General account of the species — I'litorins hraHiliensia fre- 
 na1u», the Hi idled Weasel — Synonymy — Habitat — Specillc oharuc- 
 tera — General account of tho species 
 
 97 
 
 ^ CHAPTEU V. 
 MUSTELIN.E— Continued: The American Ferret. 
 
 The subgenus Vifnomyonar, — Snbgeneric charack«irs — Putoriua ( C'»/m«>»m,V(>- 
 nax) nigripvn, the American or lilack-lboted Ferret — Synonymy — 
 Specific characters — Habitat — General account of the species — Ad- 
 i>KNi>UM: On the species of the subgenus I'uloriuH — /'. /wliUiii^, 
 the Polecat or Fitch — Synonyjny — Uesciiption — I'. J'atidtiH vur. 
 fnro, the Ferret — Synonymy — Remarks — Ferrot breeding and 
 handling — I'.J'dtitliix var. (V<r,^m<iinii, tiie Siberian Polecat — Synon- . 
 ymy — Uenuuks — /'. Mdimaticut, the Spotted I'olicat — Synonymy 
 and remarks 117 
 
 CUAPTEK VI. 
 
 t f ^. . i 
 
 MUSTELIN.E— Ccnitiniu'd: The :^Iink. 
 
 The subgenus Ai(frt.'o/a— Subgenoriir uhart.'..ters and rennirks — I'utoriuii 
 v'uon, the American Mink— Synonymy— Habitat — Spetiillc char- 
 ■ acters — Desoripti«)n of external characters — Measurements — Vari- 
 ation in external characters — Variation in the skull — Comparison, 
 with tho European Mink — Notice of allie«l Old World species, /'. 
 /Htreo/(iand I', nibirirun — General history and habits of the Mink — 
 "Minkeries" 
 
 lod 
 
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 3|| 
 
 . CHAl'TEU VIL 
 
 SiiMFAMiLY MEPHITIN/K: The Skunks. 
 
 Qenorul consideration!) — Crnnial niul duutal chumctorH — The iinul itr- 
 iimturo — Division of tlio sulit'ainily into tjencnv — Noto t)n fossil 
 North Anioricun simcios— TUo ^enus McphitiH — Afephitim mi'phitiai, 
 the Common Skunk — Synonymy — llabitut— Spoellic oliitrikuters — 
 Description of «t\terniil ohiirnvters — Description of Mic skull und 
 tuoth — Vnriiition in the skdll with sp«<ciul ruferunoe to gooi^ruphi- 
 cal distribution — Anatomy ai\d physiology of tho anal glands an I 
 ]>roperties of the secretion — (feograt)hical distribution antl haitits 
 of the Sknnk— History of tho species — Ai»I)I';ni>1!M : On hydn>pho- 
 bia from Skunk-bite, the so-callud " r;ibioH mephitica " 1H7 
 
 . CHAPTKR VIII. 
 ^rKPIHTIN.E— Continued: Skunks. ■ 
 
 The genus .l/»7>/ii/i>, continued — Mnphilix macrura, t\w T^ong-tailed Mex- 
 ican Skunk — Synonyiiiy — Habitat — Specific characters — Descrip- 
 tion — Tlu^ subgenus Spiloiialt!— Mvphitin {S,<iloyal() piitoiiuH, tho 
 Iiittle Striped Skunk — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific cliaracters — 
 Description of external characters — Description of the skull and 
 teetli — History of tho species — Tho genus CinnpatuM — Conepatim 
 mapunio, the White-backed Skunk— Synonymy— Habitat — Speci- 
 fic characters — Description of external characters — Descripticm of 
 the skull aiul teeth — Description of the anal ghuuls — (ieographi- 
 cn' distribution ami habits 
 
 2'Mi 
 
 CIIAPTKK IX. 
 SunFAMiLY MELIN^K: The IUdgeks. 
 
 The genus Tturidm — Oeneric characters and coinparisim with Melea— 
 Tnxului tninrianiii, tho American Kadger — Symuiymy — Habi- 
 tat — Specific characters — Description of external characters — De- 
 scription of the skull and teeth — (ieographieal variation in the 
 skull — History of the American Madger — Its geographical distri- 
 butiim — Haluts— 7(jri(/m rtme/icdaa ?><r/ttwdicr», the Mexican IJad- 
 giT — Synonymy — Habitat— Subspocilio character — Qeiuiral re- 
 marks— Ai>i>K..Ni>rM : Description of the perinieal glandti of the 
 European liadger, .Vrks vulijaiia 2C1 
 
! 
 
 XII ^ NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiG. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Subfamily LUTEINS : The Otters. 
 
 General considerations — The genas Lutra — Generic characters and 
 remarks— The North American Otter, Lutra canadens'u—Syaon- 
 ymy — Habitat — Specific characters— Description of external char- 
 acters—Description of the skull and teeth— Variation in the 
 skull— History of the species — Geographical distribution— Habits 
 of Otters — Extinct species of North American Otter 293 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Subfamily ENHYDRIN^: Sea Otter. 
 
 General considerations- The genas EnhydrU — Generic oharaotera — 
 Enhydria lutria, the Sea Otter — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific 
 characters — Description of external characters— Description of 
 the skull and teeth — History of the species — " The Sea Otter and 
 its hunting"— The habits of the Sea Otter 325 
 
 !i' 
 
 I,. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PLATE I.— GUU) LTJ8CU8. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. {Reduced.) 
 
 II. — MUSTKLA PENNANT!. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in proBle. {Xatuml site.) 
 
 III.— MUSTELA MARTR8. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Xatural size.) 
 
 IV.— MUSTRLA POINA. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Nalaral size.) 
 
 v.— MuSTELA AMERICANA. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Xatuml aixe.) 
 
 VI.— PUTORIUS ERMINEA and P. VUX.GARI8. 
 
 Figs. 1, 3, .<>, 6, P. erminm, heads and tails. Figs. 2, 4, P. vul- 
 garis, head and tail. (Natural size.) 
 
 VII.— PUTORIUS NIORIPBS. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Xatural size. ) 
 
 VIII.— PUTORIUS F(KTIDU8. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile, (yatiiral size.) 
 
 IX.— PUTORIUS VI80N. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile, (yatural size.) 
 X.— Mephitis mephitica. 
 
 Skull of ordinary characters from above, below, and in pro- 
 file. (Natural size.) 
 
 XI.-Mephitis mephitica. 
 
 Skull oflarge size from above, below, and in profile. (Natu- 
 ral size.) 
 
 XII. —Mephitis (Spilogale) putorius. 
 
 Two skins, to show the peculiar markings. (Muvh reduced.) 
 XIII.— Mephitis (Spii-ogale) putorius. 
 
 Large old skull from above, below, and in profile. (Natural 
 
 size.) 
 
 XIII 
 
^■e 
 
 ilM 
 
 i - 
 
 XIV 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 li! 
 
 PLATE XIV.— Mkphitis (Simlocjale) i'utohhts. 
 
 Small young sktfll from above, below, and ia prjfi'e. (Nat- 
 ural size.) 
 
 XV. — CONKl'ATUS MAl'UIUTO. 
 
 Skull from above, below, aad ia profile. {Natttral size.) 
 
 XVI.— Taxidka amkricana. 
 
 SkuU from above, below, and in protile. (Reduced.) 
 
 XVII. — LiTRA CANAI>KX!SIS. . • 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Natural nise.} 
 
 XVIII. — Ll TRA VULGARIS. 
 
 Skull from above, below, and in profile. (Salural size.) 
 
 XIX.— EnIIVDRIS LUTRI8. 
 
 Skull from above and below. (Reduced.) 
 
 XX,— Enhydris i.utris. 
 
 Skull in profile. (Reduced.) Palate and t:etb. (Natural sue.) 
 
J. (Nat- 
 
 zc.) 
 
 re.) 
 re.) 
 
 ralaize.) 
 
.H-ji-ui.j..ij ^!0»«apwwi 
 
 mmmm 
 
 n I 
 
 w 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDJl. 
 
 CnAPTEE I. 
 
 The Family MUSTELID^. 
 
 General considerations — Systematic position and relations of tho Mustelidce — 
 Division into subfamilies — Sclieduleof tho North American genera — Their 
 ditf«n'ential characters — Diagnoses of the North W^mcrican subfamilies — 
 Tlio anal glauds of MnstcVnw — The fossil North American species of 
 MustdhHv — Derivation and signilication of names applied to MtiateUda. 
 
 TniS is a large, iuiportaut, and well-defiued family of Car- 
 nivorous Mammals, embracing the Weasels aud Martens, as 
 its typical representatives, tbe Skunks, Badgers, Otters, and a 
 few other less familiar animals. 
 
 Representatives of the family exist in most portions of the 
 globe, excepting the Australiim region, home of tho Marsupials 
 and Monotremes. The group reaches its highest development 
 in the JiTortheru Hemisphere, or Arctogaja, where both the gen- 
 era and the species are most numerous and diversified. Some 
 twenty genera are recognized by modern authors; of these, 
 the genus Putorius, including the true Weasels, has the most 
 extensive geographical distribution in both hemispheres, and 
 contains by far the largest number of species. In one sense, it 
 is to be considered as the typical genus of the family. Many 
 of the other genera consist of but a single species, and some 
 of them are the sole representatives, of the subfamilies to 
 which they respectively belong. 
 
 The economic importance of the family may be estimated 
 from the very high commercial value which fashion has set 
 IM 1 
 
2 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 f i ' 
 
 ! i 
 
 M 
 
 upon the fur of several of the species, such as the Erinitie, Sable, 
 Nutria, and Sea Otter ; and various other pelts, ouly less valu- 
 able than these, are furnished by lueinbors of this fon^ily. 
 These animals sustain other relations toward man, by no means 
 to be overlooked. The serious obstacles whicii the Wolverene 
 offers to the pursuit of the more valuable fur-bearing animals 
 of British America is set forth in following pages; while the 
 destructiveness of such species as the Mink and various kinds 
 of Weasels is well known to the poulterer. The Skunks are 
 infamous for the quality, familiar to every one, which places 
 them among the most offensive and revolting of animals ; they 
 are, moreover, capable of causing one of the most dreadful dis- 
 eases to which the human race is exposed. The cruel sport 
 which Badgers have afforded from time immemorial has given 
 a verb to the English language; while the legitimate pursuit 
 of various MusteUAw is an important and wide-spread branch 
 of human industry.* The scientitic interest with which the 
 zoologist, as simply such, may regard this family of animals 
 yields to those practical considerations of e very-day life which 
 render the history of the Mustelklw so important. 
 
 The definition of the family is strict. The zoological char- 
 acters by which it is distinguished from other Carnivorous Mam- 
 mals are well marked; and few if any naturalists of repute 
 differ in their views respecting the limitation of the group. The 
 systematic position of the family in the Carnivorous series seems 
 to be alsj settled by very general consent. Singular as it may 
 seem, when, without considering intermediate forms, we com- 
 pare for instance the diminutive, slender-bodied, and nimible 
 Weasels with the great, heavy-bodied, and comparatively sloth- 
 ful Bears, the closest aflBnities of the Musteline series are with 
 the Ursine; the next nearest are with the Canine; and the 
 family Mustclidcv may properly stand between the Canidcv on 
 
 * During the century, 1769-18G8, the Hudsou'B Bay Company sold at auc- 
 tion in Loudon, besides many milUon other pelts, the following of Mustelidw : — 
 1,240,511 sables, 074,027 otters, 68,694 wolverenes, 1,507,240 minks, 218,653 
 skunks, 275,302 badgers, 5,349 sea otters. In 1868 alone, the company sold 
 (among many thousand others) 106,354 sables, 73,473 miuks, 14,966 otters, 
 6,298 skunks, 1,104 wolverenes, 1,551 badgers, 123 sea otters ; besides which 
 there were also sold in Loudon, in the autumu of the same year, about 4,500 
 sables, 22,000 otters, &,e. Auother company, the Canadian, sold in London, 
 during the years 1763 to 1839, the following: 2,931,383 sables, 29,110 wolver- 
 enes, 895,832 otters, 1,080,780 minks. — (Drostk-HOlsiioff, Der Zoologhche 
 Garten, 1869, p. 317.) 
 
POSITION AND RELATIONSHIPS OF MUSTELID.E. 3 
 
 the oue band and the Urshhc oa the other. In order to give a 
 clear idea of the poaition and relationships of the Mustelkhc, the 
 following characters* of the higher groups of Mammals under 
 which the family comes are given : — 
 
 Maininals having a brain with tho corohral hoinisithores oonuectoil by a 
 more or less weU-developed corpua callosiim and a reduced 
 anterior coimniasiire. Vnjrina a single tube, bu*; sonietinios 
 with a partial septum. Young retained within the womb till 
 of considerable size and nearly perfect development, and deriv- 
 ing its nourishment from tho mother through tho intervention 
 of a " placenta" (developed from tho allantois) till birth. Scro- 
 tum never in front of penis. . . (Subclass) Iflonodelpllia* 
 
 Brain with a relatively largo cerebrum, behind overlapping much or all 
 of the cerebellum, and in front much or all of the olfactory 
 lobes; corpus callosum (attypically) continued horizontally 
 backwards to or beyond tho vertical of the hippocampal suture, 
 developing in front a well-defined recurved rostrum. 
 
 (Super-order) EDUCABILIA. 
 
 Posterior members and pelvis well developed (in antithesis with tho 
 Cetaceans and Sirenians). Proximal segments of both fore 
 and hind limbs (upper arm and thigh) more or less enclosed in 
 tl.o general integument of the trunk (in antithesis with tho 
 order Primates). Clavicles rudimentary or wanting. Scaphoid 
 and lunar bones of the wrist consolidated iuto one (scapho- 
 lunar) carpal. Digits clawed (not hoofed). Teeth of three 
 I kinds, all enamelled; incisors ^][i| (exceptionally fewer); ca- 
 nines specialized and robust ; one or more molars in each jaw 
 usTially sectorial. Brain without calcarine sulcus. Placenta 
 deciduato, zonary. (;=The Caruivora or "beasts of prey" of 
 ordinary language.) (Order) Fkr^. 
 
 Body elevated and adapted for progression on laud by approximately 
 equal development, freedom, and mobility of foro and hind 
 limbs. Tail free from common integument of body. Ears 
 well developed. Functional digits terminating in claws. 
 Digits of neither fore nor hind feet webbed to tho ends (ex- 
 cepting the hind feet of Enhydra) ; inner digits of fore feet nob 
 produced beyond the rest ; inner digits of hind feet seldom 
 thus produced, but often reduced or atrophied. (All these ex- 
 pressions in antithesis to the rinnipedia, or suborder of the 
 
 Seals.) (Suborder) FissiPEDiA. 
 
 * For which I am principally indebted to Dr. Theo. Gill. (Smithsonian 
 Miscellaneous Collections. | — 230 — | Arrangement | of the | Families of 
 Mammals. | With analytical tables. | Prepared for the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion. I By Theodore Gill, M. D., Ph. D. | [Seal.] | Washington : | Published 
 by tho Smithsonian Institution. | November, 1872. | [8vo. pp. i-vi, 1-98.]) 
 
•^ mtoHm mm 
 
 % NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 : Skull with the paroccipital process not closely appliud to the audi- 
 tory bulla; the mastoid process promiueut and projeotiug out- 
 wards or dowuwards behind the external auditory meatus; ex- 
 ternal auditory meatus diversiform. Intestinal canal with no 
 Ciecuni. Prostate gland not salient, being coutaiiied in the 
 thickened walls of the urethra. Skull with the carotid canal 
 distinct, and more or less in advance of the foramen lacerum 
 posticum ; condyloid foramen alone distinct from the foramen 
 lacerum posticum; glenoid foramen generally well defined. Os 
 penis very large. Cowpor's glands not developed. 
 
 (Super-family) Akctoidea. 
 
 True molars of upper jaw one (M- ^ : rarely— in MelUvorino!—^); 
 last premolar of upper jaw sectorial (rarely — in Enhydrince — 
 with blunt tubercles) (Family) Muatelidw. 
 
 DIVISION OF THE MUSTELIDiE INTO SUBFAMILIES. 
 
 Having thus, by a process of gradual elimioation of the char- 
 acters of other groups, reached a family, Mustelidce^ we may 
 proceed to inquire of what subdivisions the family itself is 
 susceptible. Authors — 3veu throwing the older writers out of 
 consideration — differ greatly in their methods of reckoning the 
 subfamilies and genera, the number of subfamilies recognized 
 varying from three or four to eight. According to my present 
 understanding of the subject, derived from my knowledge of 
 American forms, I am inclined to consider that, if any sub- 
 family divisions are to be adopted, regard for equivalency, or 
 the just coordination of the characters involved, requires a 
 larger number of subfamilies than have usually been recog- 
 nized — very possibly the full number, eight, admitted by Dr. 
 Gill. The excellent analysis of the family given by this writer 
 (see p. 3, note) is herewith presented : — 
 
 XVI.— MUSTELID.E. 
 
 Sub-families. 
 
 I. Skull with the cerebral portion comparatively compressed backwards ; and 
 with the rostral portion comparatively produced, attenuated, and 
 transversely convex above ; anteorbital foramen small and opening 
 forwards. Feet with little developed or no interdigital membrane 
 [and the species, with few exceptions, not aquatic]. 
 A. Auditory bulla much inflated, undivided, bulging, and convex forwards ; 
 periotic region extending little outwards or backwards. Palate 
 moderately emarginated. 
 
ANALYSIS OF SUBFAMILIES OF MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 6 
 
 ICTOIDEA. 
 
 1. Last molnr of upper jaw (M \) transverse, (with the inner letljje in- 
 
 tlatcd at its inuor angh) ;) sectorial tooth with a single inner cnsp. 
 
 n. M ^ ; fi rst trno niolnr (sectorial) of lower jaw foUowed by a second 
 (tubercular) one. Toes short, regularly arched, and with the last 
 phalanges bent up, withdrawing the claws into sheaths. (Gray.) 
 [Martens and Weasels.] Mustelin.k. 
 
 h. M J ; first true molar (sectorial) of lower jaw only developed. Toes 
 straight, with the last phalanges and claws extended ; the latter 
 non-retractile. (^rayO [Extra-limital.] .... Meixivouina:. 
 
 2. Last molar of upper jaw (M 1) enlarged and more or less extended 
 
 longitudinally. — M-^-. Toes straight, with the last phalanges and 
 cliiws extended; the latter non-retractile. (Gray.) [Badgers.] 
 
 Memx;»:. 
 
 B. Auditory bulla elongated and extending backwards close to the par- 
 
 occipital process. (Flower.) I'alate moderately cmargiuated. 
 I. Last molar of upper jaw (M ] ) transverse; (with the inner ledge nar- 
 rowed inwards): sectorial tooth with two inner cusps. [Extra-lim- 
 ital.] IIeuctidin-k. 
 
 C . Auditory bulla inllatod, undivided, with the anterior inferior extremity 
 
 pointed and commonly united to the prolonged hamular process of 
 the pterygoid. (Flower.) Palato moderately emarginated. 
 1. Last molar of upper jaw (M \) transverse ; (with the inner ledge com- 
 pressed.) [Extra-limital.] Zohillin.k. 
 
 D. Auditory bulla little inflated, transversely constricted behind the 
 
 meatus auditorins extornua and thence inwards ; in front flattened 
 forwards; periotic region expanded outwards and backwards. Pal- 
 ate deeply emarginated. 
 1. Last molar of upper jaw (M ?) quadrangular, wide, but with an ex- 
 tended outer incisorial ledge. [Skunks.] .... Mephitinje. 
 II. Skull with the cerebral portion swollen backwards and outwards; 
 and with tho rostral portion abbreviated, high and truncated for- 
 wards, and widened and depressed above; anteorbital foramen 
 enlarged and produced downwards and backwards. Feet with 
 well-developed interdigital membrane, and adapted for swimming. 
 [The species highly aquatic, one of them marine.] 
 
 A. Teeth normal, 36 (M ^, PM ^, C |, I -| X 2) : sectorial tooth (PM 4) 
 
 normal, efficient, with an expanded inner ledge; the other molars 
 submusteline. Posterior feet with normally long digits. [Otters.] 
 
 Ll-'TKIJI^. 
 
 B. Teeth very aberrant, 32 (M ^, PM g-, C j, 1 1 — the lower inner incisors 
 
 being lost — X 2) : sectorial tooth (PM f ) defunctionalized as such, 
 compressed from before backwards; the other molars also with 
 blunted cusps. Posterior feet with elongated digits. [Sea Otter.] 
 
 .; ■ ^... - ,■■. Enhydrinje. 
 
 Of the foregoing eight subfamilies, three, namely, the Melli- 
 vorince, HelictidinfVf and Zorilliiuc, each of which consists of a 
 single genus, are confined to the Old World. No one of the 
 subfamilies is peculiar to North America ; but the MephitinWy 
 
6 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTEIJU.!:. 
 
 or Skunks, are not found in the Old WorM, where they are 
 represented by the African ZorilHiia'; they occur in South as 
 well as North America. The MeJinw, or Badgers, are common 
 to North and Middle America and the Eastern Hemisphere, 
 but do not occur in South America. Tlie Sea Otter, sole repre- 
 sentative of the Enhydrincv, inhabits both coasts of the North 
 Pacific. The LxUrinw^ or ordinary Otters, are of general dis- 
 tribution in both hemispheres. The MnstcUna\ or true Weasels, 
 Martens, &c., are of very general distribution, as already indi- 
 cated; such is especially the case with the typical genus Pato- 
 tills. The genera Mustela and Oulo chiefly inhabit the higher 
 latitudes; Galictis is peculiar to South America. 
 
 The North American forms of the family down to the genera 
 are exhibited in the following synoptical table ; — 
 
 Subclasa MonodclpUia, 
 
 Super-order EducahiUa. 
 Order Ferw, 
 
 Suborder Fissipedia, 
 
 Suj)er-family Arctoidea, « 
 
 Family Mustelidw. 
 
 Subfamily Mustdince. 
 
 Geuera Gulo. (The Wolvoroue.) 
 Mustela. (The Martens.) 
 Putoritia. 
 Subfamily Mephitinai. 
 Genera Mephitis. 
 Sjniogale. 
 Conejmlus, 
 Subfamily Melina: (The liadgers.) 
 
 Genus Taxidea. 
 Subfamily Lutrina. (The Otters.) 
 
 Genus Lutra. 
 Subfamily £n%driw«!. (The Sea Otter.) 
 • ' Genus Enhydra. 
 
 (The Weasels.) 
 (The Skunks.) 
 
ANALYSIS OF GENKKA OF MUSTELID;!-: 
 
 SCnEDITLE or DIFFERENTIAL CHARACTERS OF THE NORTH 
 
 AMERICAN GENERA. 
 
 VariouH characters hij which the siih/amlliefi anil genera are differentiated are ex- 
 hibited in the foUnwing Hv)iednle:— 
 
 MuHtolldiD. 
 
 Duntal fdrnnila: I. 
 
 3-3 
 
 3-3' 
 
 I..1 
 
 3-3 
 
 3-3' 
 
 I..; 
 
 8-3 
 
 3-3' 
 
 C. 
 
 C. 
 
 C. 
 
 Pin. 
 
 M. 
 
 I;; 
 
 3-3 
 
 3-3- 
 
 3-3 
 
 •8-2' 
 
 1-1 
 
 i-i- 
 
 1-1 
 l-i' 
 1-1 
 1-1' 
 1-1 
 
 8-a- 18 *"■ 
 
 l-l 
 
 1-1' 
 
 l-l 
 
 l-l- 
 
 4-4 
 
 4-4' 
 3-3 
 3-3- 
 
 M. 
 
 Pm. rrT„ M, 
 
 Pm. 
 14 
 
 ,=34. 
 
 c. :- 
 
 C. T 
 
 Pm. 
 
 M. 
 
 M. zr, 
 
 1-1 
 
 3-3= 
 
 1-1 
 
 a-3- 
 
 1^8 
 
 16 
 ic' 
 
 36. 
 
 3S. 
 
 i-i_ia_ 
 
 1-116 
 3-2-18 
 
 •normally j^, som. times ^i 
 
 16 
 
 j^=32oi 34 , 
 
 Pm. 3:33. 
 
 3-3 
 3-3' 
 
 PM. and M. normnl— angular, trenchnnt< or acute 
 
 abuorinni— roiindetl, blunt, tuberculoun , 
 
 liaok upper M. qiiadrati', tranaverae, niucli wider than long 
 
 about as wide aalong 
 
 trianKuInr, tho liypotbenuso poRtero-extt^rior 
 
 irri'giilnrl.voval;'all corners rounded off... 
 
 Back upper Pm. strictly sectorial, linear, with small anterior interior 
 
 cnsp 
 
 I triangular, o'winj; tosize of the in- 
 ner ledge. 
 
 reaenibling the back upper M 
 
 Upper Pm. 4-4, the anterior one comparativoiy well developed 
 
 * minute, crowded out of line 
 
 3-3, tho anterior one comparatively well develoixjd 
 
 or 3-2; whou 3-3, the anterior very minute , 
 
 Lower 1. 3-3, the usual carnivorous formula 
 
 2-3, the inner pair lacking 
 
 Lower sectorial without obvious inner tubercle of middle lobe 
 
 with slight but evident inner tubercle 
 
 with str(»ngly developed inner tubercle 
 
 nostrum of skull so short that root of zygcmia is nearly or quite op- 
 posite fore end of nasal bones 
 
 moderately produced : root of zygoma more nearly 
 
 . opposite hind end of nasals 
 
 Brain-case comparatively compressed backward, little broader be- 
 hind than before, with straightish or little convex 
 
 lateral outline 
 
 widened backward, with quite straight lateral outlines., 
 much widi'iied backwards and swollen outward, with very 
 
 convex lateral outlines 
 
 Frontal region very short, broad, flat on top 
 
 longtlieued, narrowed, very convex transversely 
 
 Bony palate ending o)>po8ite back upper molars 
 
 produced back of the molars, but not Lalf-way to end 
 
 of pterygoids 
 
 produced far back ot the molars— half-way or more ♦" 
 
 ends of pterygoids 
 
 Postorbital processes moderate, slight or obsolete 
 
 strong, transverse, acute 
 
 Anteorbital foramen bounded above by slender maxillary process, 
 large, subtriangular, or oval, presenting downward-forward 
 
 a 
 
 .a 
 
 
 S 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 8 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 Schedule of diffetrntial eh(tr((ctcra of the .Voc/Zi .tmcncaii grnera — CoutiuiUHl. 
 
 Aliiatttliilin. 
 
 
 9 
 
 im 
 
 i S 
 
 Antporliitiil foi'iiincii botiniloil by 8totit procoHs, pn>si>iit.iiij» nioro or 
 
 loBH vtM'ticdUy 
 
 Aporturoof iniros in two pliiiioH, iipproiichinntlio vortical ttutlliori- 
 
 zoiitnl 
 
 ono pliiiio, or Hourly so, moro or loss obliquo. . . 
 Auditory biillm at iimxiniiini of iiitlatiiiii, with sliortost niul loiist 
 
 tubular uioiitus 
 
 iiiuoli iiitlikloti, with inoilurntu coustrictiou into 
 
 tbo tubulnr nu^ittus 
 
 littlo iiittatod, n)U(^b oonstriclod across tho moiitiis 
 
 Mastoids littlo tlovolopod, outwartl or l)aukward 
 
 nioro dovolo|iod, outward 
 
 luucli dovelopod, downward 
 
 I*orlotic ro^ion ouiitractud, brin^iuK parocoipitala oloso to auditory 
 
 bulliu '.. 
 
 oxpandotl, ronioviun paroucipltals from biillii>, and 
 
 horizontal 
 
 oxpandod, ronntving paroucipltals from bullio, .-ory 
 
 oldiiino 
 
 Qlonoid fossae shallow, open, without antorior lotlgo, nrosontiiiK nioro 
 
 forwnrtl than ilownward, novor locking oouirylos. .. 
 
 motloratoly dt>op and closo, with antorior lod^o pro- 
 
 sontiug downward-furwai'd, never locking con- 
 
 dy li>8 
 
 very doop and closo, with stront; anterior and pos- 
 terior ledftes, sometbnes locking condyles 
 
 Coronoid proooss of ,jaw in protllo conical, erect, apex forward of 
 
 condylo 
 
 obtusely falcate, sloning, apex 
 
 uverlianKUiK condyle 
 
 Lower border of jaw stralKhtisb from symphysis to posterior rtngle 
 
 usually aaeeudiii); posteriorly, in 
 
 straiKbt or concave lino 
 
 Toes scarcely or not webbed, with ordinary ratio of louKths 
 
 fully webbed, with onlinary ratio of lengths 
 
 those of tlio liind feet elonKatod, with extraordi- 
 nary ratio of lengtlis 
 
 Fore claws lone, stout, littlo curved, biKbly fossorlal 
 
 nioderato or short, curved and acute, not fossorial 
 
 Body very stout; si/.o very largo; tail bushy, short i appearance 
 
 s(uuewhat t>oar' like 
 
 rather slender or extremely so ; size medium and email ; tall 
 
 long, tereto 
 
 stout i size medium and small ; tail long, very bushy 
 
 stout, much dopressed; sizo medium ; tail short, distichous... 
 stout, cylindrical ; sizo large ; tail long, conical, closo-liaircd. . 
 
 Habits ohieHy terrestrial 
 
 terrestrial and highly arboreal 
 
 strictly torrestriar and more or less fossorial 
 
 aquatic (tluviatile, lacustrine, or maritime) 
 
 aiiuatio (marine) 
 
 i !* " 
 
 - Is i 
 
 ■ill. I 
 
 ' r. ,^ 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 X X 
 
 Such a table a8 this might be indefinitely continued, but the 
 foregoing analysis of leading ditForontial characters sufllces for 
 present purposes. 
 
 \: 
 
DIAGNOSES OF NORTH AMERICAN SUBFAMILIES. 
 
 9 
 
 Wo may iiiuilly sum uiul amplify the (litioreiitial characters 
 of tlio forogoing tablu, with others, in tlie foUowing expressions, 
 tUagnostie of the live subfamilies here adopted : — 
 
 DIAGNOSES OF TUE FIVE NOUTII AMERICAN SUIIFAMILIES. 
 
 1. ^lusTELiN.!']. — Teeth of ordinary Carnivorous pattern, 3S 
 or 34 in number, accordiuy; to varying number of premolars, 
 whether *^^ (Qulo, Mustcla) or y^;j(ZV/or/««); the number unequal 
 in the two Jaws, !,^or J-|J; incisors constantly f^) canines Y.\, iisiu 
 all ^r"stclid(v; and molars *'', as in all Mustelidw excepting Mel- 
 liroiina: Molar of upper jaw much \\iderthan long; its long 
 axis transverse to the axis of the dental scries, longitudinally 
 constricted across the middle. Posterior upper i>reniolar (the 
 large "sectorial" tooth) narrow and linear, with a small dis- 
 tinct spur projecting inward from its antorointerior corner, 
 liostral partof skull moderately produced, sloping in profile, very 
 obliquely truncated, transversely convex, the hind endsof the na- 
 sals more nearly opposite the roots of the zygoma than their fore 
 ends are.* Cerebral portion of skull comparatively compressed 
 backward, little broader behind than before, with moderately 
 convex lateral outlines. Postorbital processes moderately 
 developed. Anteorbital foramen small, oval or subcircular, 
 presenting upward forward {Gulo) or more or less downward 
 forward {Mustcla, Putorius). Posterior uares thrown into one 
 common conduit by absence of bony septum. Bony palate pro- 
 duced far back of molars, — half-way (more or less) to ends of 
 pterygoids; interpterygoid space longer than wide. Audi- 
 tory bullic much intlated, with moderate constriction of the 
 tubular meatus.t Little or no expansion of periotic region 
 behind the buUiB, with which the paroccipitals appear in contact. 
 jNCastoids little developed, presenting outward or backward. 
 Glenoid fossie shallow, the anterior ledge slight ; condyles never 
 locked. Coronoid proces:: of mandible erect, conical in profile, 
 the posterior outline with forward upward obliquity {MusteUij 
 rutoriusy — more nearly vertical in Oulo), the apox in advance 
 of the condyle. Feet with ordinary development and ratio of 
 
 * It iH curious to obnurvo that an a<]|uatio Hpocios of I'tttoriua (/'. t'i'Mon,tho 
 Mink) tonils to approach the aquatic Ottorn {Liitrinw aud Unhydrinw) lu tho 
 rehitivo ahortiioas of rostriiii, iti loss obliquo trunuation, tlatnooaoa top, t&.o, 
 
 tllcro agaiu tho aiiuatic Pitloriun riaon approacheu tho other aquutiu 
 Hpeciu8 of (litVorutit subfainilioH iu tho uouiparativu IliitiicHa of the buHie. 
 
1 «; I , ?■ 
 
 10 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 li 
 
 iii 
 
 HI. 
 
 digits ; digits incompletely oi' not webbed. External appear- 
 ance and habits variable, according to the genera and species, 
 none strictly fossorial ; progression digitigrade and subplanti- 
 grade ; size from nearly the maximnm to the minimum in the 
 family ; body never much depressed, nor tail conical or distich- 
 ous. Periiueal glands moderately developed. No peculiar sub- 
 caudal pouch. Nature highly predacious. 
 
 2. MEPHiTiNiG. — Teeth of ordinary Carnivorous patteru, 34 
 or 32 in number, according to varying number of premolars, 
 whether ^ {McpMiis and Sjnlof/ale) or indifferently ^ or — 
 {Conepattts); the number unequal in the two jaws, ]" or ~. In- 
 cisors, canines, and molars as in the last subfamily. Molar of 
 upper jaw quadrate, about as wide as long (varying in detail 
 with the genera). Posterior upper premolar with a large inner 
 shelf, giving a triangular shape to the tooth. Kostral part of 
 skull moderately produced, and otherwise much as in the last 
 (aperture of nares very oblique in Conepatus); cerebral portion 
 as in Miistelinic. Postorbital processes slight or obsolete. An- 
 teorbital foramen very small, circular, sometimes subdivided 
 into two or more canals. Posterior nares completely separated 
 by a bony septum reaching to the end of the bony palate. 
 Bony palate ending opposite last molars {Mepliitis, Spilogale) 
 or a little back of them, but not half-way to ends of pterygoids, 
 (Conepatus). Auditory bullae little inflated, with much constric- 
 tion of the tubular meatus. Mastoids well developed, outward. 
 Periotic region flattened and expansive behind the bullae, the 
 surface nearly horizontal, the paroccipitals remote from the 
 bullre. Glenoid shallow, presenting much forward as well as 
 downward, without anterior wall, never locking condyle. Coro- 
 noid process of jaw conical in profile, erect, wholly in advance 
 of condyle (except in Conepatus, which, in this respect, singularly 
 resembles Enliydra). Feet with ordinary development and ratio 
 of digits; digits not webbed. Form stout; tail very bushy; 
 pelage long; colors black and white. Habits strictly terrestrial, 
 more or less fossorial; progression plantigrade; movements 
 slow. Size moderate and small. No peculiar subcaudal pouch. 
 Perinseal glands extraordinarily developed, affording a means 
 of offence and defence. 
 
 3. Melin-^.* — Teeth of ordinary Carnivorous pattern, 34 in 
 
 * The charactors here given are drawn entirely from the American genus 
 Taxidea, and will require modilication in order to their applicability to the 
 subfamily at large. 
 
 •11 
 
 M 
 
 
DIAGNOSES OF NORTH AMERICAN SUBFAMILIES. 11 
 
 number (in the North American genus); Pm. gj ; the number 
 unequal in the two jaws, J|; incisors, canines, and mohars as in 
 the last. Molar of upper jaw triangular, the long side postero- 
 exterior. Posterior upper premolar substai'tially as in Mephitince. 
 Rostral portion of skull as in the foregoinnr- cerebral portion 
 conical, rapidly widening backward, with nearly straight lateral 
 outlines. Postorbital processes moderately well developed. 
 Anteorbital foramen large, subtriangular, presenting vertically. 
 Posterior nares as in Mephitina'. Bony palate produced back 
 of the molars, as in Mustelime. Auditory bullae very highly 
 inflated, with little constriction across the short tubular portion. 
 Periotic region much as in Mtistelinfc, the paroccipitals close to 
 the enormous buUoe. Mastoids moderately developed, outward. 
 Glenoid fossa very deep, with prominent anterior as well as 
 posterior walls, at length locking in the condyle. Ooronoid 
 process as in the foregoing. Feet with ordinary development 
 and ratio of digits, not webbed. Body stout, extremely de- 
 pressed ; tail short, stout, flattened ; size medium ; snout some- 
 what hog-like. Progression plantigrade. Terrestrial and highly 
 fossorial ; fore claws highly developed. Perinseal glands mod- 
 erately developed. A peculiar subcaudal pouch. 
 
 4. LuTRiN-^. — Teeth of ordinary Carnivorous pattern, 36 in 
 number; Pm. ^; the number equal in the two jaws, 1^; incisors, 
 canines, and molars as before. Molar of upper jaw quadrate. 
 Back upper premolar substantially as in Mephitimc and Melimc. 
 Kostral i)art of skull extremely short, bringing the fore ends 
 of the nasals nearly or quite opposite the anterior root of the 
 zygoma, the sides of the rostrum erect, tlio top flat. Cerebral 
 portion of the skull much swollen backward, with strongly convex 
 lateral outlines. Postorbital processes variable (highly devel- 
 oped in the North American species, slight or wanting in some 
 others). Anteorbital foramen very large, presenting obliquely 
 downward as well as forward, circumscribed above by a very 
 slender maxillary process. Posterior nares as in Mustelincc. 
 Bony palate produced far back of molars. Auditory bulla? very 
 flat. Periotic region expanded, removing the paroccipitals from 
 the bullsB, but the surface not horizontal as in Mephitimc, but 
 very oblique. Mastoids highly developed, downward. Glenoid 
 much as in Melinw, deep, sometimes locking condyle. Coronoid 
 as in the foregoing. Feet with ordinary development and rat' 
 of digits, which are fully webbed. Claws variable, sometime 
 rudimentary or wanting. Body stout, but elongate and cylin- 
 
12 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 :;■ 
 
 'in 
 
 drical; tail long, conical, tapering, sometimes dilated, close- 
 Laired; mnzzle very obtuse. Highly aquatic in habits. Pelage 
 ^vhole-col' 1. 
 
 5. Eni iiiNiE. — Teeth very aberrant in general pattern, the 
 molars rua premolars without trenchant edges or acute angles, 
 but tuberculous, 32 in number, and of equal number in both 
 jaws, brought about by incisors —^ and premolars g"^, the ca- 
 nines and molars remaining as before. Molar of upper jaw irreg- 
 ularly oval ; back upper premolar defunctionalized as a " sec- 
 torial" tooth, and substantially similar to the molar. Propor- 
 tions of rostral and cerebral parts of the skull substantially as 
 in Lutrina\ but rather an exaggeration of that conformation. 
 Postorbital processes moderate. Anteorbital foramen very 
 large, triangular, presenting downward and forward; the bridge 
 over it very slender. Posterior nares as in Liitrinw. Palate 
 produced far back of molars ; iuterpterygoid space very wide, 
 the emargination rather wider than deep. Auditory bulhne, 
 periotic region, mastoids, and glenoids as in Lutrimv. Coronoid 
 sloping backward, obtusely falcate, its apex overtopping con- 
 dyle. Hind feet with extraordinary development and ratio of 
 digits, being transformed into Seal-like flippers ; otherwise gen- 
 eral configuration and external appearance substantially as in 
 Liitrina'. Highly aquatic and marine. 
 
 ON THE ODORIFEROUS ANAL GLANDS OF THE MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 mm 
 
 Throughout this family of Carnivores are found special secre- 
 tory apparatus in the perinseal region, which furnish a strongly 
 odorous fluid. These glands are so highly developed, and play 
 such a part in the economy of the animals, that special notice 
 is to be taken of them. A classification of the Mustelidce has 
 even been proposed, based chiefly upon their modifications in 
 the different genera. They early attracted attention, and have 
 long been generally known to zoologists. Quite recently a 
 French anatomist, M. Ghatin, has made them a special study, 
 publishing a very important and interesting paper upon the 
 subject.* This paper, so .far as it relates to the Mustelidw (for 
 the author has studied the odorous anal glands of various other 
 animals), I have translated for incorporation with the present 
 work ; under heads of the several species beyond will be found 
 
 * Recherchos pour servir d, I'histoire aiiatoiniqiiedes glaudos odorautea dea 
 matuniif^res. Par M.-J. Chatiu. <^Annale8 des Sciences Naturellea, 5" sdr,, 
 tome xix, pp. 1-135, plaucbes i-ix, 1874. 
 
ANAL GLANDS IN MUSTELID^. 
 
 13 
 
 the matter relating to them. Here I introduce M. Chatin's de- 
 scriptious of the parts as they appear in Mustela foina, for the 
 same type of structure obtains throughout the subfamily Mtis- 
 telinw. I also bring in the author s resume of the several mod- 
 ifications of structure found in the family at large, with extracts 
 from his proposed classifloation of the family, as based prima- 
 rily upon theso organs, though I should add that I do not 
 indorse his views without qualification. 
 
 1. — Description of the glands in Mustela foina, as illustrating 
 their structure throughout the subfamily Mustelina:* 
 
 The anal glandular apparatus being essentially the same 
 throughout the Mustelinw, the following description of the parts 
 as they appear in Mustela foina will suffice : — 
 
 The anal orifice is found at the bottom of a fossa covered 
 with thin, smooth, whitish integument, with a slightly raised 
 border, the rudiment of a fold which is much more highly de- 
 veloped in the Skunk. At each side of this fossa, in a small 
 special depression, in front of which this fold lies, is found an 
 unibilicated papilla, through the narrow orifice of which the 
 milky-whitish secretion of the anal gland exudes. Within the 
 perimeum are two lateral masses, each as large as a small bean, 
 bound together by one muscular envelope. The anal gland is 
 11 millimetres long and G across the middle. Upon removal of 
 the muscular coat, which is rather delicate, the secretory part 
 comes into view ; its exterior is studded with nipple-like emi- 
 nences ; its substance is like that of the anal glands of most 
 Carnivores. The parenchymatous tissue mainly consists of lam- 
 inated fibres, elastic fibres, nerve tubes, and capillaries ; the 
 striped muscular fibres do not penetrate the substance of 
 the organ. The culs-de-sac are of an average diameter of 0.04 
 millimetre ; they are sometimes varicose or raoniliform, and in- 
 close a granular substance. In the middle of the gland is a 
 small receptacle ior the product of secretion, which is voided 
 through a sho^c duct opening on the e<lge of the anus, as above 
 said. 
 
 It seems improbable that a scanty supply of merely disa- 
 greeably musky liquid can effectively answer in any way as a 
 means of defence. The simple fact that it does not appear to 
 be repugnant to the animals which may be supposed inimical 
 
 * For the inoditications of the structure of the organs in Skunks and Badg- 
 ers, see subfamilies Mephitinw and Melinw. 
 
r 
 
 Ihi 
 
 14 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 m.[ 
 
 
 to Martens and Weasels, is sufficient to invalidate such a 
 hypothesis. It is true that it is emitted when the animals are 
 angered, terrified, or put in pain ; but these are merely circum- 
 stances of irritation akin in many respects to other forms of 
 excitement. It is more probable that the secretion subserves 
 a purpose in the sexual relation, as it is undeniably a means 
 whereby the sexes may discover and be attracted toward each 
 other. 
 
 2. — Resume of the several types of structure of the odoriferous 
 
 glands in Mustelidw. 
 
 The Ferrets and Martens exhibit one general plan of struct- 
 ure of the anal glands. At each side of the termination of 
 the rectum, there is an oval body consisting of a tunic of mus- 
 cular striped fibres enveloping a mass of glands, in the midst 
 of which is a receptacle of variable capacity, containing a liq- 
 uid differing little in its properties, which is poured out through 
 a short duct opening upon a pore at each side of the anus. 
 
 In the Badgers, Skunks, and Katels, there are decided mod- 
 ifications of this plan. In the last two named, the true anal 
 glands alone exist, and these are quite diiferent from those of 
 t\\^ Mustelincc. Instead of a thin and simple muscular envel- 
 ope of the gland, we find a thick fleshy tunic, foimed of two 
 layers of interlaced fibres, capable of sudden strong compres- 
 sion of the receptacle. This latter is not a small simple sac 
 with laminar walls, such as is found in the centre of the gland 
 of Mustelincv, but is an enormous reservoir, with a dense resist- 
 ing fibrous coat, always containing a considerable quantity of 
 the follicular product. The glandular substance is not spread 
 all over this central capsule, but is restricted to a particular 
 portion, and contrasts by its dark color with the white surface 
 of the envelope of the pouch. The contents of the receptacle 
 are sufficiently offensive to justify the profound and universal 
 disgust which these animals excite in consequence of their 
 curious and very efficacious means of defence. The voiding of 
 the liquid must be sudden ; and it does not suffice that the re- 
 ceptacle is large and powerfully muscular ; the offensive liquid 
 must be directed far backward, so iis to flow as little as possible 
 upon the rectal mucous membrane ; consequently the opening 
 is large and uiK)n the summit of an umbilicated papilla, around 
 which rests a cutaneous fold, which in a measure directs the 
 discharge. 
 
ANAL GLANDS OF MUSTELID.E. 
 
 f5 
 
 This general plan is further modified in the Badgers, where 
 not only are there anal glands of a usual type, but also in their 
 neighborhood is found, in both sexes, a racemose cluster of 
 glands, the secretion of which is turned into the subcandal 
 pouch, which is generally described as appertaining to the 
 anus; but its form is peculiar, and its contents, moreover, are 
 of a different character from those of the anal glands proper. 
 In some respects this pouch resembles the large reservoirs of 
 viverreum of the Civets, and, as in the^e cases, is sparsely 
 hairy. Thus the Badger is a special case iu its own family, 
 where it distantly represents, in this respect, the Viverridce, 
 These last have, in addition to anal glands, a secretory appa- 
 ratus for special products, though even here species of Uerpestis 
 hfi.ve anal glands like those of various Mmtelidw. 
 
 3. — Resume of M, Chathi's views of the Glassifimtion of the 
 family, as based on the odoriferous glands. 
 
 "This is one of the least homogeneous families of Carnivora, 
 if we include in it, after Van der Hoeven and others, such dif- 
 ferent animals as the Otter, Polecat, Badger, Skunk, Marten, 
 and Eatel. It is surprising that types so distinct as these 
 should have been suffered to remain thus far in an association 
 as intimate as it is uu philosophical, and it is easily seeu how 
 Milne-Edwards was enabled to form" three families out of the 
 components of so miscellaneous an assemblage as that of the 
 Mustelidw. In the conflguration of the limbs, as well as in their 
 entirely peculiar habits, the Otters may represent one family 
 {Liitrida')', then come the true Mustelidw, emhmciug Miistela, 
 Pulorlus, &c. ; and, finally, the family Melidw, consisting of 
 Mephitis (with Conepatns, &c.), Metes {Taxidea, &c.), and Melli- 
 vora. 
 
 " Now, these three divisions correspond with as many modi- 
 fications of the perinatal secretory apparatus : the two former, 
 Lutridw and Mustelidw, offer in a general way a single pair of 
 glands opening on the border of the anus, one on each side, 
 furnished with a receptacle for the product of secretion. 
 
 " In the Melidce, the Badgers on the one hand and the Skunks 
 and Eatels on the other form two quite distinct sections. In 
 these latter genera are likewise found a single pair of anal 
 ,.dands, but these are quite different from those of the Mmtelida'. 
 The receptacle has a remarkable capacity ; the follicular mass, 
 instead of spreading over it, occupies buLa small portion of its 
 
11, ; ,!: 
 
 16 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 surface ; while the secretion, which is always plentiful, here 
 acquires an unparalleled fetor. In the Badgers, on the contrary', 
 these anal glands are not the only secretory organs ; there being 
 in addition a particular subcaudal ])ouch surrounded by a race- 
 mose gland, which produces a peculiar liquid. 
 
 "This brief summary of the leading modifications of the 
 perinatal glands of Mustelulw suffices to show that several dif- 
 ferent types are included in that group "* 
 
 ON THE EXTINCT MUSTELINE OP NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 The following fossil species of North American Musteliiuc 
 have been described : — 
 
 1. Mastela mnstellna, {Cope). 
 
 Aelurodon mustellnua, Cope, Palicont. Bull. no. 1 4, July 25, 1873, 1. 
 Martes musteUnUB, Cope, Ann. Ilt^p. V. S. Gool. Surv. for 1873, 1874. 590. 
 Mustela parvUoba, Cope (change of name on reference of the species to Mustela). 
 
 Pliocene. Loup Fork epoch. 
 
 "A small, single-rooted second molar of the lower jaw. First 
 molar sectorial, with a rather narrow posterior heel, one-third 
 its length, and a small inner tubercle at the base of the second 
 outer cusp. Last premolar with a short posterior heel, and dis- 
 tinct outer tubercle on the posterior side of the cusi). Margin 
 of jaw strongly everted below masseteric fossa. 
 
 "Measurements. 
 
 M. 
 
 " Length of three last molars 0. 018 
 
 " Leugth of sectorial inolara '. 010 
 
 " Width of sectorial molars (greatest) 005 
 
 " Height of posterior cusp (greatest) 005 
 
 " This species was about as large as the domestic cat, and 
 less than one-third that of Aelurodon feroXj Leidy." {Quoted 
 from the second reference above cited.) 
 
 3. Muatela iiamblniia, (Cope). 
 
 Martes nambiana, Oope, Froo. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1674, 147. 
 
 "fFutorlus namblanus", Cope. -, .! ^^ ■ 
 
 From the Santa F^ (N. Mex.) Marls. Pliocene. 
 
 " Represented by a mandibular ramus which supports three 
 teeth. The anterior blade of the sectorial is rather obtuse. The 
 first premolar is one-rooted j the second and third are without 
 
 * But M. Chatin, regarding the family iu the {)erspective of his special 
 studies, may be considered not to have given due weight to other points of 
 structure, the sum of which, as I believe, indicates that the Mitstelidw, as 
 defined in the present work, are a homogeneous and natural assemblage of 
 genera, of the grade usually held to represent family value. 
 
EXTINCT MUSTELIN/E OF NORTH AMERICA. 17 
 
 posterior coronal lobe, but exhibit small basal lobes, both an- 
 terior and posterior. The anterior of the second is rather 
 elevated, and the entire crown is directed obliquely forwards. 
 Canine compressed. Mental foramina below the second and 
 
 third premolars. 
 
 " Measurements. 
 
 M. 
 
 "Leugth of three premolars 006 
 
 " Elevation of anterior lobe of sectorial 002 
 
 ' ' Depth of ramus at anterior lobe of sectorial 003 
 
 ^' This species is of smaller size than the M. mustelinuSf Cope, 
 and the sectorial tooth less elevated and trenchant." — {Oriy, 
 descr.) 
 
 't. Oalera macrodon, Cope. 
 
 (Salero macrodon. Cope, Proo. PhlU. Aoad. Kat. Scl. 1869, 155 (se« also \3S\.—Leidy, 
 Extinct Mamni. Dak. Nebr. 1669, 369, pi. xsx. f. 1, 2, 3. 
 
 Post-pliocene deposits in Charles County, Maryland, asso- 
 ciated with remains of Dicotyles torquatua and a Manatus. 
 
 *' This species is based on the greater portion of the right 
 ramus of the mandible of an adult, containing three molars in 
 place, the alveolae [sc. alveoli] of the first and of the last, with 
 a considerable portion of that of the canine. 
 
 '"' The alveolus indicates a canine of large size. The basis of 
 the first premolar is turned obliquely outwards, and is two- 
 rooted. The second and third i)remolars are separated by a 
 space: they have well-marked cingula, but neither posterior 
 nor internal tubercles. The sectorial is elongate, more than 
 twice as long as wide, the inner tubercle well-marked, acute, 
 the posterior lobe flattened, elongate ; anterior lobe narrowed. 
 Alveolus of the tubercular molar longitudinal, receiving a 
 flattened fang with a groove on each side. Inferior face of 
 ramus? below anterior line of coronoid process, broad rounded, 
 turned ^outwards. Masseteric ridge only reaching the latter 
 below near the apex of the coronoid process, and not extend- 
 ing anterior to the line of the posterior margin of the tuber- 
 cular molar. Bamus narrow at first premolar. 
 
 . In. Lin. 
 " Length of ramus from posterior margin of canine to ditto of tu- 
 bercular 1 5.5 
 
 " Ditto tojpoaterior margin sectorial 1 3. 
 
 "Ditto third premolar 3.75 
 
 " Ditto sectorial molar 6. 
 
 "Width of same (posterior lobe) 2.8 
 
 " Depth ramus at posterior margin firbt premolar 7. 5 
 
 " Ditto ramus at posterior margin sectorial 8. 25 
 
 " Widtb^ramus at posterior margin symphysis 4. 5 
 
 2m 
 
18 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. 
 
 " This species appears to have been perhaps rather larger 
 than the Galera barbata (Gray) of Brazil, and of a rather 
 more slender muzzle. As compared with that species, it ex- 
 hibits many peculiarities. The third premolar is smaller, and 
 the first, the sectorial, and the tubercular [are] relatively larger. 
 In G. barbata, the first molar has but one root, and the 
 mandibular ramus [is] thicker and deeper. The masseteric 
 ridge advances to opposite the middle of the sectorial molar, 
 and is continued on the inferior margin of the ramus, much 
 anterior to its position in the G. macro don. 
 
 "The discovery of this species adds another link to the evi- 
 dence in favor of the extension of neotropical types* over the 
 nearctic region during the post-pliocene epoch. Of thirty con- 
 tinental North American species enumerated by Leidy (An- 
 cient Fauna of Nebraska, 9) all but thirteen may be said to be 
 characteristic of that, or closely allied to the species of the 
 present period of North America. Of the thirteen, one (Elephas) 
 is characteristic of the old world, of one (Anomodon) affinities 
 [are] unknown, and eleven are represented by members of the 
 same family or genus now living in South America." — {Quoted 
 from the original article.) * 
 
 i '1^ 
 
 4t Galera perdicida, Cope. 
 
 Hemiacis perdlclda« Cope, Proc. Acad. Xat. Sci. Pbila. 1869, 3 (named, not described). 
 Galera perdlclda, Cope, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 18fi9, 177, pi. iii. figs. 1, 1 a.— Leidy, 
 Ext. Mam. Dak. and Nebr. 1869, 445. 
 
 From limestone breccia, Wythe County, Virginia. Post- 
 pliocene. 
 
 " This is a small carnivore of the Lutriue group of the 
 Mustelidfe, apparently allied to Mephitis and Lutra. [The 
 generic name given, however, is that of one of the Mustelince.] 
 It is only represented by a left ramus of the mandible, with 
 dentition complete. Its characters are as follows : Dentition 
 ^, |, ^, ^. The tubercular molar is relatively as in the allied 
 genera, but without sharp tubercle ; the sectorial characterizes 
 the genus as distinct from the two mentioned [Lutra and Mephi- 
 tis]. The posterior lobe is without the marfeed internal and exter- 
 nal acute tubercle seen in Mephitis, nor the tubercular crest of 
 Lutra, but is rounded and slightly concave. The median crests, 
 
 * " The genu8 Galera, Gray, i8 here regarded as distinct from Galictis Bell 
 (GriBonia Gray), as it possesses an internal tubercle on the inferior secto- 
 rial, which is wanting in the latter." — (i,oc. cit.) 
 
EXTINCT ML'STELIN.E OF NORTH AMERICA 19 
 
 inner aiul enter, are strongly developed, and with tbe anterior, 
 (jnite a8 in Mephitis. 
 
 •'The jaw pertained to an adult individual of smaller size 
 than the common skunk, Mephitis chinga. The bases of the 
 crowns of the first and second premolars, and to the outer side 
 of the canine are surrounded by a well marked cingulum. The 
 length of the crown of the molar is greater in proportion to the 
 length [?J than in the skunk. The axis of thecoronoid process 
 is as in it, at right angles to that ot the ramus. The latter is 
 straighter on the inferior border than in the skunk, and exhibits 
 a marked difference in the angle being nearly on the same line, 
 and not raised above it, as in the species of American skunks 
 and others, figured by Baird. 
 
 " ileasiireMents, 
 
 Lines. 
 
 " From angle to outer incisive al veolns 15. 6 
 
 " Depth ftt coronoid W. 
 
 " From base condyle to tnbercnlar molar 5. 
 
 " Length of sectorial molar 3. (5 
 
 " Width of sectorial molar 1.2 
 
 " Height from basal shoulder 2. 
 
 " Depth ramus at tubercular 2. 7 
 
 "Depth ramus at Pm. 2 3.1 
 
 "Length of crown of canine 3. 
 
 "There are two mental foramina in the specimen, one below 
 the third, the other below the first premolar. Tbe crown of the 
 canine is contracted and curved ; slightly flattened on the inner 
 side." {Quoted from the original description.) 
 
 I do not know the skull of Oalera. As figured, the jaw of G. 
 perdicida differs from that of Mephitince and LutrincB, as usually 
 presented, in the straightness of the inferior border, agreeing in 
 this respect with Mustelinie. It closely resembles, among recent 
 forms, the genus Putoriusy from which, however, the character 
 of the sectorial lower molar, with its strong acute inner tubercle 
 of the middle lobe, as in Mephitis (and Lutra\ perfectly dis- 
 tinguishes it. I should not be surprised, however, if the relation- 
 ships of this form proved to be actually with Mephitis, especi- 
 ally with Spilogale. In a specimen of the latter before me from 
 Georgia, the lower border of the jaw is quite as straight as 
 that figured by Professor Cope; in size, the specimen agrees 
 better with the figure than it does with some other specimens 
 of Spilogale before me 'f the general shape is the same; there 
 are two mental foramina exactly as described and figured ; and 
 
11 '■ 
 
 ■I I 
 
 
 'li 
 
 illi! 
 
 , ill 
 
 m 
 
 20 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDit. 
 
 I fail touote, in the figure or dcscriptiou, any decided diflereuces 
 iu dentition from Spiloyale. In fine, it may be questioned 
 whether " Galera perdicida " is even specifically distinct from 
 Spilogale putoriua. The fossil was found, it will be remembered, 
 amongst remains of numerous species not distinguishable from 
 recent ones.* 
 
 ON THE DERIVATION AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAMES 
 APPLIED TO THE JIUSTELIDiE. 
 
 To treat of this interesting topic 1 cannot, perhaps, do better 
 than give a version of Dr. E. von Martens's article, Ueber 
 IMernamenjj so far as it relates to the animals of the present 
 family. This valuable article, as it seems to me, places the 
 subject in a clear light, and gives, in a sufficiently concise and 
 convenient form, just the information that is required for an 
 understanding of the etymology and philological bearing of 
 the names used in various languages to designate the species 
 of Muatelidce. Study of this subject, which is sadly neglected 
 in ordinary zoological writings, is essential to the proper appre- 
 ciation of the technical or binomial names ; the older ones being, 
 as will be seen, not necessarily of Greek or Latin origin, as 
 commonly assumed. Thus, for instance, the generic name Gulo 
 comes simply by translation into Latin of the Scandinavian 
 and Bussian names, which refer to the voracity of the animal. 
 
 Dachs [Melea vulgaris]. — For this remarkable animal, no 
 Greek name can be determined with certainty, although it is 
 stated by late investigators, as Fiedler and Lindeumeyer, to ex- 
 ist in Greece ; for it is at least a hazardous interpretation to 
 identify the species with the rp6/o^^ " runner ", of which Aris- 
 totle (Gen. 3, 6) speaks on the authority of Herodorus of 
 Heraklea. The Latin Meles of Pliny, 8, 38, 58, is decidedly 
 more certain : aufflatw cutis distentu ietus hominum et morsus 
 eanum arcent ; the Badger, of course, does not inflate its skin, 
 but, nevertheless, its thick hide enables it to withstand bites and 
 blows. Less pertinent is a passage in Varro De Re Bust. 3, 12, 
 3, where maelis is written. Isidor of Sevilla (seventh century 
 
 * Some time after the foregoiug was written, I addreHsed to Professor Cope 
 a note on the subject, stating my views ; and in reply I learned that Professor 
 Cope " had for some time saspected " that the animal was a MejfMtia. 
 
 t " Ueber Thiernamen." Von E. von Martens in Berlin. In : Der Zoolo- 
 gische Garten ; the portions relating to the Muatelidce, here translated, being 
 ttt pp. 251-256 and pp. 275-281 of Jahrg. (or vol.) xi (1870). 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID.E. 
 
 21 
 
 E NAME« 
 
 nfter 0!iri«t) writes melo, genitive melotm ; and, in the vicinity 
 of Bologna, according to the statement of Diez, the Badger ia 
 still called melogna. Elsew .ere, however, this word is obsolete, 
 being replaced in the living Enropoaa languages by various 
 others, entirely different. 
 
 The German word (lachn may be traced back to the early 
 period of the Middle Ages : in the quack prescriptions of Mar- 
 cellus of Bordeaux, in the ninth century, is found adepn tax- 
 oninus, Badger's fat, and taxm, used by the above-mentioned 
 Isidor as the definition of adeps, fat, with reference to a still 
 earlier author, is probably the same ; the short form das, as the 
 word still runs in Dutch, is found in the German vocabulary of 
 the ninth century ; the nun Hildegard, in the twelfth, wrote 
 dahsifi ; Albertus Magnus, in the thirteenth, daxus. The form 
 taxm or taxo, as a name for the animal itself, occurs in the 
 Latin vocabulary from the period of the eighth century ; it 
 may be that this term is related to the pure Latin name of the 
 yew-tree, taxu8 of Csesar and Virgil {Taxiis hraccata Linn.), 
 agreeably to which the initial t straightway becomes fixed in 
 the Romanic names of the Miimal, in the Italian, tasso ; in the 
 Spanish, tejon (and tesajo, smoked meat) ; the Portuguese 
 texugo ; while the Old French had its taisson, of which only 
 taniere (from taisniere), meaning particularly a Badger- burrow, 
 and, generally, the den of a wild beast, remains in modern 
 French. The poet Tasso, and the founder of the German 
 postal system, Taxis, derive their family name from dachs, 
 Badger, as the old Roman agitator Sp. Maelius probably also 
 did. The word itself may be originally German, and have be ■ 
 come naturalized in France, Spain, and Italy with the migra- 
 tions of German races. To derive it from the Sanskrit taJcsha 
 (Greek zkxrwy), a carpenter, to be taken in the sense of an ar- 
 chitect, is rather far-fetched. Another series of names of the 
 Badger in Northern Europe begins with B, as the French blai- 
 reaii, the English badger, the Danij^h hrok,* and the Russian 
 borsnk ; but it is not certain that these are all ety mologically re- 
 lated. Blaireau^^ in Middle- Age Latin blerellus, is interpreted by 
 Diez as the diminutive of the mediaeval Latin bladarius, a grain- 
 merchant (Romanic biado, late French ble, grain) ; and in support 
 of this it is argued that the English name of the animal, badger, 
 signifies also a dealer in grain. Such connection requires us to 
 
 " " Brock '' is also foiiud as an English provincialism. — Tr. 
 
 t Which is corrupted, in America, into Braro, Brairo, and Prarow.— Tk. 
 
22 
 
 NOKTIl AMERICAN MUSTELID.i:. 
 
 i ! 
 
 k 
 
 hi 
 
 I 'i; 
 
 invent the certainly erroneous explanation tli!»t the animal lays 
 up a sstore of provisions in its domicile, as if it drove a trade in 
 grain. Dielenbach's derivation from the Celtic, originally Cym- 
 ric, word bimrr, gray, seems to me to bo nearer the mark ; it 
 would theu be " the little gray beast "; and it is corroborative 
 of this that the animal is called, in Picardy, </>i«ard; in Sweden 
 and Denmark, //>vV>7M<7 or f)fW>///«(7, that is to say, OrnuUng, "a 
 gray or grizzly beast". But the proper Cel^^ic name of the ani- 
 mal is broc; in the Gaelic, Irish, and Bretonic remarkably like 
 the Danish brok, and somewhat similar to borsuk, which prevails 
 in Poland, Eussia, and Siberia ; there this name for the Badger 
 is current among the Bashkirs, Kirghiz, and Buchares, and is 
 rendered horz by the Magyars; so we may consider it a primitive 
 Turanian word, the more so since the South Sclavonic uses an- 
 other term, in Cuvu'iohi, jozavec or janbez ; in Bohemia, gezivee. 
 The Wallachian, jezure or esure, which has been incorrectly con- 
 sidered as from the Latin esor, eater, is probably related. 
 
 iii4 
 
 ViELFRASS [Oiilo luscvs], — According to the latest investi- 
 gations, the Glutton inhabited Middle Europe nearly to the 
 Alps, in the period of the Lake-dwellers {P/uhlbauteu, literally 
 pile-buildings), together with the Reindeer; and of its occur- 
 rence in Germany, even in the last century, two cases are given, 
 one at Frauenstein in Saxony, by Klein, 1751, the other at 
 Helmstiidt in Brunswick, by Zimmermann, 1777, both, unfor- 
 tunately, without the particulars. Though both these zoolo- 
 gists saw the stuffed specimen, neither gives the date of cap- 
 ture, the first only stating that it occurred under Augustus H, 
 who died in 1733. These can only have been stray s[)eciuiens, 
 since no contemporaneous or previous writer mentions the oc- 
 currence of the animal in Germany. The species was entirely 
 unknown in the Middle Ages, making its first appearance in 
 literature through Michow, a physician of Cracow (de Sarma- 
 tia Asiana et Europa^a, 1532), as Lithuanian and Moscovitic, 
 and through Bishop Olaus Magnus, of Upsala, 1562, as an ani- 
 mal of North Sweden, thus nearly at the limit of its present 
 distribution. What we can gather from the name of the ani- 
 mal accords perfectly with this. In Europe, names are only 
 found in the vernacular proper of Scandinavia and Russia, jar/" 
 or jerv of the former, and rossomaha of the latter, both of which 
 are given by the above-mentioned historians; all German, 
 French, Latin, and such, are book-names, intended to denote 
 
 if I 
 iiii; 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID.E. 
 
 23 
 
 the voracity of the aniiual, and point back to the well-known 
 account of Ohms, as the German Vicl/rass, the Latin OulOj the 
 French Olouton, the Kni^iish Glutton. It has often been as- 
 serted that the (Jerman VielJ'ra,s/i, in the sense of glutton, is a 
 misunderstanding, it being derived from the Swedish word 
 fi('(U, Norwegian /jail, rock or clilf; but this I cannot credit, 
 first, be(;ause the secontl sylhible is not accounted for on such 
 supposition {fjall—ydri is remote, and the animal is nowhere 
 so called, but simply jaV/'); secondly, because both the Swed- 
 ish Olaus Magnus and the Norwegian Bishop Pontoppidau 
 give its voracity special prominence, and from this trait derive 
 the name jerf (<;ier/;, "gierig", greedy f), translated Gulo aud 
 Vielfniss. Another Norwegian clergyman, H. Strom, gives, iu- 
 deed, the designation Fieldfrass, besides jcrf, to the animal, 
 which is of rare occurrence in his locality, but with the explicit 
 remark that Fiehlfrms was, beyond doubt, derived from the 
 German word Vicl/rass. This is thus exactly contrary to the 
 usual German acceptation; and, in fact, "Felsenfrass-' would 
 be a singular appellation. 
 
 ZoBEL [Mufitela zibellina]. — The name appears as early as the 
 latter half of the Middle Ages, under many variations, as the 
 modern Latin, sahelns, zibellina ; Gernmn, zebvl (as early as the 
 ninth century, according to Graff), zobel ; Proven9al, sebeli ; 
 English and old French, sable ; Swedish, sabel ; Russian, sobol ; 
 Finnish, soboli — in every case meaning a northern peltry. In 
 the East, we find atiother variation, samur, in the Crimea aud 
 Armenia, and thence to Servia aud Wallachia. The name is 
 probably of Turanian origin. 
 
 Mabdek [Mustela marten, M. foina], — This word now occurs 
 in Germanic aud Bomanic languages, in both either with or 
 without the second K, as the Spanish and Portuguese marta, 
 in the former as a feminine noun, and likewise the French la 
 marie, though in some dialects la martre, the Provencal mart, 
 Italian martora and martorella ; the English martin [or, ofteuer, 
 marten — Tr.] appears to be an easy way of raying martern, still 
 in use in some localities; Dutch wwrfer, Swedish mard, Danish 
 maar. Seeking for the earliest form of the word, we first find 
 martes in Martial, the Spanish-born Roman poet ; but this can 
 scarcely be an old Latin word, as it is not found in Pliny or 
 other classical writers; aud Martial often introduced forcJgn 
 
24 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 m 
 
 words into his Latin. In Anglo-Saxon, it only appears as 
 meardh; whilst, on the other hand, in Germany, we find martarus 
 used by Hildegard and Albertus Magnus, in the twelfth and thir- 
 teenth centuries. The resemblance to the German verb " mar- 
 tern" [to torment] is obvious ; in fact, " martern " might be de 
 fined " to act like a marten ", the proper implication being, not 
 the sanguinary murders the marten commits, but the palpable 
 torment which it designedly inflicts. Another derivation comes 
 decidedly nearer — martyr, meaning a person tortured, from 
 martyrium, torture, whence the verb first arose. The resem- 
 blance in sound may have occasioned the second R in those 
 cases in which it appears. We might also seek to establish a 
 connection between " marder", a marten, and " Morder", Ger- 
 man for a murderer; but the T, which occurs in a majority of 
 the forms of the word, is against this, as is also the fact that 
 the German name occurs in many languages to which " Mord ■' 
 and " Morder " do not belong. 
 
 A second Romanic name of the Marten is fuina; Spanish 
 and Italian the same, Portuguese /wm/m, French la fouine; in 
 some dialects with a in place of w, as in certain Italian locali 
 ties faina, in Provence faguino, fahino, Old French fayne; 
 Catalonian fagina, Belgic faweina, in the Canton of Grau- 
 bUndten further modified into Jierna. The obsolete German 
 names of certain pelts, Fehe, Feh-icamme, are very likely re- 
 lated. The word is not Latin as the name of an animal ; but 
 it may be inquired, with respect to the later forms, whether it 
 does not probably signify marta fagina. Beech-marten, as one 
 of the two European species of the genus is often named ; 
 properly the Tree- or Pine-marten, in distinction from the 
 Stone- or House-marten, since the former lives in the forest, 
 the latter about buildings ; though very curiously, the Stone- 
 marten [ M u stela foina\ is the Martarus or Martes fagorum of 
 Albertus Magnus and afterward of Ray, whilst the Pine- 
 marten [M. 'inartes] is distinguished as M. abietum, "Marten 
 of the firs". The precise distinction between fouine, foina = 
 Stone-marten, and martCy martes = Pine-marten, moreover, may 
 have been first set forth by Bufibn and Linujeus, and have 
 obtained rather among zoologists than among the people at 
 large; the more valuable Pine-marten ["Edel-marder", liter- 
 ally "noble marten"! took the commonest name, leaving the 
 less popular one for the other rarer species. From th\» fouine, 
 
 >\h 
 
 \ 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^:. 
 
 25 
 
 the French have formed the verb foubier, to pry into or ram- 
 mage about.* 
 
 The Celtic, Sclavonic, and Finnish names are entirely differ- 
 ent, as are the Cymric bela,\ the Eussian, Polish, Bohemian, 
 and Orainish Tcuna, Finnish and Laplandish niita; with which 
 the Magyaric nyest or nest accords. 
 
 Iltis [Putoriiis fcctidus].— The German name is found under 
 many variations, according to localities, particularly in North 
 Germany, as iltniti, eltiSy Danish ilder, Swedish iller; further- 
 more, with k, ilk J ulk, according to Bechstein in Thuringia even 
 Ram-unk, which is the well known name of a reptile [toad]; 
 and again with 6, elb-thier, elbkatze, which has been sought to be 
 derived from elben = elves, the nocturnal sprites; but the oldest 
 form of the word known to me, ilUbenzus of Albertus Magnus 
 (thirteenth century), is little unfavorable to this etymology. The 
 Dutch bunsing stands entirely alone. The Romanic languages 
 name the species simply from its bad smell, as the Italian puszola^ 
 French putois, mediteval Latin ptitorins, the pusnais of French 
 animal-fable, which is the same as pitnaise, a bed-bug. The 
 second portion of the English name, pole-cat, is of obvious 
 meaning; agreeably to which we find in Diefenbach (Celtica, ii, 
 p. 435) that in Wales, in early times, the animal was kept, or, 
 more likely, suffered to remain, about houses, to destroy mice.| 
 Another English name, fitclier, Jitchet [or Jitch — Tr.], related to 
 the old French fissan, apparently indicates the same capacity in 
 which the animal was employed or regarded. The Sclavonic 
 languages have a particular word, tschor, tschorz, or tscher, in 
 Carniolan ticor, in Roumanian dihor. 
 
 By Pliny (8, 55, 84), this species is called viverra, probably 
 an Iberian word no longer occurring in later languages, and 
 which Linnreus first reapplied in zoology to the Civet-cats. 
 Since the Middle Ages, however, two forms of the name of this 
 animal have simultaneously appeared, the first without *, furo 
 of Isidor of Sevilla (seventh century), whence the present Por- 
 
 * " Diirchsuchen, durchstobern " ; so tlofineil by the uriter, bnto'f-iir au- 
 thority defines fouiner to slink off, to ia«»ak: away ; lEv^d only in trivial 
 style. But either meaning is sufficiently charaoteristio of the animals. — Tk. 
 
 t Obviously related to the modern French btlettc—see beyond. — Tu. 
 
 I The whole English word, poh-cnt, is by some simply rendered "I'olish- 
 cat", as if the animal were originally from Poland. In America, the word 
 has been very commonly transferred to the .Skunks, M»phUii : Catesby's pol- 
 cat is such, and Kalm's fiskatta is translated j#o/e-t»t<. — Tk. 
 
26 
 
 NORTH AMEPTCAN MUh/ 
 
 UJE. 
 
 m 
 
 tuguese /umo, and tho Spanish /«w>on, transferred by the Span- 
 ish colonists to the South American Galictis vittata, and the 
 North American Miistela huro Fr. Cuv., and ^iiretus of the Em- 
 peror Frederick II, considered as French L Albertus Magnus, 
 with which the present French furet, English ferret, Celtic 
 fared and fearaid, GerniRii frett, are all related. The -et may be 
 a diminutive form, or be a part of the original word ; it is 
 slighted by the etymologist Isidor, who somewhat gratuitously 
 finds in it the Latin /Mr, thief. The word cannot be Arabic, for 
 Isidor died in 636, before the irruption of the Arabs into Africa. 
 But if, as Shaw states, the Weasel is called /erf in Barbary, the 
 probability is that the word, like others, is common to the North 
 African pre- Arabic and the Iberian pre-Romanic languages, and 
 that it is this very animal which Strabo calls the North African 
 (Libyan) Weasel.* 
 
 4l\ 
 
 ■;!r 
 
 WiESEL [Putorius vtdgaris]. — This word is found in most of 
 the Germanic languages: Swedish wessla; English iceesel or 
 weasel; Dutch icezel. It may be traced back to late mediaeval 
 German and Anglo-Saxon. The Swabian verb icuseln, to skip 
 about ("sicA rasch bea-efien^) like any small creature, may 
 readily be derived from wiesel, notwithstanding the difference 
 in the vowel. In this case again, as in the instance of daihs, 
 the same word recurs in Spanish, but without the diminutive 
 termination, as veso. It is found in mediaeval Latin of the 
 twelfth century, and was by the Romanic colonists bestowed 
 upon an American Musteline animal {Putorim vison, the repre- 
 sentative of the European Mink). The ordinary French term 
 for the Weasel, bektte, is diminutive of the old French bele, 
 from the Celtic and the present Welch hela, a marten, and also 
 occurs under a different modification in North Italy, which 
 was certainly once inhabited by Celts. It may all the more 
 readily have been preserved in French, since it may be con- 
 sidered related to belle, pretty, and be so interpreted. Certainly 
 in many languages the Weasel derives its name from its neat 
 and elegant ways, as the Italian donnola and Portuguese 
 doninha, little lady; the Spanish comadreja, god-mother; the 
 
 ' * According to RoUeston ( Journ. Anat. aud Pfays. i. 1867, p. 47 aeq.) the Cat 
 aud the Marten were both domesticated in Italy nine hundred years before 
 the period of the Crusades, and the latter, Mustela foina, was the " cat" or 
 yaX^ of the ancients, who, furthermore, called Mustela martea yaTif/ iiypia, and 
 designated Vherra genetta as rapniama ya/.i], — Tit. 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID.E. 
 
 27 
 
 andereigerra * of the iubabitauts of Biscay, meauiug the same 
 as the Portuguese word just given; the late Greek >tjfi<piTa, 
 v.ip'jz'^a, a bride; the Bavarian Schonthierlein, "pretty little 
 creature"; the English fairy (Diez). The Sclavonic tongues 
 have an entirely peculiar series of names: laska, lasika, lastiza, 
 and the like. 
 
 In Greek and Latin proper, we find for the Musteline ani- 
 mals only three names, which are all different from those 
 which are better known in living languages, and of the pres- 
 ent existence of which we only find isolated instances ; these 
 are ixri^, r«^-^'?) ^.nd mnstela. 
 
 Pliny uses mnstela in different places for native and exotic 
 Mtistelidce, without furnishing the means of nicer discrimina- 
 tion of the species; he indicates their mousing capacity ; and 
 Palladius De Be Rust. 4, 9, 4, says that they were kept for this 
 purpose. The name appears to be derived from mus, and to 
 mean "a mouser"; for I cannot agree with Sundevall in recog- 
 nizing in the second syllable the Greek *)j>a, a hunt; since * 
 does not become t in Latin. According to Risso, the Weasel 
 is called moustelle to this very day iu Xice, and in Lorraine, 
 according to Diez, moteile; this is a partial persistence of the 
 name which, among the Romans, not only indicated the 
 Weasel as the species best known to them, but also included 
 the other Musteline animals iu general. So it was also with 
 the Greek ya/Jr/ (Batrachomyomachia, 9) or ^a/.^ (Arist. Hist. 
 An. 2, 1, and his not very well written book 9, chap. 6), the 
 best-known Greek species of the Marten family, yellowish, 
 white beneath, and a mouser; whilst the fable that it was a 
 transformed maiden (Ovid, Metam. 9, 306-323; Galanthis, 
 with the express statement that the beast still lived about 
 houses) accords well with the complimentary names already 
 mentioned. Thps mnstela is primarily our Weasel [Putorius 
 imlgaris]^ though occasionally other species receive the same 
 name, as, for example, an African one, in Herodotus, 4, 192. 
 More difficult to explain is the second Greek name, ^ txrt?, the 
 skin of which, according to Homer (Iliad, 10, 333), made a 
 night-cap for a Trojan hero, and which, according to Pseudo- 
 Aristotle, Hist. An. 9, 6, was of the size of a small Mr'.tese dog 
 {'■'■ Malteser Hiindchens'^), like a Weasel, white underneath, and 
 fond of honey. This latter circumstance caused Cetti to sep- 
 
 * Precisely the same as the Latin tniilkrcHla. — Tii. 
 
I 
 
 M 'I 
 
 28 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 n 
 
 \\i\ 
 
 iP"' 
 
 arate his boceamehi ("honcj-mouth" — as we should say, "hav- 
 ing a sweet tooth "), which is, however, a species scarcely dis- 
 tinguishable from P. vulyaris {ef. Zool. Gart. 1867, p. 68). Au- 
 bert and Wimmer, on the other hand, argue for Miistela foina, 
 as this animal is common in Greece, where it is still called 
 ixrU; the latter jiosition is certainly well taken, and the 
 Marten, as the larger animal, better fulfils the Homeric indica- 
 tion just given; but the expression "white underneath" is 
 only true of the throat of the Martens, for both species of 
 Muatela are dark-colored on the belly, and in this respect very 
 different from the Weasel. For the rest, it is much more prob- 
 able that Aristotle named both the Marten and the Weasel 
 together, than that he distinguished two kinds of Weasels and 
 knew nothing whatever of the Marten. 
 
 Hermelin [Putorins erminea]. — Though this name soundii; 
 like a foreign word, it is nevertheless probably of German ori- 
 gin, since not only are there several provincial variations of 
 less strange accent, like Heermunchen and Harmchen, but there 
 is also the simple harmo of old German manuscripts of the 
 ninth to the eleventh century (Graff, althochdeutscher Sprach- 
 schatz). From this came harmelhi, of the twelfth century,, 
 simply the diminutive. The name went with the peltries into 
 foreign lauds, becoming the Italian armelUno, the Spanish 
 armino, the French [and English] ermine — originally, with Al- 
 bertus Magnus, who had many French forms of names, erm'ini- 
 «m, — and came back to the German as Hermelin, with ^ foreign 
 accent, on the last syllable. The she-fox Ermeleyn, in the Fable of 
 "Reinecke Fuchs" ["The Beasts at Court"], obviously derived 
 her name from this animal. In Lithuanian, we find szarmii or 
 8zarmonys?i^ the name of the same animal, which is the same as 
 harmo, according to the rules for the rendering of the sound, 
 just as the Lithuanian szirtlis is the German herz. The inter- 
 pretation of Hermelin as the "Armenian Mouse" is thus vir- 
 tually refuted. The Swedes call the animal ross-kat and le-Mt, 
 the latter probably shortened from Lemmiwjskatze, since the 
 creature is destructive to Lemmings. In North France, we find 
 for the Ermine the name roselet, obviously indicating its red- 
 dish coloi', and with this corresponds the fabulous name Riissel, 
 offspring of the Ermeleyn. The South European languages 
 have no special name of their own for the Ermine, since it is 
 there found only in the mountains, as the Southern Alps and 
 the Balkan for example. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 % 
 
 ■■'■!■ 
 
 ^ 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID.E. 
 
 29 
 
 NoRZ [Putorius hUreola].— Thin animal is at ouce proclaimed 
 to be East European by its name; for the word, first used in 
 Germany by the Saxon mineralogist Agrieola, in 1546, is Scla- 
 vonic; the Kussian is norka, the South Russian nortschil', the 
 Polish nurek, from the verb nurka, to dive. The Swedes alone, 
 in whose country the animal also appears, have a particular 
 name for it, mcink, which is the source of the mink or miiix ap- 
 plied to the different North American species [P. vison]. 
 
 Otter [Lutra vulgaris], — To the comparative philologist this 
 word offers a field as broad as it is difl&cult, for the names of 
 the animal in various European languages are enough alike to 
 be compared, yet sufficiently dissimilar to be questioned as the 
 same word; the initial particularly differs in a suspicious 
 manner: otter, Ultra, evudpiq. In Sanskrit and Zend,* we find 
 for an aquatic animal, of what kind is not known with cer- 
 tainty, but which may easily have been the Fish -otter, the name 
 udra-s, derived from the root ud, water (Latin udus, Greek uSwp). 
 With this agrees perfectly the Lithuanian udra, the Curlandic 
 and Livonian nderis, and, with slight change of the initial, 
 wydra, which obtains throughout the Sclavonic tongues, the 
 Roumanian vidre — all of which are actual names of the Otter. 
 In the Germanic languages, the u becomes o; otr in the old 
 Northern sagas, ottar in old mediaeval German, otter in the 
 present German, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish, though in the 
 latter the early initial u sometimes reappears, giving utter. 
 The change of d into t is the rule in the rendering of the sound 
 of Sanskrit, Greek, Lithuanian, and Sclavonic in the Germanic 
 languages, although in pure German this consonant properly 
 changes into sharp « {udwp, water — ^Hcasser^ as is not, how- 
 ever, the case with the name of the animal. 
 
 In Greek, we find, as the name of the Otter, hoSpn;, Herod. 2, 
 72, and 4, 109, ivu8p\i;, Arist. Hist. An. 1, 1, and 8, 5, or ho8poq^ 
 Aelian Hist. An. 11, 37, nearly always mentioned in connection 
 with the Beaver; also the forms, agreeing better with the San- 
 skrit, 83/>of, lidpa, the former for an actual serpent (Ilias, 2, 723, 
 Arist. Hist. An. 2, 17, 83), the latter for a fabulous serpent like 
 monster (Hesiod, Theogon. 413, &c.). 
 
 In Latin, we find only lutra, Plin. 8, 30, 47, which differs not 
 only in the initial, but also in the t, though the Latin should 
 agree with the Greek and Sanskrit and differ from the Ger- 
 
 *Zend: the language of the Avesta, or aucient sacred writings of the Per- 
 siauH. The people who used it were a branch of the Asiatic Aryans.— Tr. 
 
1^ 
 
 
 b:i 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 i: 
 
 nm 
 
 i 
 
 i'i F 
 
 I ! 
 
 ii i: 
 
 > I 111 
 
 30 
 
 NORTH AMERICAxV MUSTELID.E. 
 
 manic in respect to the consonants. This Intra obtains in 
 
 modern Romanic ages with littk; variation ; French, la 
 
 lout re; Italian 
 
 in soMje Itali; 
 
 itive fif), an 
 
 [cf. oHza, o«i ,, 
 
 luiria or loirUt. 
 
 ortugaese, lontra / Asturian, londra ; 
 .ects, lodra, ludria (preserving the prim- 
 .a (which bears lightly upon the name unze 
 ounce] among the cats [Felidie] ; Provencal, 
 The >i in many of these names may simply be 
 a matter of easy pronunciation. Curiously enough, we find 
 in Norway, far removed from Romanic influence, a name of the 
 Otter of similar sound, slenter. 
 
 The Spaniard says nutria. This may be an arbitrary corrup- 
 tion of Ultra; but when we recall the Greek huSpt^, and consider 
 that many Spanish names of animals are nearer the Greek 
 than the Latin (for example, (jolondrinasix-^'^^''' [* swallow], 
 and galapago in the first two syllables =;f?A((ii/ij [a turtle]), 
 it seems very likely that nutria is derived from svoUpt^'', and it 
 may be seriously questioned whether the latter is actually com- 
 pounded of h and Idwp, not rather that the v represents the I in 
 Intra, and that the s is simply a prefix, as in iXaxv^ = the San- 
 skrit lag hus=:the Latin levis. Initial I and n are sometimes in- 
 terchangeable, as for instance in the Greek Urpov and virpov, 
 the Latin lamellassthe Proven5al namela (Ourtius, Griechische 
 Etym. 395). The primitive IndoGermanic word from which 
 all the above are conjecturally derived probably did not begin 
 with a pure vowel, since a consonant precedes it in so many of 
 the foregoing forms, as the o in Sclavonic, the I in Latin, and 
 the rough aspirate in Greek. 
 
 The German word otter, when it signifies a snake, is femi- 
 nine ; when used for the quadruped it is indifferently masculine 
 or feminine. The former is justifiable, inasmuch as the old 
 Northern otr or otur is masculine ; to make it feminine may be 
 partly on account of its identity with the name of the serpent, 
 partly from its analogy with the Romanic lutra. Albertus 
 Magnus furthermore converted lutra into the masculine form. 
 Inter, In the Middle Ages, finally, there arose the Latin 
 word hitrix, as the name of a snake, formed from lutra by anal- 
 ogy with natrix, and apparently furnishing an imitation of the 
 double employ of otter. 
 
 On account of its similarity in form and its kindred significa- 
 tion, I cannot refrain from mentioning in this connection the 
 word natter [viper, a kind of snake]. In spite of the Spanish 
 nudria, I believe that it has nothing to do with otter, though 
 
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 31 
 
 the two are often coufounded by persons not learned in natural 
 history, or considered of similar signification. It is an old 
 word, appearing in the Latin of Cicero as natrix (Qu. Acad. 2, 
 28); in the Gothic of Ultilas as nadrs, masculine moreover, 
 Ev. Luc. 3, 7, where the Greek text has lyidva, and Luther 
 translated ^^ otter", but at that time already feminine in the old 
 Northern nadhra. The same word is also found in Celtic. This 
 wide diffusion of the word makes it probable that the Latin 
 natrix is not to be interpreted as a swimmer, as if from nare 
 =natare ; in general, people take ^^ natter" for a poisonous 
 serpent, not simply as a water-snake, and the specific applica- 
 tion of the term to the Coluber natrix Linn, is of later origin. 
 Many philologists derive the word from an old root, na (Ger- 
 man nahen, Latin neo, Greek >^<(*), in the sense of coiling 
 ("wwic/tnitrew"); cf. Latin necto. 
 
 We may briefly treat of other names of the Otter. The 
 Celtic languages have a particular term, Gaelic dobran, Cymric 
 dyfrgi. The Tartaric Icama has probably given name to the 
 largest tributary of the Volga. In many, particularly Asiatic, 
 languages, our animal is called by some equivalent of " water- 
 dog" or "river-dog"; as in the Dekan paniciitta; in the Ca- 
 naries (and also in the East Indies), nir-nai; Malayan, andjing- 
 ayer ; whilst the xui/s? r.oTdix'jn of Aelian, 14, 21, appear to have 
 been Otters. 
 
; i I 
 iiiii! 
 
 CHATTER II. 
 
 !JI'fi<i 
 
 li isi4 
 
 llwW 
 
 ill 
 
 'iVV 
 
 V.:\i 
 
 Subfamily MUSTELIN.E: The Wolverene. 
 
 The geiins Guh — Generic characters— Gn/o luscua, the Wolverene — Syn- 
 onymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external charac- 
 ters — Measurements — Anal glands — Description of the skull and teeth- 
 Measurements of skulls, European and American — Nomenclature of the 
 species — Relation of the European and American animal — General his- 
 tory, geographical distribution, and habits of the species — Its distribu- 
 tion in the Old World. 
 
 HAVING already presented the characters of the subfamily 
 Muatelincc with detail sufficing for present purposes, I may 
 at once proceed to consider the genera composing the group. 
 These are : Oulo; Oalictis; Mustela; Putorim. The second of 
 these is not represented in North America. Putoriua is sus- 
 ceptible of division into several subgenera. These genera will 
 be treated in successive chapters, the present being devoted to 
 the genus Otilo. 
 
 The Genus GULO. (Store, 1780.) 
 
 < Mustela, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. lOtb ed. 1758, anil of many authors. 
 
 < Vrsus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. lOtb ed. 1758, and of gome authors. 
 
 < Heles, PaU. Spio. Zool. xlv. 1780 ; also of Boddoert, 1784. 
 
 =6ul0i Storr,* Prod. Meth. Mamm. 1780, and of late authors generally. (From Klein.) 
 
 < Taxus, Tiedem. Zool. 1. 1803. 
 
 * This extremely rare work has lately been made the subject of a critical 
 essay by Prof. T. Gill, who examined a copy in the library of the Surgeon- 
 Gene; al, U. S. Army, at Washington ("On the 'Prodromus Method! Mam- 
 malium ' of Storr". By TLaodore Gill. Extracted from the Bulletin of the 
 Philosophical Society of Washington, October, 1874. Philadelphia : Collins, 
 printer, 1876. 8vo. pamph., 1 p. 1., pp. i-xiii). The full title, as quoted by 
 Gill, is as follows : — 
 
 Prodromv.s Methodi Mammamvm. I Rectore Vnirersitatis maguifi- 
 
 centissimo | sereuissimo atqve potentissimo | dvce ac domino | Carolo | dvce 
 Wvrtembergise ac Tecciaa regnante, j rel. rel. | — | Ad institveudam | ex 
 decreto gratioste facvltatis medicse | pro legitime oonseqvendo | doctoris 
 medicinse gradv | inavgrralem dispvtationem | propositvs | pr^eside | Gottl. 
 CoNR. Christ. Storr | medicinee doctore, hvivs, chemiee et botanices | pro- 
 fessore pvblioo ordiuario | vuiversitatis H. T. pro-i-ectore, | respondente | 
 FridericoWolffer, | Bohnlandense. | — ( TvUngce,d.Jul.MDCCLXXX. \ — | 
 Litteria Reissianis. [4to, 43 pp., 4 tables.] 
 39 
 
THE GENUS GULO. 
 
 33 
 
 J>'»- TTj 
 
 Geneiuc CHARACTEU8.— Z)e«<<(l formula : i. '{^^ ; c. ~r] 
 m. ^ J =7,-^ = 38 (as in irmtela). Sectoilaltooth of lower jaw (anterior true 
 M.) without an internal cuap (usually evident in 3/«s/e?fl). Anteorbltal fora- 
 men presenting obliquely upward as well as forward, canal-like, and open- 
 ing over interspace between last and penultimate premolars. Skull little 
 constricted at the middle ; rostral portion relatively shorter, stouter, and 
 more obliquely truncated anteriorly than in Mustda. General apper outline 
 of the skull in profile more arched. Mastoids and auditory tubes more pro- 
 duced, the whole periotic region decidedly more prominent. Zygomatio 
 arch very high behind, at first ascending vertically, then giving oflf a pos- 
 terior convexity. Depth of emargination of palate about equal to distance 
 thence to the molars. Skull, as a whole, massive, finally developing strong 
 ridges. 
 
 Fertebral formula : c.7 ; d. 15 ; ?. 5 ; «. 3 ; cd. 1.5 or 16. (Gerrard.) 
 Size much above the average for this family, and nearly at a maximum 
 {lialictia alone, of this subfamily, is said to be larger). Form very stout, 
 and general appearance rather Bear-like than Weasel-like ; organization ro- 
 bust. Legs short and stout. Tail short (about as long as the head), bushy, 
 with drooping hairs. Pelage shaggy. Ears low. Soles densely hairy, with 
 six small naked pads. Claws strong, acute, much curved. Coloration pe- 
 culiar.* Anal glands moderately developed. Progression incompletely plan- 
 grade. Habits chiefiy terrestrial. 
 
 Notwithstanding the remarkably peculiar outward aspect of 
 GhJo in comparison with its allies, it is very closely related to 
 the Martens in structure, forbidding more than generic distinc- 
 tion from Mustela. The dental formula is the same. In addi- 
 tion to the cranial characters above given, it may be stated 
 that the skull is relatively as well as absolutely more massive 
 than that of the arboreal Martens, in coordination with the much 
 more robust and sturdy organization of the Wolverene. 
 
 Detailed descriptions of the skull and teeth, as well as of 
 the external characters of the genus, are given beyond under 
 the head of the single known species, O. Iu8cu8. 
 
 The generic name is the Latin gulo, a glutton, in allusion to 
 the voracity of the animal. The obvious relation of the word 
 is with the Latin gula, throat or gullet, also used figuratively 
 for appetite or gluttony ; and in various languages the vernac- 
 ular name of the species is a word of similar signification. 
 ^' Gulo " was the original specific name in the binomial nomen- 
 clature; but its application to the, present animal was origi- 
 nally simply by translation into Latin of the Scandinavian 
 and Russian vernacular (cf. anted,, p. 22). 
 
 * In the pattern of coloration, however, we discern the trace of the same 
 character that is fully developed in Mephitis mephitiva— the light bands, con- 
 verging over the rump, being similar to the stronger white stripes which 
 mark the Skunk. 
 
 3 M 
 
l\ 
 
 I'i 
 
 84 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 The Wolverene. 
 
 Onlo luiicu*. 
 
 Plats I. 
 
 m I 
 
 III 
 
 
 
 (1. Old World rtjfereneeii.) 
 
 GulO, anci'/uorum.— "Cf(!«n. Quad. Vivip. 1551, 633, flg.— 0(. Ifo^. Hitt. Gent. Sept. 15SS, 
 Va.—Aldrov. Quad. Dig. 1045, m.—Seheff. Lappon. 1673, 339.— OAaWtt, Exerclt. 1077, 
 15.-j;;aez. Hist. Nat. Polon. 1791, 318.— Linn. S. X. 9d-5th eda. 1740-7, AA.— Klein, 
 Quad. 1751, B3, pi. i.—HUl, Hist. An. 1753, 546, pi. Vl.—Jonit. Theatr. 1755, 131, pi. 
 57." 
 
 MustcU ruro'fuscii, medio dorM nlgro, L. Fn. Suec. lat ed. 1746, 9, no. 6; S. K. 6th-7th 
 edit. 1748, 5, DO. 1 Kram. Elenob. Vef{. et Anim. 1756, 311. 
 
 Mustel* gUlO, L. Fn. Saeo. 3d od. 1761, 5, no. 14; S. N. i. 10th ed. 1753, 45, no. 3; S. N. i. 
 
 13tb ed. 1766, 67, no. h.—Ounn. Act. Midros. ill. 191, pi. 3, f. S.— JETouM. Natura. ii 
 
 169, pi. 14, f. i—MM. Zool. Dan. Prod, 1776, 3, no. Xi.—Erxl Syst. An. 1777, 477, no. 
 li.—FaJb. Fn. Grwnl. 17»0, 31, no. 19. 
 
 I'rsHS gUlo, Sehreh. Siing. ill. 1778, 535, pis. 144 (Act. Holm. 1773) and 144* (Buff.).— Zimm. 
 Oeog. Oescta. ii. 17d0, 376, no. 168.-Om. S. X. i. 1788, 104, no. %.—Shaw, O. '£. i. 1800, 
 460, pi. 104.— Tur(. S. N. i. 1806, 64.— Cuv. "Tabl. fil6m. — , 113. "—'J'. Cuv. Diet. 
 Sci. Nat. xix.7D, f— ," 
 
 Heles gUlO, PaU. Spic. Zool. xiv, 1780, iiS. pi. 3; Z. R. A. i, 1831, 73, no. Vi.—Bodd. Blench. 
 An. i. 1784, 81, no. 5. 
 
 T«XH8 gUlOi Tiedem, Zool. i. 1808, 377. 
 
 OulO borealls, "A'tl««. Ilium. Fig. till Sknud. Fn."— "Kcfz. Fn. Suec. 1800, S.V"— Our. It. A. 
 1. 1817, —.—^Yar|n. Suppl. Schreb. ii. 1841, ^M.—Keyg. •« Bias. Wirb. Eur. lH4i), 
 r,6.—lichim. Syn. Mamm. 1844, Mt.—Bla*. Wirb. Deutscbl. 1837, 309, iigs. Ill), Vid 
 (sknll).— £ran(i(, Bemerk. Wirb. N. K. Kussl. 185-, W.—Qray, P. Z. S. 1865, 130. 
 
 Golo siblrlcus, PaM. "Sp. Zool. xiv. t. 3".— (Oray.) 
 
 Onlo arctleus, Dttm. Mamm. i. 183U, 174.— £m«. Mam. 1837, Ui.— Fitch. Syn. 1829, 131.— 
 Oieb. Siiug. 1855, ^^.—Fit^inger, Naturg. Saug. 1. 1861, 341, f. 70. 
 
 dnlo TUlgarlit, OHff. An. Klngd. v. 1837, 117, no. 331.— J7. Smith, Nat. Lib. xv. 1843, 908. 
 
 Onlo leucaras, "Htd9nhorg".—(Qray.) 
 
 BossonskS, Ruttian.—" Nitremb. Hist.Nat. 1635, \6d.—Rouom(Kk,BeU. Trav.i. 1763, 331.— 
 Rotomaeh, Ryttoh. Orenb. Topog. i. 1773, 337.— Aotomai, SUlUr, Besohr. Kamt. 1774, 
 118. " 
 
 TeelvrMt, " Tsbr. Seize oaar China, 1704, 31.— .ffoutt. Nat Hist. Dier. ii. 1761, 189, pi. 14, 
 f. i."— Dutch. 
 
 Tlclfrasti, £I«tn, op. et loo. cU.—J. 0. Om. Reise Siblr. ill. 1751, 493 MiilUr, Natura. i. 
 
 1773, 365, pi. 14, f. 4 (ex. Hoatt.).— Fon Marteixt, Zool. Qart. xi. 1870, 353 (philologi- 
 cal).— Oerman. 
 
 TlelfrM, HaUen, Naturg. Tblere, 1757, 549. 
 
 fiOHloi, Bomare, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ii. 1768, 343. 
 
 fllOMlOB. Bomare, torn. cU. 333.-Buf. HUt. Nat. xiii. 1765, 378 ; Snppl. iii, 340, pi. 48. - 
 French. 
 
 eintlOB, Ptnn. Syn. Qnad. 1771, 190.—Engli«h. 
 
 itrt,3ldn,¥iltru,A'onoegian, 
 
 JM, Jtrj, Flltrws, 8wedith,—Gen^rg, Act. Stuokh. 1773, 333, pi. 7, 8. 
 
 Wtttk, LapUmdert. 
 
 (B. Anuriean r<iftrenee».) 
 
 €o»tl unulo Mfflnls «merlcuu8, JETInn, Quad. 1751, 74. 
 
 linos fk'rtiJhHdsoBis, £r{«f. Qnad. 1736, 963, no. 3. ' • 
 
 'I 
 Si-' 
 
SYNONYMY OF OULO LUSCUH. 
 
 85 
 
 Vrsus InsCHS, L, 8. N. i. nsS, 47, no. 9j 1766, 71, DO. 4 (based on Briston and Edwards).— 
 Erxl. Synt. Anlm. 1777, 167, no. i.—Schrtb. Saug. Hi. 177ei, ^39.—Zimm. Oeogr. OcMh. 
 ii. 1780, 376, no. 169.— Om. 8. X. 1. 1788, 103,uo. 4.—fthav; O. Z. 1. 1800, 469, pi. 103, 
 lower flfc- (kfter Edward*).— rurt. 8. N. 1. 1H06. 64. 
 
 \n\h iTRCri, Fabric. Fn. Qrwnl. 1780, 94, No. 14. 
 
 M«l«li Inwui, Bodd. Elenob. An. i. 1784, 80. 
 
 OhIo Ihicm, /. Sab. Franklin's Jonrn. 1893, 6S0.— J?. Sab. Siippl. Parry's Ut Voy. 1894, 
 p. clxxilv— Ificfc. App. Parry's 9d Voy. 1893, 91)9 — .Bic/i. F. H.A. 1. 1899, il.— Finch. 
 8yn. 1899, 154.— Oodm. Am. N. H. I. 1831. 11^5, pi.—, lower &g.-Roii$, Exp. IKIS. 8.— 
 H. SmUh, Nat. Lib. xt. 1849, 908.— D« Kay, N. Y. Zoi)!. i. 1849, 97, pi. 19, f. i.—Oraj/, 
 List Mamm. Br. Miis. 1843, 68.— Aud. <fi Baeh. Quad. X. A. i. 1840, 903, pi. 96.— 
 Thompi. N. H. Vorninnt, 1853, 30.— Baird. Stansbury's Report, 1859, 311 (Great Salt 
 Lake, Utah) ; M. K. A. 1857, XSl.—Bittingi, Canad. Kat. and Oeol. 1. 1857, 941.— Aom, 
 op. oit. Ti. 1861, 30, 441.— Maxim. Arch. Xaturg. 1861,-! Verz. N.-Aui. SUug. 1869, 35.— 
 Otrr. Cat Bones Br. Mim. 1869, 96 (Includes Imth).— OouM, Am. Kat. I. 1867, 359 — 
 Dall, Ari. Nat. Iv. 1870, 991 (Tnkon).— AU<h, Bull. M. C. Z. 1. 1870, 177 (Massarhu- 
 setts).— ir«rr. IT. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. 1879, 669 ( WyominK).— AU<n, Ball. Essex. Inst, 
 vi. 1874, 54 (Montgomery, Colorado).- iV<;iii«, apud Couti, Birds K. W. 1874, 994, 
 in text (Clear Creek County, Colorado).- Coum <t Tarrow. ZoJil. Expl. W. 100 
 Merld. v. 1875, 61 (Wahsatoh Mountains and localities in Utah). 
 
 Ouio «rcllCUH, var. A., Dettn. Mamm. i. 1890, 174, no. 967.— flaW. Fu. Amer. 1895, 60. 
 
 flulo wolverene, Oriff. An. Kingd. v. 1897, 117, no. 339. 
 
 i'Krnijon. La Bontan, Voy. 1703, BX.—Sarraiin," Mim. Acad. Sci. Paris, 1713, p. 19.— J7u- 
 mare, Diet. d'Hist. Xat. i. 1768, 493.— B-<ncA Canadiani. {Sot of F. Ouvier, Suppl. 
 Buff.) (Also, Carkajou, Karkajoti. Compare Cree Indian names.) 
 
 l^arc^JOU or QueeqUChMCb, Dobbt, Hudson Bay, 1744, 40. 
 
 Quickhatch or Wolf erenc, Edw. Birds, ii. pi. l03.—EUii, Hudson's Bay, i. 1750, 40, pi. 4. 
 {Quickthatch and Qinquihatvh are also found. Compare Cree Indian names.) 
 
 WolTcrene, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 195, no. 4U, pi. 90, f. 9; Hist. Quad. ii. 1781, 8, pi. fl; 
 
 Arct. Zool. i. 1784, 66, no. il.—Heam*, .Tourn. , 313.— Church, Cob. Quad. ii. 1805, 
 
 pi. — . (Also, jyoloerenne, Wolveren, Wolverin, Wulveriufi, Wolveyinj.)—Volveren«, 
 Lest. Man. 1827, 142 (In text). 
 
 Orinte amerlcaBlsrhe nalbfUcha, Hall. KaturK. Thiore, 1757, 518. 
 
 Wolfbeer, Houtt. Katuur. Hist. Dieren, ii. ii'.-Wol/iibar, Milll. Naturs.l. 1773, 985. 
 
 Ours de la baye de Hudson, Brits, op. et toe. eit. 
 
 Okcecoobawgew, Okeecoohawgces, One Indianii. (Obvious derivation uf Quiokhatck, if 
 not also of Carcajou.) • 
 
 Hab. — Arctogaa. In America, tbe whole of the British Proriuces and 
 Alaska, south in the United States to New England and New York, and still 
 further in the Rocky Mountains, to at least 39^. 
 
 Specific chauactkrs. — Sub-plantigrade, thick-set, shaggy, bushy-tailed, 
 with thick legs and low ears ; blackitih, with a light lateral band meeting 
 its fellow over the root of the tail, thus encircling a dark dorsal area .: fore- 
 head light ; 2-3 feet long ; tail-vertebra3 6-9 inches. 
 
 Description of external charactersA 
 
 Tbe form of this aDimal iudicates great strength, without 
 correspondiug activity. The body is heavy and almost clumsy, 
 supported upon thick-set and rather low legs ; the walk is in- 
 completely plantigrade. The back is high-arched, the general 
 
 * Special paper : Histoire d'un animal nomm6 Carcfyou en Am^rique, &o. 
 t Taken from a mounted specimen, from Great Salt Lake, Utah, in tbe 
 National Museum. 
 
 
 • • ♦. 
 
 , . • . • • t 
 
86 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 m 
 
 figure (Iroopiug both before and behind, both tail and head being 
 carried low. The general appearance is strikingly that of a 
 Bear cub, with the addition of a bushy tail, though there is 
 somewhat of the elongation which characterizes the Muatelidw. 
 The head is broad and much rounded on every side, with rather 
 short and pointed muzzle, wide apart eyes, and low ears, 
 alt.getber not very dissimilar from that of Mmtela pennanti. 
 Tho jaws, however, are rather Canine in appearance. The 
 muffle and septum of the nose are naked, the former for about 
 half an inch from the end of the snout. The eyes are remark- 
 ably small. The ears are low, much broader than high, obtusely 
 rounded, well furred on both sides, scarcely overtopping the fur 
 of the parts. The whiskers are few and short ; there are other 
 similar bristles about the head. The pelage, as usual, is of two 
 kinds ; there is a short under-fur, a kind of coarse kinky wool 
 scarcely an inch long, which is mixed with the longer stiflfer 
 and straightish over-hairs, which are about four inches long on 
 the sides, flanks, and hips, giving the animal a shaggy aspect, 
 like a Bear. On the fore parts, and especially the head, how- 
 ever, the coat is much shorter and closer. The tail is clothed 
 with still longer hairs, measuring some six or eight inches, 
 drooping downward and conferring a peculiar shape, as if this 
 member were deficient at the end. The tail-vertebrte are one- 
 fourth, or rather more, of the length of head and body. The 
 legs are very stout and the feet large ; the track of the animal 
 resembles that of a small Bear, b.it it is less completely planti- 
 grade. The palms and soles are densely furry ; but the balls 
 of the digits are naked, and among the hairs may be discerned 
 small naked pads at the bases of the digits, as well as a larger 
 one beneath the carpus, the correspondent to which on the heel 
 is apparently wanting. The fourth front digit is longest; then 
 comes the third, fifth, second, and first, which last is very short. 
 On the hind feet, the third is longest, the fourth little shorter ; 
 then follow the second, fifth, and first. 
 
 In color, the Wolverene is blackish, or deep dusky brown, 
 with a remarkable broad band of chestnut or yellowish-brown, 
 or even fading to a dingy brownish-white, beginning behind 
 the shoulders, running along the sides, and turning up to meet 
 its fellow on the ru jip and base of the tail, circumscribing a 
 dark dorsal area. There is a light-colored grayish area on the 
 front and sides of the head. On the throat, and between the 
 fore legs, there isia pat^h,/)r fi\ie^f> ^re several irregular spots j 
 
DESCRIPTION OF GULO LUSCUS. m 
 
 of light color, as in Mvstcla. The legs, feet, most of the tail, 
 and under parts generally, are quite blackish. The claws are 
 whitish, strong, sharp, much curved, and about an inch long. 
 
 "The color of tl'o fur varies much according to the season 
 and age. The younger animals are invariably darker in the 
 shadings than the old, which exhibit more of the grey mark- 
 ings. ... In some specimens the yellowish fringing of the 
 sides and rump is almost entirely white and of larger extent, 
 leaving but a narrow stripe on the centre of the back dark. In 
 such the hoary markings of the head would be of greater extent, 
 and descend, most probably, to the shoulders." — (Ross, I. c.) 
 
 Meaeurcmiuta of seren specimens of GULO IX'SCUS, 
 
 a 
 
 356 
 1092 
 1093 
 1057 
 16tH 
 
 t 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Port Simpaoii, H. B. T 
 Yakon Kiver, Alaska . 
 
 do 
 
 Peel's River (Dec.) ... 
 
 do 
 
 Mackenzie's River 
 
 Montana, U.S 
 
 From tip of nose Tailto 
 to— end of— 
 
 e 
 
 S I a 
 
 5 ' H 
 
 I 
 
 60 5. 
 10 5. 
 00 5. 
 70 3. 
 75 4. 
 80 C. 
 
 00:6. 
 
 50(). 
 lOJS. 
 15j«. 
 •jl,6. 
 10 S. 
 
 26. 50, 
 31. 00 
 29. 25 
 29. 00 
 27.00 
 34. bO; 
 36.00 
 
 
 — I- 
 
 r.4o 
 
 r.60 
 
 ?.60 
 ).25 
 iOO, 
 
 r». 00' 
 8.90 
 
 ^ 
 
 12.40 
 13.60 
 13.10 
 15. 00 
 13.00 
 
 Lcnctli 
 oi- 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 50 
 5.10 
 
 13.00:4.40 
 14.00! 
 
 7.10 
 (i. 75 
 li. 70 
 6.50 
 
 o g 
 
 a 
 H 
 'A 
 
 2. 00 
 
 Fresh. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 Dry. 
 
 '*Krora Ross. Longest iiairsof body 4.00; of tail 7.50; upper canines 0.90; lower 0.75. 
 t From Baird. 
 
 Anal glands. 
 
 The anal glands of this animal are stated to be of about the size 
 of a walnut; the fluid yellowish-brown and of the consistency 
 of honey. The discharge is by the usual lateral papillse within 
 the verge of the anus. The scent is foetid in a high degree. 
 
 Description of the sliuU and teeth. (See Plate I.) ,. 
 
 The massiveness of the skull of Gitlo, in comparison with that 
 of Mustela, is as striking as its superiority in size. In general 
 form, the prominent peculiarity is the strong convexity of the 
 upper outline in profile. From the highest point, just behind 
 the orbits, the skull ..' ^nes rapidly downward behind; and the 
 frontal declivity is also iu.'';h greater than in Mustela. There 
 
I 
 
 38 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 Ill 
 
 III 
 
 ill 
 
 liiii' iil! 
 
 M 
 
 1:1 J I 
 
 is much more of a troutal concavity, and the plane of the nasal 
 orifice is extremely oblique. These features of the profile rather 
 suggest a Feline than a Musteline skrull, although, of course, the 
 resemblance is still far from complete. There is a strong char- 
 acter in the zygoma : in 2[ustela a simple arch ; here a nearly 
 horizontal beam borne posteriorly upon an upright base, with 
 a strongly convex backwardly projecting elbow. The same 
 straightness requires a prominent process for definition of this 
 part of the orbit. The zygoma is laminar and quite deep, much 
 more so than in Mustela, Viewed from above, the zygomata 
 are widely divergent from before backward. The anteorbital 
 foramen is comparatively small, and appea. over the fore bor- 
 der of the sectorial tooth. Prominent characters are observed 
 in the paroccipital and mastoid, which form great processes of 
 abutment against the bullne, the same being only moderate in 
 Mustela, and merely indicated in the smaller Weasels. The pal- 
 ate is very broad for its length, with straight (not a little con- 
 cave) sides ; measured across its broadest point, it forms very 
 nearly an equilateral triangle with the sides. The posterior 
 emargination is moderate, broadly U-shaped. The bullae audi- 
 torice are only inflated on less than the interior half, the rest 
 being greatly contracted and drawn out into a long tubular 
 meatus (one extreme, of which the other is seen in the slender- 
 bodied species of Gale — compare descriptions). The basi- 
 occipital space is somewhat wedge-shaped, owing to the diverg- 
 ence posteriorly of the bullre. The pterygoids are very stout 
 at base, but soon become laminar, and terminate in long, slen- 
 der, hamular processes. Even in young skulls, the lambdoidal 
 crests are as strong and flaring as in the oldest of Mtistela, and 
 terminate in the very prominent mastoids. The occipital sur- 
 face is considerably excavated beneath these crests; the mediau 
 superior protuberance is great. The condition of the sagittal 
 crest varies, as usual, with age. In the youngest specimens, it 
 is single and median for but a little way, then gradually divar- 
 icates on either hand to the supraorbital process ; in the old- 
 est, the divarication only begins more than half-way forward, 
 a high, thin crest occupying the rest of the median line. The 
 general shape of the brain-box, viewed from above, is, in con- 
 •equence of the breadth and depression of the skall behind, 
 neither the ovate nor the somewhat cylindrical, as obtains in 
 Mustela and Putorius, but rather trapezoidal, somewhat as in 
 Taxidea. The body of the under jaw is shaped exactly as in 
 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OP GULO LUSCUS. 
 
 39 
 
 Mnstela, though it is more massive, but the coronoid is differ- 
 ent. Its back' border rises straight and perpendicularly, the 
 anterior border curving strongly backward to meet it in a 
 rounded obtuse apex. In Muatela, the borders gradually ap- 
 proximate to each other and meet more acutely. M. pennanti 
 alone is much like Otilo in this respect. 
 
 Eeviewing general cranial characters from the small Oale to 
 the large Oulo, we see with increase of mere size a correspond- 
 ing increment of massiveness; a graduation in obliquity of the 
 plane of the end of the muzzle ; a lengthening and constriction 
 (on the whole) of the rostrum ; an increase of the convexity of 
 the upper profile ; a depression of the zygomata from regular 
 arches to a shape higher behind and more nearly horizontal in 
 continuity; enlargement of paroccipitals and mastoids; con- 
 striction and lateral elongation of the buUse into auditory 
 tubes ; and a flattening and widening behind, and correspond- 
 ing contraction in front of, the brain-box. 
 
 The dentition shares the general massiveness of the cranium. 
 Compared with those of Miiatelttj the teeth, if not relatively 
 larger, are more swollen and stouter, with bulging sides, blunt 
 points, and dull edges. The back upper molar is placed so far 
 inward, out of line with the rest, that its outer border scarcely 
 projects outside the inner border of the next. It has the same 
 general character as in Mustela. The median constriction is 
 slight, the inner more strongly regularly convex, with raised 
 brim and crescentic ridge inside this ; the outer is double con- 
 vex (convex with an emargination), higher than the other, with 
 an irregularly tuberculous surface. The antero-internal spur of 
 the last premolar is low and little more than a mere heel, 
 scarcely to be called a cusp. Turgidity aside, this tooth other- 
 wise repeats the same in Mustela. The next premolar abuts 
 against the reentrance between the spur and main body of the 
 last ^ne, rather than lies in continuation of the same axis. The 
 foremost preniolar is relatively smaller and more crowded than 
 the same in Mmtela ; it rests directly against the canine, to 
 the inner side of the general axis of dentition. It woald seem 
 that but little more crowding would cause this tooth to perma- 
 nently abort. The great canines are extremely stout at the 
 base, rather blunt, and have a strong forward obliqaity. Of 
 the six upper incisors, the lateral pair are, as nsaal, maeh 
 larger (wider and deeper, though little, if any, longer) than the 
 rest. They are usually found much abraded by rabbing 
 
40 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 m 
 
 I'll 
 
 m 
 
 In 
 
 a^iiust the under canines. The other incisors are all alike, 
 smaller and evenly set ; all show indication of trilobation, with 
 a large middle and minute lateral lobes, best seen from behind, 
 where, at the point where the teeth flatten toward the tips, 
 ridges divaricate, the termination of these ridges forming the 
 lateral lobes. The inferior incisors are irregularly set, the mid- 
 dle one on each side being crowded back ont of the general 
 plane. The outermost pair are broader than the rest, and seem 
 longer, viewed from the front, since more of the tooth is exposed 
 from the alveolus. The next, partially displaced pair, viewed 
 from the front, seem the smallest of all ; but this is due to their 
 position. Viewed from behind, their size is seen to be much 
 greater than that of the middle pair. All the incisors are 
 obscurely lobate at end. The under canines are shorter, stouter, 
 and more curved than the upper ; most of their surface is stri- 
 ate. The anterior lower premolar, like the same tooth in the 
 upper jaw, is very small, displaced inward, and apposed against 
 the canine. The next premolar is markedly increased in size, 
 and set in the jaw with its longitudinal axis very oblique to the 
 general axis of dentition, as if turned partially around for want 
 of room. The next two premolars are much larger still and 
 massive ; they both show a single central pointed conical cusp, 
 whose sides are bevelled down all around to the rimmed base of 
 the tooth, but there is no indication of the secondary cusp half- 
 way up the back edge of the main cusp, as in Mustela pennanti, 
 martes, americana, and perhaps all of this genus. Similarly, 
 on the great sectorial lower molar, there is no sign of a secondary 
 cusp on the inner face of the main cusp, as is so plainly seen in 
 M. martes, and which also exists in less degree in M. pennanti, 
 americana, and foina. These differences of the two back under 
 premolars and front under molar are, perhaps, the strongest 
 dental peculiarities of Gulo as compared with Mustela. Be- 
 sides this, the two main cusps of the anterior lower premolar 
 are subequal iu size and elevation instead of very unequal, as 
 in Mustela, where the hinder one is much the highest. The 
 posterior tuberculous portion of this tooth is relatively much 
 smaller. As in allied genera, the back lower molar is small, 
 subcircular, tuberculous, not calling for special remark. 
 
 In a large proportion of the skulls which come to hand, the 
 canines and sectorial '^teeth are found cracked, even split en- 
 tirely in two or broken off, apparently a result of the desperate 
 exertions the captured animals made to free themselves from 
 iron traps. 
 
NOMENCLATURE OF GULO LUSCUS. 
 
 a 
 
 I appeud measurements of a very large and another rather 
 small American skull, with those of a specimen from Lapland. 
 
 ileasurements of slculh, European and American. 
 
 Total len^tb from apes of intermaxillary- to occipital protuberance. 
 
 Greatest -width (zygomatic) ". 
 
 Distance between orbits 
 
 K asal bones, length 
 
 Upper incisors from front to hinder margin of palate 
 
 Upper molars and premolars, length taken together 
 
 Lower molars and premolars, length taken together 
 
 Lower jaw, length to back of condyle 
 
 Lower jaw, height of coronoid above condyle 
 
 Greatest width of palate 
 
 Least width of skull 
 
 Intermastoid width 
 
 Interparoccipltal width 
 
 Foramen magnum, width 
 
 AVidth across supraorbital protuberance 
 
 a 
 
 5.50 
 3.35 
 1.40 
 
 3.80 
 L65 
 1.95 
 3.65 
 1.70 
 1.80 
 1.30 
 3.00 
 1.95 
 0.70 
 1.75 
 
 II. la 
 3.55 
 1.45 
 1.00 
 3.85 
 1.65 
 1.95 
 3.70 
 1.65 
 1.80 
 1.35 
 3.20 
 3.05 
 0.75 
 1.75 
 
 
 PS 
 
 ^ 
 
 6.00 
 3.75 
 1.50 
 
 1.00 
 
 a 10 
 
 1.75 
 2.10 
 4.00 
 1.85 
 1.95 
 1.55 
 3.50 
 a. 35 
 0.80 
 1.83 
 
 NOMENCLATURE OF THE SPECIES — RELATION OF THE EURO- 
 PEAN AND AMERICAN ANIMAL. 
 
 This animal has received a great variety of names, both tech- 
 uical^and vernacular. Nearly all barbarous tribes of Northern 
 regions in both hemispheres, as well as civilized nations, have 
 each bestowed some appellation ; and in some cases at least 
 the latter have adopted an aboriginal name, with more or less 
 modification, while in all cases the book-names of the species 
 appear to be derived from the vernacular. Thus, " quickhatch " 
 of the English residents of British America is obviously an 
 Anglicism of the Cree or Knisteneaux word, and I agree with 
 Sir.John Bichardson that carcajou of the French Canadians is 
 probably derived from the same source.. I have no idea what 
 the meaning of the more frequent term wolverene may be ; 
 none of its various spellings furnish a clue, beyond the obvious 
 tco\f^ which is however of wholly uncertain applicability here. 
 Oulo, glutton, glouton, are self-explaining, in allusion to the 
 voracity of the animal ; this is also the meaning of the Swed- 
 ish, Bussian, and German names above quoted. Oulo was 
 adopted by Linnseus as the specific name of the European ani- 
 mal, which he placed in the genus Mustela, This author sepa- 
 rated the American as VrsKS luscus — an absurd name indeed. 
 

 1 '1 
 
 m'Um 
 
 i 
 
 42 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 " Luscus " signifies blind of one eye, mope-eyed ; as is said to 
 have been the unfortunate condition of a specimen imported 
 from Hudson's Bay, some time in possession of Sir Hans 
 Sloane, and described by Edwards, upon whose account Lin- 
 naeus based his Ursus luscus. Linnoeus was frequently capri- 
 cious, and sometimes facetious, in bestowing names; while 
 some of those he gave were wholly inappropriate. Thus the 
 Paradisea apoda ("footless"), the common bird of Paradise, 
 was so called for no other reason than that the skins imported 
 into Europe used to lack the feet, these having been removed 
 in the preparation of the specimens by the natives. This tax- 
 idermal accident not only gave rise to the name, but to the 
 general belief that the bird had no feet, and to various fabu- 
 lous accounts of its habits as a consequence of such condition. 
 It is deplorable that an accidental deformity of one particular 
 individual should be thus perpetuated as the designation of a 
 species ; the more so, as it is the name which, according to 
 strict rules of nomenclature, must prevail. It may, however, 
 be fairly questioned whether it should not be set aside, under 
 the accepted ruling that priority shall not be entitled to prece- 
 dence when the first name involves a palpable error, or is 
 wholly inept, as in the present instance. The specific term 
 gulo being used for the genus, the name borealis would come 
 nest in order, should luscus be ignored on these considerations. 
 The foregoing synonymatic lists show that this species has 
 not escaped subdivisiod into nominal ones, and that varieties 
 have been generally recognized. But the dose similarity of 
 the animals from the two continents did not escape some of 
 the earlier writers, among them even those of slight scientific 
 acquirements or experience. Thus Shaw, in 1800, states of the 
 Wolverene, of which he reproduces Edwards's figure, that " this 
 appears to be no other than a variety " of Ursm gulo. Des- 
 marest allowed varietal distinction from the animal be called 
 6. arcticus. Guvier endorsed the specific validity which earlier 
 writers had generally admitted ; this error Griffith perpetuated, 
 and, calling one Oulo vulgaris^ the other G. wolverene^ introduced 
 at once two new synonyms. At least, if these names did not 
 originate with him, I have not found them in previous works. 
 A certain " Oulo leucurus Hedenborg", quoted by Gray, I have 
 not had an opportunity of verifying. In the foregoing syn- 
 onymy I separate the American from the Old World quota- 
 tions merely for the convenience of reference, and must not be 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 43 
 
 lid to 
 
 )orted 
 Hans 
 
 b Lin- 
 capri- 
 while 
 
 18 the 
 
 radise, 
 
 ported 
 
 moved 
 
 ia tax- 
 
 to the 
 
 8 fabu- 
 
 idition. 
 
 rticular 
 
 on of a 
 
 ding to 
 
 owever, 
 
 J, under 
 
 prece- 
 
 )r, or is 
 
 ftc term 
 
 Id come 
 
 jrations. 
 
 cies has 
 
 jrarleties 
 
 larity of 
 some of 
 
 scientific 
 
 as of the 
 
 lat " this 
 0. Des- 
 )e called 
 ih earlier 
 letaated, 
 trodaced 
 } did not 
 as works. 
 
 ay, I have 
 Ding syn- 
 Id quota- 
 ist not be 
 
 understood as implying that any distinction, varietal or spe- 
 cific, subsists between the Glutton and the Wolverene. 
 
 In comparing numerous American skulls with one from Lap- 
 land, I detect in the former a tendency to less constriction of 
 the cranium behind the postorbital processes. This is an in- 
 teresting correlation with one of the more pronounced differ- 
 ences in the skulls of M. martea and M. americana. But th'S 
 is the only discrepancy I find, and it is not, moreover, uni- 
 formly exhibited to any appreciable degree. The identity of 
 the animals of the two continents is to be considered fairly es- 
 tablished, whatever range of variation in size and color either 
 may present. 
 
 Pallas notes a curious supposed character in urging a criti- 
 cal comparison of the two forms. " Piles Guloni esse trique- 
 tros notavit Baster (Act. Harlemens. vol. xv.) sed hoc an in 
 Americano ? nostra ti pili teretes ", he says, on p. 75 of the 
 " Zoographia ". 
 
 HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE SPECIES. 
 
 The written history of the Glutton or Wolverene dates from 
 an early period in the sixteenth century, when the animal is 
 mentioned with little interval of time by several writers in much 
 the same extravagant terms. The first appearance of the ani- 
 mal in literature is said by von Martens to have been in 1532, 
 at the hands of Michow, a physician of Cracow, in the work De 
 Sarmatia Aaiana et Europaa. Olaus Magnus (1562), to whom 
 is commonly attributed the earliest mention, thongh he thus 
 appears to have been anticipated, gives a most extraordinary 
 account, made up of the then current popular traditions and 
 superstitions, and tales of hunters or travellers, unchecked by 
 any proper scientific enquiry; although, to do him justice, he 
 does not entirely credit them himself. We may be sure that 
 such savory morsels of animal biography did not escape the 
 notice of subsequent compilers, and that they lost nothing of 
 their flavor at the hands of the versatile and vivacious Baffon. 
 Endorsed for two centuries by various writers, each more or 
 less authoritative in his own times, and, moreover, appealing 
 strongly to the popular love of the marvellous, the current fables 
 took strong root and grew apace, flourishing like all " ill weeds", 
 and choking sober accounts. Coming down to ns through such 
 a long line of illastrious godfathers, they were treated with the 
 respect generally accorded to long years, and furnished the 
 
liiiii 
 
 I.' 
 
 I, 
 
 l:' 
 
 'I inn I'' 
 
 ! 
 
 mm 
 
 IHiiii il! 
 
 !!lJ i-vi!:! 
 
 44 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELlDiE. 
 
 Staple of professedly educational text-books. Probably no 
 youth's early conceptions of the Glutton were uncolored with 
 romance ; the general picture impressed upon the susceptible 
 mind of that period being that of a ravenous monster of insa- 
 tiate voracity, matchless strength, and supernatural cunning, a 
 terror to all other beasts, the bloodthirsty master of the forest. 
 We cannot wonder at the quality of the stream, when we turn 
 to the fountain-head of such gross exaggeration. We find it 
 gravely stated that this brute will feast upon the carcase of 
 some large animal until its belly is swollen as tight as a drum, 
 and then get rid of its burden by squeezing itself between two 
 trees, in order that it may return to glut itself anew — an alleged 
 climax of gluttony to which no four-footed beast attains, and 
 for the parallel of which we must refer to some of the most 
 noted gormandizers of the lioman Empire. We have indeed 
 reliable accounts of such gastronomic exploits, but they are 
 not a part of those records which are generally accepted as 
 zoological. In one of the old zoological works of some celeb- 
 rity, there is a very droll picture of a Wolverene squeezing 
 itself between two trees, with a most anxious expression ef 
 countenance, the fore part of the body being pressed thin, while 
 the hinder is still distended, and the large pile of manure already 
 deposited being rapidly augmented wit ^ further supplies. Still 
 in the track of the marvellous, we rea^.! how the Glutton, too 
 clumsy and tardy of foot to overtake large Ruminants, betakes 
 itself to the trees beneath which they may pass, and there 
 crouches in wait for its victim ; it drops like a shot upon the 
 unsuspecting Elk, Moose, Beindeer, and, fastening with claws 
 and teeth, sucks the blood and destroys them as they run. That 
 nothing may be left undone to ensure success, the animal has 
 the wit to throw down moss or lichens to attract its prey, and 
 to employ the friendly services of Foxes to drive the quarry 
 beneath the fatal spot. I allude to these things, not that such 
 gross exaggerations longer require refutation, but because they 
 are a part, and no inconsiderable one, of the history of the 
 species ; and because, as we shall see in the sequel, a perfectly 
 temperate and truthful narration of the creature's actual habits 
 sufficiently attests the possession of really remarkable qualities, 
 which need be but caricatured for transformation into just such 
 fables. We may remember, also, that the history of the Wol- 
 verene is mixed in some cases with that of other animals, some 
 of whose habits have been attributed to it. Thus Charlevoix 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OP THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 45 
 
 (Voy. Amer. i, 201) speaks of the "carcajou or quincajou, a 
 kind of cat", evidently, however, having the Cougar {Felis oon- 
 color) in view, as appears from the rest of his remarks. Such 
 habit of lying in wait for their prey is common to the Cougar, 
 Lynx, and other large Cats. Not to prolong this portion of the 
 subject, I may state briefly, that the animal whose characteris- 
 tics will be fully exposed in the course of this article is simply aa 
 uncommonly large, clumsy, shaggy Marten or Weasel, of great 
 strength, without corresponding agility, highly carnivorous, like 
 the rest of its tribe, and displaying great perseverance and 
 sagacity in procuring food in its northern residence when the 
 supply is limited or precarious, often making long uninterrupted 
 journeys, although so short-legged. It is imperfectly planti- 
 grade, and does not climb trees like most of its allies. It lives 
 in dens or burrows, and does not hibernate. It feeds upon the 
 carcases of large animals which it finds already slain, but does 
 not destroy such creatures itself, its ordinary prey being of a 
 much humbler character. It is a notorious thief; not only of 
 stores of meat and fish laid up by the natives of the countries 
 it inhabits, the baits of their traps, and the animals so caught, 
 but also of articles of no possible service to itself; and avoids 
 with most admirable cunning the various methods devised for 
 its destruction in retaliation. 
 
 All the earlier accounts referred to the animal of Europe and 
 Asia. I have not found the terms " Carcajou " and " Wolverene ", 
 nor any allusion to the American form, until early in the eight- 
 eenth century. La Hontan speaks of it in 1703, likening it to 
 a large fierce Badger ; Lawson has been quoted in this connec- 
 tion, he having attributed to the Lynx some of the fabulous 
 accounts of the Glutton ; but it is evident that his remarks 
 neither apply, nor were intended to apply, to the Wolverene. 
 Catesby speaks of an animal "like a small bear" which exists 
 in the Arctic porto is of America ; this reference is among the 
 earlier ones to the Wolverene, those which confound it with 
 other species being excluded.* We have other definite accounts 
 of the Wolverene, near the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 
 * The Wolverene has been confused not only \rith the Lynx and Coagar 
 in early times, bnt also qaite recently with the American Badger, Taxidea 
 amerkana. Thus F. Cuvier (Suppl.Baffon,i, 1831,267) treats at length of 
 " Le carcajou, ou Blaireaa Amdricain ", his whole article being based upon 
 the Badger, to which he misconceives the name Carcajoa to belong. Paol 
 Gervais also speaks of the " CarJcajou ou Blaireaa d'Am^rique " (Proc. Verb. 
 Soo. Philom. Paris, 1842, 30). 
 
46 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 as those of Klein, Ellis, Dobbs, Edwards, and BrissoD. Ursus 
 lu80U9 of LinnsBUs arose la a way already narrated, and the 
 species may be considered to have been well known from this 
 period, although it was for a long time very generally supposed 
 to be different from the Glutton of Europe and Asia. 
 
 The various American biographies of this animal are without 
 exception more or less incomplete and unsatisfactory; even 
 those which are shorn of obvious exaggeration are, in large 
 part, a compilation of earlier statements. They have, however, 
 steadily improved, the latest, that of Audubon and Bachman, 
 being by far the best, although Sir John Richardson's was an 
 excellent contribution. The account which Pennant gave in 
 1784 ( Arct. Zool. pp. 66-^8) is purged of some of the fables, yet 
 curiously shows how their effects will linger. He scouts the 
 idea of such excessive gluttony as had been attributed, yet 
 relates the moss-throwing story, and represents the Wolverene 
 as " a beast of uncommon fierceness, the terror of the Wolf and 
 Bear ; the former, which will devour any carrion, will not touch 
 the carcase of this animal, which smells more foetid than that 
 of the Pole-cat ". Pennant traces its distribution as far north 
 as Copper Biver, to the countries on the west and south of Hud- 
 son's Bay, Canada, aud tho tract between Lakes Huron and 
 Superior. He gives a fair description, and adds : — '' It hath 
 much the action of a Bear ; not only in the form of its back, 
 and the hanging down of its head, but also in resting on the 
 hind part of the first joint of its legs." " The Kamtschatkans ", 
 he naively continues, " value them so highly as to say, that the 
 heavenly beings wear no other furs." Bichardson gives some 
 interesting particulars, among them none, so far as I am aware, 
 that are not accurate. In a passage he quotes from Graham's 
 MSS., we see a probable basis for the fabulous accounts 
 that the Fox is the Wolverene's provider or abettor in the 
 chase — ^for it is the well-nigh universal rule that fable is founded 
 on facts exaggerated, distorted, or perverted. Alluding to the 
 Wolverene's notorious habit of following Marten roads, Mr. 
 Graham remarks that the animal tears the captured Martens to 
 pieces or buries them at a distance in the snow. '« Drifts of snow 
 often conceal the repositories thus made of the martens from 
 the hunter, in which case they furnish a regale to the hungry 
 fox, whose sagacious nostril guides him unerringly to the spot. 
 Two or three foxes are often seen following the Wolverene for 
 this purpose." Bichardson discredits the accounts which had 
 
 it 
 
 !l 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OP THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 47 
 
 come down from Baffon of the destructiou of Beavers by the 
 Wolverene. *' It must be only in summer, " he says, *' when 
 those industrious animals are at work on land, that it can sur- 
 prise them. An attempt to break open their house in winter, 
 even supposing it possible for the claws of a Wolverene to pene* 
 etrate the thick mud walls when frozen as hard as stone, would 
 only have the effect of driving the beavers into the water to 
 seek- for shelter iu their vaults on the borders of the dam."* 
 
 Hearne gives a much more credible account of the depre- 
 dations of the Wolverene upon another of the valuable fur- 
 bearing animals of the north— the Fox— during the period 
 of reproduction. Being directed by scent to the burrow of 
 the Fox, which its great strength enables it to enlarge if 
 necessary, it enters and destroys the whole family. In evi- 
 dence of its amazing strength, of that sort most effective in 
 pulling, pushing, and prying, the same author mentions that a 
 Wolverene had been known to upset the greater part of a pile 
 of wood nearly seventy yards around, iu order to get at some 
 provisions which had been deposited in this cache. Audubon's 
 article, although entertaining and accurate, is chiefly a com- 
 pilation from previous accounts, as he appears to have met with 
 the animal iu a state of nature but once, the result of which 
 occurrence is his principal coutributioa to the subject. This 
 was in Rensselaer County, near the banks of the Hoosac River. 
 He tracked a Wolverene iu the snow to its den, which was 
 among rocks, and shot it after prying away some heavy frag- 
 ments. '* There was a large nest of dried leaves in the cavern, 
 which had evidently been a place of resort for the Wolverene 
 during the whole winter, as its tracks from every direction led 
 to the spot. It had laid up no winter store, and evidently 
 depended on its nightly excursions for a supply of food. It 
 had however fared well, for it was very fat." 
 
 The fur of the Wolverene is highly valued both by civilized 
 and uncivilized people. A number of skins sewn together 
 makes a very beautiful carriage robe or hearth-rug, and the pelts 
 are in common use for these purposes. The Indians and Esqui- 
 
 * An auonyiqous writer, doabtless Geaeral D. S. Stanley (" D. S. S., Fort 
 Sally, Dakota"; American Naturalist, ii, 1868, p. 215), notes the depredations 
 committed by the Wolverene upon Beaver, in the following terms : — " The 
 wolverene follows the Beaver and preys upon them; in northern latitudes, 
 the wolverene is almost always present where the beaver is abundant. The 
 beaver has a beaten path on the bank of the stream near his lodge. There 
 the wolverene lies iu wait for him, and often cuts short his career." 
 
48 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 manx use the far as they do that of the Wolf, for fringiug their 
 garments, the skin being cut in strips for this purpose. I have 
 already given (p. 2) some statistics of the trade in this kind 
 of pelt, which indicate the comparative standing of the animal 
 among the far-bearing species of this country. The following 
 methods of its capture are taken from Gibson : — * 
 
 <'The wolverine is a dangerous foe to many animals larger 
 than itself, and by the professional hunter it is looked upon as 
 an ugly and dangerous customer. There are several methods 
 of trapping this horrid creature, and in many localities suc- 
 cessful trapping of other animals will be impossible without 
 first ridding the neighborhood of the wolverines. Dead-falls 
 of large size will be found to work successfully, baiting with 
 the body of some small animal, such as a rat or squirrel. A 
 piece of cat, beaver or muskrat flesh is also excellent, and by 
 slightly scenting with castoreum success will be made sure. 
 Several of these traps may be set at intervals, and a trail made 
 by dragging a piece of smoked beaver meat between them. 
 The gun-trap, . . . will also do good service in exterminating 
 this useless and troublesome animal. Steel traps of size No. 3 
 or 4 are commonly used to good purpose. ... In all cases the 
 trap should be covered with leaves, moss or the like, and the 
 bait slightly scented with castoreum. Like all voracious ani- 
 mals, the perpetual greed of the wolverine completely over- 
 balances its caution, and thus renders its capture an easy 
 task.^t 
 
 The Wolverene is an animal of circumpolar distribution in 
 both hemispheres. In North America, it exists in all suitable 
 country north of the United States to the Arctic Goast, and 
 even on some of the islands of the Polar Sea, traces of its 
 presence having been discovered on Melville Island, about 
 latitude 75°. Our notes upon its distribution in this country 
 may relate chiefly to its southern limits. Of an erroneous quo- 
 tation, by which it has been supposed to occur as far south as 
 Carolina, I have already spoken. Its southern limit has been 
 fixed more properly between 42° and 43°; this is probably 
 nearly correct for the eastern portions of the continent, aside 
 from what recession of the species northward may have re- 
 cently occurred, although, as we shall see, the species reaches 
 
 * Complete American Trapper, [etc.] p. 800. New York. 16mo. 1876. 
 
 t A statement at variance with the experience of others, as detailed on a 
 following page, from which it would appear that the wary oreatnre is par- 
 tioolarly diflScnlt to entrap. 
 
HISTOHY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 49 
 
 farther south iu the West. lu Massachusetts, accordiuff to Mr. 
 AUeu, it still lingered a few years since, in that portion where 
 the Canadian, as distinguished from the Alleghanian, fauna is 
 represented. But the Massachusetts reports are all probably 
 traceable to a Hoosac Mountain record some years prior. Dr. 
 Hitchcock and Dr. De Kay both quote Dr. Emmons for this, 
 although the species is not given in the latter's report. In 
 New York, it was rare In the time of Audubon and De Kay : 
 the former notes specimens from Rensselaer (1810) and Jeffersou 
 (1827) Gounties. Dr. Z. Thompson, writing in 1833, states that 
 it was then extremely rare in Vermont, none having been met 
 with to his knowledge for several years. Though occasionally 
 found when the country was new in all parts of the State, it 
 was never very plentiful, and for years had been known only 
 in the most wooded and unsettled parts. I have met with but 
 one record of -its presence in the United States from west of 
 New York to the Bocky Mountains, though it is to be pre- 
 sumed that it inhabits, or has lately done so, the wooded por- 
 tions of our northern frontier. Maximilian speaks {I. c.) of the 
 occurrence of the species on the western border of Canada and 
 near the mouth of the Ked River of the North, and surmises 
 that the species may extend to the Missouri River, especially 
 as he saw a skin, but without Indication of locality, at one of 
 the trading posts. I never saw the Wolverene in Dakota or 
 Montana, where most of the country is altogether too open. 
 Baird, however, speaks of its occasional occurrence in the Black 
 Hills, and registers a specimen from '' northwest of Fort Union''* 
 (probably Montana, toward the base of the Rocky Mountains); 
 and Mr. C. H. Merriam (as recorded I s. c.) procured a speci- 
 men on the Yellowstone River, Wyoming, in August, 1872. 
 In the Rocky Mountains, as was to have been expected, its 
 extension southward has been traced to the farthest known 
 point, between 40° and 39'='. Professor Baird notes a specimen 
 obtained by Captain Stansbury from the Great Salt Lake, Utah, 
 which lies wholly south of 'i2°. This individual is still (1877) pre- 
 served, mounted, in the National Museum. It is probable that 
 its extreme limit is even somewhat farther than this, reaching in 
 the mountains to the borders of Arizona and New Mexico and 
 
 *This locality (Fort Union), frequently mentioned in tlie works of Au- 
 dnbon, Baird, and others, no longer exists as such, being now a heap of rab- 
 bish. It is replaced by Fort Buford, commanding the mouth of the Yellow- 
 stone, at the extreme southwest corner of Dakota, adjoining the southeast 
 corner of Montana. 
 4m 
 
50 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 corresponding latitudes in Galilornia. Of this, I was assured 
 by hunters whose statements i had no reason to doubt, and 
 who were evidently acquainted with the species. But I could 
 not confirm their statements by actual observation, and, for 
 all that is positively known, the Salt Lake record remains the 
 southernmost, excepting that very recently furnished by Mr. 
 Allen (op. cit). He saw the skin of aa individual taken in 
 the vicinity of Montgomery, Colo., near the limit of timber, 
 and the animal was stated to be not uncommon. This locality 
 is somewhat south of 40<^, and the occurrence is strongly 
 corroborative of the accounts I received, as just mentioned. 
 I have myself lately seen a mounted specimen among a collec- 
 tion of animals made by Mrs. M. A. Maxwell, in the vicinity 
 of Boulder, Colo. I have no record fi*om the region west of the 
 main chain of the Bockies in Oregon or Washington Territory, 
 although it is not to be presumed, upon this negative evidence, 
 that the species does not occur there. 
 
 The Wolverene ranges, as we have seen, in greater or less 
 abundance, all over the northern portions of this country. It 
 appears to be particularly numerous in the Mackenzie Biver 
 region, and it fairly infests the whole country bordering the 
 lower portions of this river and the west side of the mountains. 
 From this country, many accounts have reached me, from vari- 
 our ofScers of the Hudson's Bay Company, through the liber- 
 ality of the Smithsonian Institution, which placed in my hands 
 all the matter represented in its archives upon the mammals of 
 the far north. These manuscripts witness the wonderful cun- 
 ning and sagacity of the beast, as well as its ferocity, and repre- 
 sent it to be the greatest enemy with which the hunters and 
 trappers have to contend in the pursuit of fur-bearing animals. 
 Messrs. Kennicott, Macfarlane, Ross, and Lockhart have each 
 recorded their experiences, which together afford the material 
 for a comple' '^ biography. 
 
 The hunter, says Mr. Lockhart, may safely leave an animal 
 he has killed for one night, but never for a second time, with- 
 out placing it in a strong cache of logs. The first night the 
 Wolverene is pretty sure to visit the place, but will touch 
 nothing. The next night he is certain to return, and, if he can 
 possibly get at the meat, he will gorge himself, and then make 
 away with the rest, which he cunningly hides, piece by piece, 
 under the snow, in different directions. At' every cAiOhe he 
 makes he voids his urine or drops his dirt, probably to prevent 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OP THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 51 
 
 assured 
 ibt, and 
 1 1 could 
 and, for 
 ains the 
 I by Mr. 
 taken in 
 [ timber^ 
 ) locality 
 strongly 
 entioned. 
 ; a collec- 
 B vicinity 
 est of the 
 Eerritory, 
 evidence, 
 
 er or less 
 untry. It 
 izie Eiver 
 lering the 
 lountains. 
 from vari- 
 the liber- 
 my hands 
 lammals of 
 lerful oun- 
 and repre- 
 anters and 
 ig animals, 
 have each 
 le material 
 
 an animal 
 
 time, with- 
 
 t night the 
 
 will touch 
 
 d, if he can 
 
 then make 
 )e by piece, 
 y cAohe he 
 
 to prevent 
 
 Foxes, Martens, or other animals from smelling the hidden meat 
 and digging it up. Gd,ches must be made of green wood, and 
 be exceedingly strong, or the animal will certainly break into 
 them. He has been known to gnaw through a log nearly a 
 foot iu diameter, and also to dig a hole several feet deep in 
 frozen ground, to gain access to the coveted supply. Should 
 he succeed in gaining entrance for himself, and yet be unable 
 to displace the logs sufficiently to permit of removal of the 
 meat, the brute will make water and dirt all over it, rendering 
 it wholly unfit to be used; even a dog will then scarcely touch it. 
 
 To the trapper, the Wolverenes are equally annoying. When 
 they have discovered a line of Marten traps, they will never 
 abandon the road, and must be killed before the trapping can 
 be successfully carried on. Beginning at one end, they proceed 
 from trap to trap along the whole line, pulling them success- 
 ively to pieces, and taking out the baits from behind. When 
 they can eat no more, they continue to steal the baits and cache 
 them. If hungry, they may devour two or three of the Martens 
 they find captured, the remainder being carried off and hidden 
 in the snow at a considerable distance. The work of demoli- 
 tion goes on as fast as the traps can be renewed. 
 
 The propensity ic tteal and hide things is one of the strongest 
 traits of the Wolverene. To such an extent is it developed 
 that the animal will often secrete articles of no possible use to 
 itself. Besides the wanton destruction of Marten traps, it will 
 carry off the sticks and hide them at a distance, apparently iu 
 sheer malice. Mr. Boss, in the article above quoted, has given 
 an amusing instance of the extreme of this propensity: — "The 
 desire for accumulating property seems so deeply implanted iu 
 this animal, that like tame ravens, it does not appear to care 
 much what it steals so that it can exercise its favorite propen- 
 sity to commit mischief. An instance occurred within my own 
 knowledge in which a hunter and his family having left their 
 lodge unguarded during their absence, on their return found 
 it completely gntted — the walls were there but nothing else. 
 Blankets, guns, kettles, axes, cans, knives and all the other 
 paraphernalia of a trapper's tent had vanished, and the tracks 
 left by the beast showed who had been the thief. The family 
 set to work, and by carefully following up- all his paths recov- 
 ered, with some trifling exceptions, the whole of the lost prop- 
 erty." 
 
 Though very clumsy animals, the Wolverenes manage to cap- 
 
62 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 i 
 
 tare, at times, such prey as Hares or Grouse, and chey successfully 
 attack disabled Deer. We have already seea how they destroy 
 Foxes in their burrows; and they are usually found in excel- 
 lent condition. They also feed on offal or carrion ; in fact, any- 
 thing that they can catch or steal. Their own flesh is only 
 eatable in the extreme of starvation. They bring forth in bur- 
 rows under ground, probably old Bear washes, and have four 
 or five young at a birth. It is very rarely that they are discov- 
 ered at this period or whilst suckling their young. One rea- 
 son, however, may be that they reproduce late in June and 
 early in July, when the mosquitoes are so numerous that no 
 one who can avoid it goes abroad in the woods. The rutting 
 season is in the latter part of March. The female is ferocious 
 in the defense of her young, and if disturbed at this time will 
 not hesitate to attack a man. Indeed, Indians have been heard 
 to aver that they would sooner encounter a she-bear with her 
 cubs than a Carcajou under the same circumstances. In Octo- 
 ber, when the rivers set fast, the Wolverenes reappear in fam- 
 ilies, the young still following their dam, though now not much 
 her inferior in size. They are full grown when about a year 
 old. In early infancy, the cubs are said to be of a pale cream 
 color. 
 
 lue Wolverene may be captured in wooden traps similar to 
 those used for Martens, but of course made on a much larger 
 scale, as the animal's strength is enormous, even for its size. 
 The traps are sometimes built with two doors. But so great is 
 the cunning and sagacity of the beast, that the contrivance for 
 its destruction must be very perfect. The traps are covered 
 up with pine-brush, and made to resemble a cS^che as much as 
 possible I the Wolverene is then likely to break in and get 
 caught. Tb" bait, ordinarily the conspicuous feature of a trap, 
 must in this instance be concealed, or the animal will either 
 break in from behind, or, failing in this,^will pass on his way. 
 It is sometimes also taken in steel traps, or by means of a set 
 gun ; but both these methods are uncertain, great " medicine " 
 being required to outwit the knowing and suspicious beast. 
 
 The eyesight of the Wolverene is not very bright, but his 
 sense of smell is extremely acute. 
 
 << The winter I passed at Fort Simpson", writes Mr. Look- 
 hart, '* I had a line of Marten and Fox traps, and Lynx snares, 
 e7<- .^Jing as far as Lac de Brochet. Visiting them on one 
 occasion I found a Lynx alive in one of my snares ; and being 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 53 
 
 indisposed to carry it so far home, determined to kill and skin 
 it before it should freeze. But how to c^che the skin till my 
 retaru ? This was a serious question, for Carcajou tracks were 
 numerous. Placing the carcase as a decoy in a clump of willows 
 at one side of the path, I went some distance on the opposite 
 side, dug a hole with my snow-shoe about three feet deep in the 
 snow, packed the skin in the smallest possible compass, and 
 put it in the bottom of the hole, which I filled up again very 
 carefully, packing the snow down hard, anfl then strewing 
 loose snow over the surface till the spot looked as if it had 
 never been disturbed. I also strewed blood and entrails in the 
 path and around the willows. Returning next morning, I found 
 that the carcase was gone, as I expected it would be, but that 
 the place where the skin was cached was apparently undis- 
 turbed. 'Ah I you rascal,' said I, addressing aloud the absent 
 Carcajou, * I have outwitted you for once.' I lighted my pipe, 
 and proceeded leisurely to dig up the skin to place in my muski- 
 moot. I went clear down to the ground, on this side and on 
 that, but no Lynx skin was there. The Carcajou had been 
 before me, and had carried it off along with the carcase ; but 
 he had taken the pains to fill up the hole again and make every- 
 thing as smooth as before ! 
 
 "At Peel's River, on one occasion, a very old Carcajou dis- 
 covered my Marten road, on which I had nearly a hundred and 
 fifty traps. I was in the habit of visiting the line about once 
 a fortnight ; but the beast fell into the way of coming oftener 
 than I did, to my great annoyance and vexation. I determined 
 to put a stop to his thieving and his life together, cost what it 
 might. So I made six strong traps at as many different points, 
 and also set three steel traps. For three weeks I tried my best 
 to catch the beast without success ; and my worst enemy would 
 allow that I am no green hand in these matters. The animal 
 carefully avoided the traps set for his own benefit, and seemed 
 to be taking more delight than ever in demolishing my Marten 
 traps and eating the Martens, scattering the poles in every 
 direction, and cAching what baits or Martens he did not devour 
 on the spot. As we had no poison in those days, I next set a 
 gun on the bank of a little lake. The gun was concealed in 
 some low bushes, but the bait was so placed that the Carciyon 
 must see it on his way up the bank. I blockaded my path to 
 the gun with a small pine tree which completely hid it. On 
 my first visit afterward I found that the beast had gone up to 
 
54 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 the bait and stnelled it, but had left it untouched. He had 
 next palled up the pine tree that blocked the path, and gone 
 around the gun and cut the line which connected the bait with 
 the trigger, just behind the muzzle. Then he had gone back 
 and pulled the bait away, and carried it out on the lake, where 
 he laid down and devoured it at his leisure. There I found my 
 string. I could scarcely believe that all this had been done 
 designedly, for it seemed that faculties fully on a par with human 
 reason would be required for such an exploit, if done intention- 
 ally. I therefore rearranged things, tying the string where it 
 had been bitten. But the result was exactly the same for three 
 successive occasions, as I could plainly see by the footprints ; 
 and what is most singular of all, each time the brute was care- 
 ful to cut the line a little back of where it had been tied before, 
 as if actually reasoning with himself that even the knots 
 might be some new device of mine, and therefore a source of 
 hidden danger he would prudently avoid. I came to the con- 
 clusion that that Carcajou ought to live, as he must be something 
 at least human, if not worse. I gave it up, and abandoned the 
 road for a period. 
 
 »'On another occasion a Carcajou amused himself, much as 
 usual, by tracking my line from one end to the other and de- 
 molishing my traps, ^ fast as I could set them. I put a large 
 steel trap in the middle of a' path that branched ofif among 
 some willows, spreading no bait, but risking the chance that 
 the animal would ' put his foot in it' on his way to break a trap 
 at the end of the path. On my next visit I found that the trap 
 was gone, but I noticed the blood and entrails of a hare that 
 had evidently been caught in the trap and devoured by the 
 Carcajou on the spot. Examining his footprints I was satisfied 
 that he had not been caught, and I took up his trail. Proceed- 
 ing about a mile through the woods I came to a small lake, on 
 thti banks of which I recognized traces of the trap, which the 
 beast had laid down in order to go a few steps to one side to 
 make water on a stump. He had then returned and picked up 
 the trap, which he had carried across the lake, with many a 
 twist and turn on the hard crust of snow to mislead his ex- 
 pected pursuer, and then again entered the woods. I followed 
 for about half a mile farther and then came to a large hole dug 
 in the snow. This place, however, seemed not to have suited 
 him, for there was nothing there. A few yards forther on, 
 however, I found a neatly built mound of snow on which the 
 
HI8T0BY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 
 
 55 
 
 animal had made water and left his dirt ; this I knew was his 
 •cache. Using one of my snowshoes for a spade I dug into the 
 hillock and down to the ground, the snow being about four feet 
 deep ; and there I found my trap, with the toes of a rabbit still 
 in the jaws. Gould it have been the animal's instinctive im- 
 pulse to hide prey that made him carry my trap so far merely 
 for the morsel ot meat still held in it ? Or did his cunning 
 nature prompt him to hide the trap for fear that on some 
 future unlucky occasion he might put his own toes in it and 
 share the rabbit's fate ? " 
 
 This propensity of the Wolverene to carry off traps receives 
 confirmation from other sources. In Captain Cartwright's 
 Journal (ii, 407), a similar instance is recorded in the follow- 
 ing terms : — " lo coming to the foot of Table Hill I crossed 
 the track of a Wolvering with one of Mr. Gallingham's traps 
 on his foot : the foxes had followed his bleeding track. As this 
 beast went through the thick of the woods, under the north 
 side of the hill, where the snow was so deep and light that it 
 was with the greatest difficulty I could follow him even on In- 
 dian rackets, I was quite puzzled to know how he had con- 
 trived to prevent the trap from catching hold of the branches 
 of trees or sinking in the snow. Biit on coming up with him I 
 discovered how he had managed : for after making an attempt 
 to fly at me, he took the trap ifi his mouth and ran upon three 
 legs. These creatures are surprisingly strong in proportion to 
 their size ; this one weighed only twenty-six pounds and the 
 trap eight ; yet including all the turns he had taken he had 
 carried it six miles." 
 
 The ferocity of the Wolverene, no less than its cunning, is 
 illustrated in some of the endless occasions on which it matches 
 its powers against those of its worst enemy. A man bad set a 
 gun for a Carcajou which had been on his usual round of dem- 
 olition of Marten traps. The animal seized tUe bait unwarily, 
 and set off the gun ; but owing to careless or improper setting, 
 the charge missed or only wounded it. The Carcajou rushed 
 upon the weapon, tore it from its fastenings, and chewed the 
 stock to pieces. It is added to the account of this exploit that 
 the beast finished by planting the barrel muzzle downward up- 
 right in the snow ; but this may not be fully credited. The 
 stories that pass current among trappers in the North would 
 alone fill a volume, and they are quite a match for those that 
 -Olaus Magnus set down in his book centuries ago. How much 
 
56 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 wiser are we in our generatioD ? Is there anything new under 
 the sun f But we need not go beyond the strict fact to be 
 impressed with the extraordinary wit of the beast, whom all 
 concur in conceding to be " as cunning as the very devil ", 
 
 With so much for the tricks and the manners of the beast 
 behind our backs, roaming at will in his vast solitudes, what of 
 his actions in the presence of man ? It is said that if one only 
 stands still, even in full view of an approaching Carcajou, he 
 will come within fifty or sixty yards, provided he be to wind- 
 ward, before he takes the alarm. Even then, if he be not 
 warned by sense of smell, he seems in doubt, and will gaze 
 earnestly several times before he finally concludes to take him- 
 self off. On these and similar occasions he has a singular 
 habit — one not shared, so far as I am aware, by any other beast 
 whatever. He sits on his haunches and shades his eyes with 
 one of his fore paws, just as a human being would do in scruti- 
 nizing a dim or distant object. The Carcajou then, in addition 
 to his other and varied accomplishments, is a perfect skeptic — 
 to use this word in its original signification. A skeptic, with 
 the Greeks, was simply one who would shade his eyes to see 
 more clearly. To this day, in sign-language among some of the 
 Korth American Indians, placing the hand to the forehead sig- 
 nifies *' white man " — either in allusion to this habit, or to the 
 shade given the eyes by the straight vizor of the military cap, 
 which the Indians see oftener than they desire. Mr. Lockhart 
 writes that he has twice been eye-witness of this carious habit 
 of the Wolverene. Once, as he was drifting down stream in a 
 small canoe, he came within a short distance of one of the ani- 
 mals on the bank; it stopped on perceiving him, squatted on 
 its haunches, and peered earnestly at the advancing boat, hold- 
 ing one fore paw over its eyes in the manner described. Not 
 seeming to take alarm, it proceeded on a few paces, and then 
 stopped to repeat the performance, when Mr. Lockhart, now 
 sufficiently near, fired and killed the beast. On another occa- 
 sion, when the same gentleman was crossing the Rocky Mount- 
 ains, a Wolverene, which had become alarmed and was making 
 off, stopped frequently and put up his paw in the same manner, 
 in order to see more clearly the nature of that which had dis- 
 turbed him. 
 
 On other occasions, the Wolverene displays more boldness 
 than this in the presence of man. It has been known to seize 
 upon the carcase of a deer, and suffer itself to be shot rather 
 
ITS DISTRIBUTION IN THE OLD WORLD. 
 
 57 
 
 than relinquish possession, though the hunter had approached 
 within twenty yards of his game. When pressed by the pangs 
 of hunger, still bolder exploits are sometimes performed, as in 
 the instance narrated by Capt. J. G. Ross. In the dead of an 
 Arctic winter, his ship's company were surprised by a visit 
 from a Wolverene, which clambered over the snow wall sur- 
 rounding the vessel, and came boldly on deck among the men. 
 Forgetful of its safety in the extremity of its need for food, 
 the animal seized a canister of meat, and suffered himself to 
 be noosed while eating. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES IN THE OLD WORLD. 
 
 This portion of the subject is translated from J. F. Brandt's 
 elaborate article.* 
 
 According to Georgi {I. s. c. [i. e. Geogr. Phys. Beschr. 1786] 
 p. 1547), the Glutton is found in the temperate, and particu- 
 larly in the cold regions of Eussia and Siberia ; that is to say, 
 from Lithuania and Gurland, where, however, it is rare, to 
 Finland, Kola, Archangel, Wologda, Perm; and in Siberia, 
 from the mountains which bound this country (the Altalt, the 
 Sajan, and Danrian Alps, the Stannovoi, &c.), to the Arctic 
 Tandras. Brincken (Mem. sur la For^t de Bidlowicza, p. 45) 
 speaks of Gluttons in the forest of Bidlowicza. Eichwald, 
 however, two years later (1830), states that formerly they were 
 only found in some few forests of Podolia and Pinsk (Skizze, 
 p. 237). In 1791, Fischer says (Naturgesch. von Livland, 
 Livonia, 2d edition, p. 141) that the Glutton was already rare 
 in Livonia, though still common in Russia, Poland, Lithuania, 
 and Lapland, as well as in Gurland; though in Derschau 
 and von Keyserling's description of the Province of Gur- 
 land, published as early as 1805, the Glutton is not mentioned 
 among the animals of Gurland, and it is likewise wanting in 
 Lichtenstein's Gatalogue of the Mammals of Gurland, 
 published in 1829 (Bull. Nat. Hist. Moscon). Kessler only 
 mentions the Glutton incidentally, stating that there were 
 reports of its casual appearance, and that a specimen was 
 once captured, though giving no particulars. According 
 to Rczaczynski (Auctuar. Hist. Nat. p. 311), two Glut- 
 tons were killed in Podolia at the beginning of the last 
 century. It is, therefore, unquestionable thai the Glutton 
 
 * Bemerknngeu Uber die Wirbelthiere des Qordlichen enropaiscben Rnss- 
 lauds, besonders dea nordlicben Ural's. Ein Beitrag zar naheren zoolo- 
 gisch-geograpbiscboD Kenntniss Nordost-Europa'a. 
 
58 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 was occasionally fouud iu Gurland, LitkuaDia, and Fodolia 
 during the last century, but that it no longer extends so far 
 westward and southward, so that we may rely, concern- 
 ing its appearance in Bussia, upon the statement of Pallas 
 (Zoiig. B.-A. i. p. 74) that the animal was seldom found in 
 European Bussia, except in the northerly forests, though com- 
 mon in Siberia. In East Siberia, Sarytschew (Beise, i. p. 77) 
 discovered it on the middle portions of the Indigirka. Wran - 
 gel (Beise, ii. pp. 274, 238) indicates the occurrence of the Glut- 
 ton in Werchojansk and the country of the Tschukts. G e b 1 e r 
 (Uebersicht d. Katuuischen Geb. p. 84) calls Gulo borealis 
 a solitary inhabitant of the Altai forests, and we once received 
 from him a specimen from the Altai region. According to vo n 
 Middendorff, the Glutton is also found on the Boganida 
 Biver, whence it makes excursions to the Tundra, to plunder 
 the traps set for the Yulpeslagopus. It was lately observed 
 by Wosnessenski in Kamtschatka, where it was more nu- 
 merous in northern than iu southern portions. There, particu- 
 larly in the Anadyr regions, it is said to inhabit the Tundras 
 
 rather than the forests Georgi (7. o.) designates the 
 
 Ural in general, Lehman n (Brandt in Lehmaun's Beise 
 Zoolog. Append, p. 301) and Eversmanu, probably more 
 rightly, only the middle and northerly Ural as its habitat. 
 According to Hoffmann's verbal communications, the ani- 
 mal is to be found in the northerly IJral, at least as far as 
 forests exist, as before indicated by Georgi, and seems to be 
 not rare there, for a skin costs but three silver roubles, and the 
 Samojeds are in the habit of trimming their garments with the 
 fur. Ermann (Beise, i. 1, p. 562) states that the Glutton 
 occurs on the Obi Biver. Schrenck (Beise, i. pp. 10, 66, 97) 
 reports that it is found in the forests of the District of Mesen, 
 particularly on the Pinega Biver, and sometimes on Onega 
 Lake. The government of Wologda annually delivers 300 to 
 500 Glutton skins (von Baer and Helmersen, Beitrage, vii. 
 p. 251). I do not recall, after more than twenty years' experi- 
 ence in the government of St. Petersburg, a single instance of a 
 Glutton's having been captured there. Wallenius (Fauna 
 Fenn. p. 11, and Forteckning iifver Sallsk. Samlingar, p. 7) cites 
 the Glutton as inhabiting the Finnish provinces of Tawastland 
 and Osterbotten. We may safely fix its present distribution in 
 the Bnssian possessions from Finland and Bussian Lapland (?) 
 to Kamtschatka, and from the middle Ural and Altai to the 
 northerly Tundra. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MUSTELINE— Continued : The Martens. 
 
 The genus Muaiela — Generic characters, &c.— Analysis of North Amerioan 
 species — Mmtela pennanti, the Pekan or Pennant's Marten — Synonymy — 
 Habitat — Specific characters— Description of external characters — Diuien- 
 sions— Sknll and vertebrte— General history, habits, and geographical dis- 
 tribution — Interpolated matter relating to e::otic species of Miutela — M. 
 martes — Synonymy — Description of its skull and teeth — M. foina — Syn- 
 onymy — ^Notes on its characters — M. zihelUiia — Synonymy — Measurements 
 of skulls of the three species— Comparative diagnoses of M. martea, 
 americana, ani foina — Mxstela americaHa, the American Sable or Marten — 
 Synonymy — Description and discussion of the species — Table of measure- 
 ments — Geographical variation in the skull — General history and habits 
 of the species. 
 
 IN this chapter are treated the genus Mustela and the two 
 species by which it is represented in North America. Sev- 
 eral closely allied species of the Old World are also introduced, 
 as seemed to be required for the adequate discussion of their 
 intimate relationships. 
 
 The Genus MUSTELA. (Linn., 1758, emend.) 
 
 
 
 < MllstelSt Linn. Syst. Nat. i. lOtb ed. 1738, and of many authors. 
 
 < Tiverra, Shaw, 6en. Zool. i. 1800; not of antliors. 
 <6h10, H. Smith, (fide Gray); not of Storr. 
 =1inTttii, Authors, attet Bay. 
 
 >.PelC»lli«, J. K Oray, Profl. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865, 107. (type M. pennanti.) 
 
 > FolBSt J. E. Oray, Proo. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865, 107. (Type if. martet var. fagorum.) 
 
 > OharronlSt /. E. Oray, Proc. ZooL Soc. 1865, 108. (Type M. Jlavigxiia Bodd.) 
 
 1-1 > P™'4_4> 
 
 1-1 
 
 a-2 ~- 
 
 Generic cbahb.— Dental formula : i. ^^3 ; c. {-^rt 5 P™- Jtrf ; n> 
 j^ = 38 (as in Oulo ; one more premolar,* above and below, on each side, 
 than in Puioriiia). Sectorial tooth of lower jaw usually with an internal 
 cusp. Anteorbital foramen presenting vertically or somewhat downward as 
 well as forward (as in Putorim ; reverse of Crulo) ; canal-like, opening over 
 interspace between last and penultimate premolars (as in Gulo ; the open- 
 ing is over the last premolar in P\dor\\i9). Skull much constricted at the 
 middle, the rostral portion relatively longer, more tapering than in Oulo or 
 
 *' As a not infrequent anomaly, the small anterior premolar which consti- 
 tutes the Increment in the dental formula as compared with that of PvLtorim 
 fails to develop. Thns it is wanting on the right side above in a skull, No. 
 7159, from Fort Good Hope, though present on the left side and on both sides 
 below. Similarly, an incisor occasionally aborts. 
 
 59 
 
60 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 
 Ptttoriua, and mach more obliquely truncated than in Putoriuf, less so thaa 
 in Gulo ; frontal profile more or less concave. Nasal bones narrower in the 
 middle than at either end. General upper outline of sknll moderately 
 arched. Production of mastoids and auditory bullie and general prominence 
 of periotio region intermediate between Gulo and Putoriut. Zygomatic arch 
 high behind (usaally higher than in front) ; nowhere vertical, nor developing 
 a posterior convexity. Depth of emarginatiou of palate greater than dis* 
 tance thence to the molarH. Skull as a whole less massive than in either 
 Oulo or PutoriM. 
 
 Vertebral formula. — According to Gerrard, the vertebrie of M. maries, type 
 of the genus, is c. 7, d. 16, 1. 6, s. :i, cd. 18 or 19 ; other species of the genus 
 differ in the number of caudals. 
 
 Size medium and large for this subfamily. Form moderately stout ; claws 
 strong, curved, acute. Tail longer than the bead, bushy, cylindrical or taper- 
 ing. Soles densely furry, with naked pads. Pelage long and soft, but not 
 shaggy ; whole-colored, or nearly so, never whitening in winter. Progression 
 digitigrade. Habits highly arboreal as well as terrestrial ; not aquatic. 
 
 This genus forms the liuk between Oulo and PutoriuSj as will 
 be evident upon comparison of the diagnoses of the three. The 
 skull, however, is lighter than io either of the two other genera 
 of Mmtelinee^ with more produced and tapering rostrum ; in 
 height, relative to length or breadth, it is intermediate. The 
 species have a somewhat Fox-like or Catlike superficial aspect, 
 rather than that appearance we usually associate with the name 
 of " WeaseF, being much stouter-bodied, more copiously haired, 
 and busiiier-tailed ; one species, indeed, is commonly called 
 black " fox " or black " cat ". They appear to be more decid- 
 edly arboreal than the Weasels, spending much of their time in 
 trees, and are not aquatic, like several of the Weasels proper. 
 They are agile and graceful in their movements ; and, if not really 
 more active than the Weasels, their actions seem to possess 
 a quality of lightness and elasticity di£ferent from the writhing 
 and insinuative motions of the very slender-bodied, short-legged 
 Weasels. Although strictly carnivorous, predacious, and de- 
 structive to many kinds of small Mammals and Birds, they, 
 appear less ferocious and bloodthirsty than the Weasels, whose 
 sanguinary impulses seem insatiable ; and at times they exhibit 
 a playful and comparatively amiable disposition. 
 
 The name of the genus is the Latin mustela or mustellaj a 
 kind of Weasel ; the word being apparently derived from, or 
 related to, the more general term mus.* Its adjectival deriva- 
 
 * This seems to have included, besides Mice, various kinds of small de- 
 atmotive animals, such as now might be collectively referred to as " vermin". 
 Thus, mu$ pontieue is supposed to have probably been an Ermine. The word 
 may be simply a long form of mus, like maxilla or axilla from mala and ala. 
 
THE OENUH MUSTELA. 
 
 61 
 
 tive, mii8telinu8, refers primarily to geueral Weasel-like quali- 
 ties ; secondarily, to the peculiar tawny color of most species 
 of Weasels in summer, and is transferable to other animals, 
 just as "foxy*^ signifies the peculinr red of the Oommon Fox. 
 For an example, familiar to ornithologists, the "tawny" thrush 
 of Wilson, Turdiia " muatelintis ", may be cited. 
 
 This genus comprises the Martens and Sables, of which there 
 are several species, inhabiting the northern portions of both 
 Old and New Worlds, and particularly abundant in the higher 
 latitudes. Aside from the very distinct Fisher, or Pekan, Mua- 
 tela pennantif peculiar to North America, the species are so 
 closely related that some authors have contended for their 
 identity. There appear, however, to be good grounds upon 
 which at least three if not four species may be established ; 
 one confined to America, the rest belonging to the Old World. 
 The high commercial value of the pelts of these animals, and 
 their corresponding economic importance, has sharpened the 
 eyes of those pecuniarily interested to such degree that nu- 
 merous kinds of "sable" and "marten" are recognized by the 
 furriers; and the caprices of imperious fashion set a wholly 
 fictitious value upon slight shades of color or other variable 
 conditions of pelage, which have no zoological significance 
 whatever. The Sable par excellence is the Russian and Asiatic 
 animal, Muatela zibellina, a variety of the common European 
 Marten, M. martes, or a closely allied species; but, as all Sables 
 are Martens, it is perfectly proper to speak of our species, M. 
 nmericanttf as the American Sable or Marten. Some of its for- 
 taitous conditions of pelage — the darker shades — represent the 
 " sable " of furriers, while in the ordinary coloration it may be 
 called by another name. The meanings of the various terms 
 employed to designate animals of this genus are more fully 
 discussed elsewhere, under beads of the several species. 
 
 The two North American species of Mustela may be readily 
 distinguished by the following characters : — 
 
 Analysis of the North American species of Mustela. 
 
 Larger : length two feet or more ; tail a foot or more, the rertebree about half 
 the length of head and body, tapering from base to point. Ears low, wide, 
 Bemicironlar. Blackish ; lighter on fore upper parts and head ; darkest 
 below ; no light throat-patch M. pennanH. 
 
 Smaller : length nnder two feet ; tail less than a foot long, the vertebrse less 
 than half the length of the body, uniformly bushy. Ears high, sabtrian- 
 gular. Brown, &c.; not darker below than above ; usually a large yellow- 
 ish or tawny throat-patch M. anurieana. 
 
62 
 
 NOBTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.f:. 
 
 The Pekan, or Peniinnt*fi Marten. 
 
 nvBtela pcnnantl. 
 
 ;Platb II. 
 
 Mmtela peBMBlll, Era. Syst. An. 1777, 470, oo. lO (baHeil on the FUher of Pmnant: for 
 diMnMion of nam*, In question of priority over eanadenii* Scbrebor, of. Bd. op. it^frik 
 nt. p. ISl).— Zimm. Oeogr. Oesch. 11. 1760, 310, no. 906.— J. 8ah. Frank. Joam. 1883, 
 09l.-Gfri/. CaT. R. A. ▼. 18S7, lOS, no. 354.-I>M«. Man. 1837, ISO, no. 405— IVieA. Syn. 
 Mam. 1889, 817.— Oodm. Am. N. H. 1. 1931, 303.— Bd. M. N. A. 18S7, )49, pi. 36, f. 1.— 
 y«wb. P. R. R. Rep. tI. mil, 4l.-Ooop. <« SueU. N. H. W. T. 18W, 9i, 114.— Aow, 
 ' Canid. Nat. ▼!. 1861, U.—OUpin, Tr. Not. Soot. Iniit. 11. 1870, 9, M.—AU. Ball. M. C. 
 Z. 1. 1869, 161 <MaM.)i Ball. Est. Inst. t1. 1874, S4 (Colorado).— AmM, Ball. Minn. 
 Acad. Nat. Sol. 1874, 69. 
 
 Manes pcbbmUI, Oray, P. Z. S. 1863, 107; Cat. Camlv. Br. Mas. 1869, es. 
 
 MaatclB CBBBdtBtIt, Sehrth. Sttag. Hi. 1778, 493, pi. 134 (baaed on the Pehm of Bnffon; 
 not M. eanadeniii of Erxl., wbioh is Putoriut viion).—Zimm. Geog. Gaaob. IL 1780, 309, 
 no. 807.— Bodd. Elencb. An. 1. 1784, 86.-Om. S. N. i. 1788, ii.—Turt. S. N. 1. 1806, 59 
 (not aamo name on p. 57, wbich la tbe American Otter).— fuAi, Beltr. 1880, 74.— Dmai. 
 Mamm. 1. 1880, 183, no. 384 ; Ency. M«th. pi. 80, f. 4 ; Kout. Diet xlx, 379.— ffaW. Fn. 
 Amer. 1835, W.—Lut. Man. 1837, 149.-ar</. Cav. R. A. ▼. 1837, 184, no. 393.-JV«eA. 
 8yn. 1839, 816.-J»«k. F. B. A. i. 18S9, 58, no. IH—Rieh. Zodl. Voy. Blosaom, 1639, 10*.— 
 Fr. Ouv. Diet Sol. Nat. six. 856.- Afartin, P. Z. S. 1833, 97 (anat.).— £miNOM, Sep. Qnad> 
 Mass. 1840, 3B.—Wagn. Sappl. Sobreb. 11. 1841, 9313.— D* Kay, N. T. Zo8t. 1. 1848, 31, 
 pi. 13, f. 1 (akolD.-Aud. <t Baeh. Q. N. A. 1. 1849, 307, pi. Al.—DeEay, Fifth Ann. 
 Rep. Reg. Univ. N. T. 1863, 33, pi. (orig. HfH—Thompt. N. H. Vermont, 1853, 33.— 
 Kenn. Trans. HI. Bute Agric. Soo. 1853-4, 578 (Illinois,)- Zn««i. Proo. Boat. Soo. 
 vl. 1858, 418.-6i<be{, Odontog. 36, pi. 19, f. 1 ; Sttag. 1855, Tn.-Alawim. Arch. Natarg. 
 1861, 839.— £ 'Uingt, Canad. Geol. and Nat. 11. 1837, 116.— Kn<«{and, Proo. Boat Soo. vl. 
 1859, 418 (skeleton).— JETal?, Canad. Nat. t). 18G1, 999.— Maxim. Vera. N. A. SKng. 
 1868, 43. 
 
 MastelB CBBBdeBsH var. Bibs, Rich. op. eit. 54 ("White Pekan"; albinism). 
 
 HBttelB (MBrt«8) CBBBdcBSls. Schim, Syn. Ma.i!ffl. 1. 1844, 334. 
 
 MartM CBBBieBSlSi Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mas. 1843, 63.— Oerrard, Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 
 leca, 91. 
 
 TlverrB CBBMCBttS, Shaw, (3en. Zool. i. 1600, 499. 
 
 MBatelB ■clBBOrkyBChB, Bodd. Elenob. An. 1784, 88, no. 13 (based on FUher of Pennant) — 
 
 Zimm. in Peon. Arkt. Zotfl. 1787, 83. 
 Tlvern ylacBtor, Shaw, Gen. Zoiil. l. ISOO, 414 (based on FUher of Pennant). 
 HBttelB BlCTBt Turt. ed. L. S. N. 1. 1806, 60 (= FUher Weaul of Pennant). 
 MBStelB KOiflUBl, FUeh. Syn. Mamm. 1839, 817.— £«m. Mamm. 1848, 150. 
 MBltelB plUBtoriB, Lees. Man. 1837, ISO, na 403 ((jaotes pennanti Erxl. with query). 
 "6«lo CBUilBeBa e( flerrBKlBens, H. Smith."— {J. E. Gray.) 
 PekBB, OhMim. Noav. France, Hi. 1744, 134.— Bu/. Hist. Nat. xlil, 1765, 304, pi. 48 (biMls of 
 
 jr. eafMientU Sohreb.).— Bomm, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ill. 1768, 401.— P«i»no, Seataglia, 
 
 An. ()aad. Iv. 1775, pi. 155, f. 1 (ex Baffon).— Fctan, Pcnn. Syn. Qaad. 1771, 834, no. 
 
 159 ; Hist. Qnad. 1781, no. 304 ; Arot. Zool. 1. 1784, 78, no. 88 (apparently tame as the 
 
 inimal of Briason and Baffon).— P«hin ot French Canadian. ("Peean " is also foond.) 
 PekSB-BIBNer, Maxim, l. e. 
 FiBker, Petm. Syn. Qaad. 1771, 83.1, no. 157; Hist. Qaad. 1781, 328, no. 903; Arot. Zool. 1. 
 
 1784, 88, no. 31 (basis of M. ptnnantii, Erxl.).— Fisher, American, Vulgo, 
 Marte*pMieBr, Deem. op. eit. 184. 
 PeBBBBt'e MBPtCBt Oodm. op. etloe.eU. 
 Uttadi, Heame, Joom. — , 378. ( Alao written Weejaek.) 
 9(«kaiek, OreeIndiane(Xkhards(m)=:Ot»chilik, Ojibwaye {Maxim.) =\F^ack, Fur Tradere^ 
 
 Woodehoek, Angliei. 
 TUUckAf CUppevaymnt iSoee). * 
 
 • MMk Pbx, Black CM, Yvfgo. 
 
 Hab. — ^North America, approximately between 35° and 65°, in wooded 
 portions of tbe conntry. 
 
DESCBIPTION OF MUSTELA PENNANTI. 
 
 6S 
 
 Specific CRARACTERH.— Black or blackish, lif^btening by mixture of brown 
 or gray on the apper fore part anr* head; no conspiouoas light tbroat- 
 patoh; generally darker below tb; a above; very large and stoat; length 
 tj or 3 feet ; tuil over a foot long. 
 
 Deioription of external characters.* 
 
 Form. — With its large size, this animal combines a stout- 
 ness of form not seen in other species of the genus. The 
 general aspect is rather that of a Fox than of a Weasel, but, in 
 place of the acute muzzle and pointed ears of the former, we 
 have a fuller face, somewhat canine in physiogno' y.t The 
 muzzle is thick and short ; the prominent nasal pad has the 
 ordinary T-shape, and is definitely naked; it is black. The 
 whiskers are stiff, scant, and short, hardly reaching to the ears ; 
 there are other stoutish bristles over the eye, at the corner of 
 the mouth, on the cheeks and chin ; they are all black. The 
 eye is rather large and full for this group. The ears are low,, 
 but remarkably broad, being about twice as wide at base as 
 high ; they are rounded in contour, and well furred, both sides, 
 to the entrance of the meatus. The feet are broad and flat, 
 furred both sides, and qrmed with very stout, compressed, 
 much curved, acute claws, not hidden by the bristles at their 
 base; they are light-colored. On the palm may usually be 
 seen the following pads (though they are sometimes hidden by 
 the overgrowing fur ): one at the end of each digit ; a V-shaped 
 area of four nearly coalesced pads, indicated by mere sulci be- 
 tween them, situated opposite the first digit, and indicating the 
 bases of, respectively, the first, the second, the third and fourth 
 combined, and the fifth digit. There is a tenth pad, isolated 
 from the rest, far back, on the wrist, near the outer border. 
 On the hind feet, the arrangement of the naked bulbs is essen- 
 tially the same, excepting that the hindermost (tenth) one is 
 wanting. The tail-vertebrse are about half as long as the head 
 
 *From varions specimens in the Smithsonian Institation. 
 
 t" The physiognomy of the Pckan is very different from that of the Marten. 
 When the latter is threatened, its features resemble those of an enraged oat, 
 but the expression of the ^ekan's countenance approaches to that of a dog, 
 though the apparent obliquity of its eyes gives it a sinister look. The head 
 has a strong, roundish, compact appearance, and contracts suddenly to form 
 the nose, which terminates rather acutely. The ears, low and semioiroular, 
 are far apart, so as to leave a broad and slightly rounded forehead. They 
 are smaller in proportion than the ears of the Pine-martin. The eyes, situ- 
 ated where the head curves in to form the nose, appear more oblique than- 
 they really are."— (Richardson, I. c.) 
 
64 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 Ill I 
 
 Vji 
 
 
 IL.I.t.||. 
 
 and body. The tail is cyliudric-conic, rapidly ta)>eriQg to a 
 sharp point from the enlarged and bushy base. The general 
 pelage is much coitrser than that of the true Martens, and 
 ^ooser, if not longer; it consists of the usual undt'r fur, with 
 long, glossy, bristly hairs intermixed. The pelago is very short 
 on the head. 
 
 Color. — Color is very variable, accordiug to age, season, or 
 other fortuitous oircumstances ; in general, how«iver, a particu- 
 lar pattern, if not also tone, is preserved. The animal is darker 
 below than above, at least on parts of the belly, contrary to the 
 usual rule in this group. The belly, legs, and tail, in most ma- 
 ture examples, are black or blackish-brown, and the hinder 
 part of the body above is much the same. On the rest of the 
 upper parts, however, there is a progressive lightening toward 
 the head, from increasing admixture of light brown and gray 
 shade, which colors, occupying but little, if any, of the length 
 of the hairs on the dark parts of the body, on the lighter parts 
 so increase in extent that they give the prevailing tone, over- 
 I)owering both the smoky-brown bases and the blackish tips of 
 the hairs. The ear has usually a light bordering. On the 
 under parts, even of the blackest individuals, are usually found 
 irregular white (not tawny or buffy) blotches on the chest, in 
 the arm-pits, and on the lower belly between the thighs. The 
 throat may also show a few white hairs, though I have never 
 observed anything like the conspicuous light gular area com- 
 monly displayed by the Marten. 
 
 Smaller specimens before me lack much of the general black- 
 ishness above indicated ; still the feet, tail, and at least a me- 
 dian abdominal area are darker than the upper parts in general, 
 though the darkness is rather brown than black. The light 
 upper parts are pale ( " oary gray, overlaid with the blackish 
 tips of the hairs. Both llichardson and Audubon note near' 
 white specimens. 
 
 Dimensions. — Of the full-grown animal, about 30 inches from 
 nose to root of tail (many specimens are only about 2 feet long, 
 while others a third larger than this are noted). Tail-vertebne 
 about 14 inches (12 to 16), the terminal hairs 2 to 4 inches 
 longer. Nose to eye 2 inches ; to occiput, over curve of bead, 
 ()^ ; ear 1 inch high, about twice as broad ; distance between 
 tips of ears'? inches ; hind foot 4^ ; fore leg, from elbow,* 6 or 
 7 inches ; hind leg, from hip, nearly 12. Individuals are said 
 to range in weight from 8^ to 18 pounds. 
 
SKULL AND VERTEfiR.E OF M. PENNANTL 
 
 65 
 
 Skull and vertebra.'. 
 
 Cranium. — The skull of this species is instantly distinguished 
 from that of M. martes by its obviously superior size. The larg- 
 est ot bix examples before me measures 4.40 in extrnme length 
 by 2.40 in greatest zygomatic width. The under jr. «r is 3.00 in 
 length. There are other points. The zygomatic arch is nota- 
 bly lower. The skull is more contracted behind the orbits. 
 The lambdoidal (occipiUl) crest is stronger and more flaring; 
 its termination as a broad flange back of the meatus audito 
 rius is conspicuous when the skull is viewed fk'om above, 
 whereas in the skull of M. martesj held in the same position, 
 the terminations of this crest are almost hidden by the bulge 
 of the brain-box. The bony palate is more narrowly and deeply 
 emarginate behind. The bullie anditoriiB are relatively smaller 
 and flatter; the meatus is absolutely smaller. Some other 
 minor points might be established. I observe no noteworthy 
 dental peculiarities, aside from superior size of the teeth. 
 This skull exceeds in length the large fossil one mentioned by 
 Prof. Baird from the Bone Cave of Pennsylvania, which is 
 little over 4 inches long. Several New York skulls are less 
 than 4 inches in length by little over 2 in greatest breadth. 
 One skull, of a very old animal, in which the sutures are all 
 obliterated, is remarkably massive, and broad for its length, 
 measuring only just 4 inches long by full 2.40 in breadth. 
 This series of skulls, like others in this group, shows that the 
 (character of the sagittal crest, or elevation, is wholly transi- 
 tory ; in old specimens, the crest is a thin laminar ridge, while 
 in others there is a median longitudinal elevation half an inch 
 or more in width. The lambdoidal crest is subject to the same 
 luodiflcations. The constriction of the skull back of the supra- 
 orbital processes also increases with age. 
 
 Vcrtebrfp :—c. 7, d. 14, 1. 6, s. 3, cd. 20 or 21 (Oerrard). Knee- 
 laud {he. suprii cit.) gives the caudals u. 20; the rest of his 
 formula agrees with Gerrard^s. Of the 14 ribs, he gives 10 as 
 apparently " true " (sternal). 
 
 The Pekan is much the largest of the genus, and indeed of 
 the whole Weasel kind (subfamily Muntelhuv), excepting only 
 the Wolverene and (Irison. In size, as In some other points of 
 form, vigor, and ferocity, it approaches the Wolverene, and is 
 obviously the connecting link between Muatela and Oulo. It 
 has no immediate representative in the Old World. 
 5 M 
 
66 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^G. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY, HABITS, AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBU- 
 TION OF THE SPECIES. 
 
 As this species is confined to North' America, and as it pre- 
 sents marked zoological characters, its written history is less 
 extensive and less involved than that of animals which have 
 a circumpoiar distribution in both the Old and New World. 
 In tracing up this matter, we go back to the works of Bn£fon, 
 Brisson, and Pennant, all of whom appear to have described 
 the animal from the same specimen — one in the cabinet of M. 
 Aubry at Paris. It is the Pekan of Bnffon, 1765, and the 
 Fisher of Pennant, Syn. Qaad. 1771. Pennant's account of 
 his Fisher is unmistakable ; but he describes, in addition, the 
 Pekan of Bnffon, not recognizing in it the same species. These 
 two accounts furnished for many years the bases of all the sci- 
 entific binomial names imposed by various authors. The Mus- 
 tela canadensis of Schreber, 1777, is the Pekan of Bnffon ; the 
 M. pennantii of Erxleben, 1777, and M. melanorhyncha of Bod- 
 daert, 1784, are the Fisher of Pennant. This is perfectly plain ; 
 but a question of priority arises between the names pennantii 
 Erxl. and canadensis Schreb., owing to some uncertainty of 
 actual date of publication of the works of Erxleben and 
 Schreber, since the supposed earlier author quotes the other in 
 various places. Judging, however, by the printed dates of 
 publication, as the proper means of arbitration, pennantii of 
 Erxlelta takes precedence. The question is, aowever, further 
 complicated by the fact that Erxleben has also a Mustela cana- 
 densis (p. 455), which Included both the Vison and Pekan of 
 Buffon — the Mink and the Fisher; and many authors have 
 adopted the name for the latter. But, as Prof. Baird has 
 clearly shown, Erxleben's description of M. canadensis applies 
 solely to the Mink, and, indeed, will take precedence over M. 
 visony if Brisson be not quotable as an authority in binominal 
 nomenclature. As a summary of the subject, therefore, it may 
 be said that M. canadensis Erxl. goes to the Mink, while M. ca- 
 nadensis Schreb. and authors sinks to a synonym of M. pennantii 
 Erxl. 
 
 In later years, various nominal species have been establisht<d 
 upon the Pekan, none of which, however, require special dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 The name Fisher, very generally applied to this species by 
 others as well as authors, is of uncertain origin, but probably 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OP THE PEKAN. 
 
 67 
 
 arose from some miscoDception of its habits, or from confound- 
 iug them with those of the Mink. The name is entirely inap- 
 plicable, as the animal is not aquatic, does not fish, nor habitu- 
 ally live upon fish, and it should be discarded, as likely to 
 perpetuate the confusion and misunderstanding of which it has 
 always to a greater or less extent been the cause. Pekan is a 
 word of unknown,* or at least of no obvious, application, but 
 is less objectionable, inasmuch as it does not mislead. As to 
 the supposed piscatorial exploits of the Pekan, we find refuta- 
 tion in some of the very earliest accounts of those who, unlike 
 certain compilers of books, had actual knowledge of the ani- 
 mals they recounted. Thus Bartram, who is quoted by Pen- 
 nant, state& that " though they are not amphibious, and live on 
 all kinds of lesser quadrupeds, they are called Fishers". Hearne 
 states that they dislike water as much as cats do. In fact, the 
 universal testimony of those who are best informed is that the 
 economy of the Pekan is as nearly as possible like that of the 
 Pine Marten, as indeed one would expect, judging by analogy. 
 Godman, a naturalist who has perhaps not always been fully 
 appreciated, states the case correctly in criticising the same 
 points: — "That it will eat fish when thrown on shore there is 
 little doubt, as almost all the carnivorous animals are delighted 
 with such food : but we have no proof that this Marten is in 
 the habit of fishing for itself.'' Sir John Richardson has a para- 
 graph which may be quoted in continuation of this point, as 
 well as for its affording further insight into the character of the 
 species : — 
 
 "The Pekan is a larger and stronger animal than any variety 
 of the Pine Marten, but it has similar manners ; climbing 
 trees with facility, and preying principally upon mice. It lives 
 in the woods, preferring damp places in the vicinity of water, 
 in which respect it differs from the Martin, which is generally 
 found in the dryest spots of the pine forests. The Fisher is 
 said to prey much upon frogs in the summer season; but I 
 have been informed that its favorite food is the Canada porcu-, 
 pine, which it kills by biting on the belly. It does not seek its 
 food in the water, although, like the Pine-martin, it will feed 
 
 upon the hoards of frozen fish laid up by the residents 
 
 It brings forth, once a year, from two to four young." 
 
 Doubt has been cast by Audubon upon Richardson's state- 
 
 * Compare Ptan or Petan, the Asaiuiboine name of the Otter, which may 
 possibly have become transferred with modification to the present species. 
 
m 
 
 68 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 ment that the Pekan kills the Porcupine ; bat its accuracy is 
 attested by Mr. Oilpio in the article above quoted, who states 
 that Porcupine quills have been found in its stomach. 
 
 A modified derivation of the name Fisher is given by De 
 Kay: — "We are informed by a person who resided many years 
 near Lak6 Oneida, wh6re the Fisher was then common, that 
 the name was derived from its singular fondness for the fish 
 used to bait traps. The hunters were in the practice of soak- 
 ing their fish over night, and it was frequently carried off by 
 the fisher, whose well known tracks were seen in the vicinity. 
 In Hamilton County it is still [1842] numerous and trouble- 
 some. The hunters there have assured me that they have 
 known a fisher to destroy twelve out of thirteen traps in a line 
 not moi-e than fourteen miles long." The same author vontin- 
 nes:— "The hunting season for the fisher, in the northern part 
 of the State, commences about the tenth of October, and lasts 
 to the middle of May, when the Airs are not so valuable. The 
 ordinary price is $1.50 per skin; but it is not so fine, nor so 
 highly valued as that of the sable." According to all ac- 
 counts, the animals were formerly very abundant in the State 
 of New York, where, however, they have latterly become re- 
 stricted to northern mountainous and thinly settled portions. 
 
 The bone caves of Pennsylvania, according to Baird, have 
 furnished numerous remains of Pennant's Marten, among them 
 one skull larger than some recent ones examined (but compare 
 p. 65). The animal may be still found occasionally in the 
 mountains north of Carlisle, in Perry County, where the liv-' 
 ing animal figured by Audubon was procured. 
 
 The distribution of the Pekan is general in wooded districts 
 throughout the greater part of North America. As indicating 
 approximately the southern limit of its distribution (for, like 
 the Marten and Ermine, it is essentially a northern animal), we 
 may refer to its occurrences in North Carolina and Tennessee, 
 as attested by Audubon and fiachman. The parallel of 35° 
 may be near its limit. Mr. Allen recently asce^ tained its pres- 
 ence in Colorado. West of the Rocky Mountains it was long 
 ago noted by Lewis and Clarke, whose accounts of the " Black 
 Fox " are checked by numerous later observers, as Newberry, 
 Cooper, and Suckley, who found it in Washington and Oregon 
 Territories. From California, however, I have no advices, 
 though the animal probably inhabits at least a part of that 
 State. Dr. Newberry says it is rare in Oregon, but less so in 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE t»EKAN. 
 
 69 
 
 Washiugtou Territory. According to Dr. Suckley, it is found 
 quite plentifully in the thickly wooded districts along the 
 eastern, and probably also the western,. slopes of the Cascade 
 Range, especially in the neighborhood of streams ; it also in- 
 habits the Blue Mountains of the same region. In the eastern 
 United States, it must not be presumed that it actually occurs 
 now throughout its ascribed range ; for the settlement of ^be 
 country practically restricts it to the more inaccessible or at 
 least unfrequented wooded districts. Many years ago, as we 
 have already seen, it had become greatly thinned out in the 
 Middle States, and this process has been steadily progressing, 
 until, at the present day, the Pekan is almost unknown in most 
 of the United States east of the Mississippi. Writing in 1S53, 
 Mr. Kennicot states it "used frequently to be seen" in Illinois 
 in the heavy timber along Lake Michigan. In New England, 
 according to Mr. Allen, it probably still occurs, though rarely, 
 in the Hoosac ranges. In 18^10, Dr. Emmons reported it as 
 occasionally found in the vicinity of Williamstown, Mass., 
 especially in the mountainous ranges which extend through 
 Stamford, Vt. It is stated to be rare in Canada, and not found 
 at all in the populous districts. In Nova Scotia, according to 
 Dr. Gilpin, it was never .very plenty, and is being rapidly 
 exterminated, only two hundred at most being taken yearly, 
 chiefly in the high wild region of the Cobequid Uills in Cum- 
 berland. In British America, Sir John Richardson states that 
 it is found as far north as Great Slave Lake, latitude 63^ ; and 
 the specimens I have examined confirm this dispersion, ex- 
 tending it to include Alaska also. 
 
 The Pekan is stated to breed but once a year; it brings 
 'V)rth its young in the hollow of a tree, usually 30 or 40 feet 
 from the ground. Two, three, and four young, but not more, 
 so far as I have learned, are produced in a litter. It has been 
 known to offer desperate resistance in defence of its young, as 
 on the occasion when the individual figured by Audubon was 
 procured. This animal, a young one, was kept in confinement 
 for several days. ^' It was voracious, and verv spiteful, growl- 
 ing, snarling and spitting when approached, but it did not 
 appear to suffer much uneasiness from being held in captivity, 
 as, like many other predacious quadrupeds, it grew fat, being 
 better supplied with food than when it ha'l been obliged to 
 cater for itself in the woods." Another mentioned by the 
 same author as having been exhibited in a menagerie in 
 
70 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 'l^'ii 
 
 \m 
 
 Ul H 
 
 ill 
 
 iPii ii 
 
 limk 
 
 Gharlestou, S. C, some moDths after its capture, continued 
 sullen and spiteful, hastily swallowing its food nearly whole, 
 and then retiring in growling humor to a dark corner of its 
 cage. Hearne, however, has remarked that the animal is easily 
 tamed, and shows some affection at times. When taken very 
 young, it may become perfectly tume, and as playful as a 
 kitten ; such was the case with a pair mentioned by Mr. B. B. 
 Koss. 
 
 The Pekan is sometimes forced, by failure of other sources 
 of supply, to a vegetarian diet, when it feeds freely upon beech- 
 nuts. 
 
 In continuation of the history of this animal, which I have had 
 no opportunity of studying in the living state, the following 
 paragraphs are quoted from the authors just mentioned, as 
 illustrative of its habits and manners: — 
 
 " Pennant's Marten appears to prefer low swampy ground ; 
 we traced one which had followed a trout stream for some dis- 
 tance, and ascertained that it had not gone into the water. 
 Marks were quite visible in different places where it had 
 scratched up the snow by the side of logs and piles of timber, 
 to seek for mice or other small quadrupeds, and we have no 
 doubt it preys upon the Northern hare, gray rabbit, and ruffed 
 grouse, as we observed a great many tracks of those species in 
 the vicinity. It further appears that this animal makes an 
 occasional meal on species which are much more closely allied 
 to it than those just mentioned. In a letter we received from 
 Mr. Fothergill, in which he furnishes us with notes on the habits 
 of some of the animals existing near Lake Ontario, he informs 
 US that ' a Fisher was shot by a hunter named Marsh, near 
 Port Hope, who said it was up a tree, in close pursuit of a pine 
 marten, which he also brought with it.' ... 
 
 " Whilst residing in the northern part of our native State 
 (New York), thirty-five years ago, the hunters were in the habit 
 of bringing us two or three specimens of this Marten in the 
 course of a winter. They obtained them by following their 
 tracks in the snow, when the animals had been out in quest of 
 their prey the previous night, thus tracing them to the hollow 
 trees in which they were concealed, which they chopped down. 
 They informed us that as a tree was falling, the Fisher would 
 dart from the hollow, which was often fifty feet from the ground, 
 and leap into the snow, when the dogs usually seized and killed 
 him, although not without a hard struggle, as the Fisher was 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE PEKAN. 
 
 71 
 
 iutiuitoly more daugerous to their houuiU thau either the gray 
 or red fox. They usually called this species the Black Fox. 
 
 "A servant, on oue occasion, came to us before daylight, ask- 
 ing us to shoot a raccoon for him, which, after having been 
 chased by his dogs the previous night, had taken to so large a 
 tree that he neither felt disposed to climb it nor to cut it down. 
 On our arrival at the place, it was already light, and the dogs 
 were barking furiously at the foot of the tree. We soon per- 
 ceived that instead of being a raccoon, the animal was a far 
 more rare and interesting species, a Fisher. As we were anx- 
 ious to study its habits we did not immediately shoot, but teased 
 it by shaking some grape vines that had crept up nearly to 
 the top of the tree. The animal not only became thoroughly 
 frightened, but seemed furious ; he leaped from branch to 
 branch, showing his teeth and growling at the same time ; now 
 and then he ran half way down the trunk of the tree, elevating 
 his back in the manner of an angry cat, and we every moment 
 expected to see him leap off and fall among the dogs. He was 
 brought down after several discharges of the gun. He seemed 
 extremely tenacious of life, and was game to the last, holding 
 on to the nose of a dog with a dying grasp. This animal proved 
 to be a male; the body measured twenty-five inches, and the 
 tail, including the fur, fifteen. The servant who had traced him, 
 informed us that he appeared to have far less speed than a fox, 
 that he ran for ten minutes through a swamp in a straight 
 direction, and then took to a tree. . . . 
 
 " Species that are decidedly nocturnal in their habits, fre- 
 quently may be seen moving about by day during the period 
 when they are engaged in providing for their young. Thus the 
 raccoon, the opossum, and all our hares, are constantly met 
 with in spring, and early summer, in the morning and after- 
 noon, whilst in autumn and winter they only move about by 
 night. In the many fox hunts, in which our neighbours were 
 from time to time engaged, not far from our residence at the 
 north, ... we never heard of their having encountered a single 
 Fisher in the daytime; but when they traversed the same 
 grounds at night, in search of raccoons, it was not unusual for 
 them to discover and capture this species. We were informed 
 by trappers that they caught the Fisher in their traps only by 
 night. 
 
 " On several occasions we have seen the tracks of the Fisher 
 in t'.ie snow ; they resemble those of the pine marten, but are 
 
72 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ii 
 
 imb 
 
 doable their size. To judge by them, the auimal advances by 
 short leaps in the manner qf a mink." 
 
 I will supplement this account with the interesting experi- 
 ences of Mr. B. B. Boss (as recounted I. s. c.) with this species 
 in the Mackenzie Bi ver region :— " In this district it is not found 
 except in the vicinity of Fort Besolution, which may be con- 
 sidered as its northern limit. In the numerous deltas of the 
 mouth of Slave Biver it is abundant, frequenting the large 
 grassy marshes or prairies, for the purpose of catching mice, its 
 principal food. In appearance it bears a strong family likeness 
 to both the martin and the wolverene. Its general shape assimi- 
 lates more to the former, but the head and ears have a greater 
 similitude to those of the latter. It is named by the Ghippe- 
 wayan Indians 'Tha cho,' or great martin. Its neck, legs and 
 feet are stouter in proportion thau those of the martin, and its 
 claws much stronger. lu color and size it varies greatly. Young 
 full-furred specimens, or those born the previous spring, can 
 scarcely be distinguished from a large martin except by a 
 darker pelage and a less full, more pointed tail. As it advances 
 towards old age, the color of the fur grows lighter, the long 
 hairs become coarser, and the grayish markings are of greater 
 extent and more conspicuous. 
 
 "The largest fisher which I have seen was killed by myself 
 on the Bivi^re de Argent, one of the channels of the mouth of 
 Slave Biver, about 15 miles from Fort Besolution. It was fully 
 as long as a Fulvus fox, much more muscular, and weighed 18 
 pounds. In the color of its f > . ^ the greyish tints preponderated, 
 extending from half way down the back to the nose. The fur 
 was comparatively coarse; though thick and full. The tail was 
 long and pointed, and the whole shade of the pelage was very 
 light and had rather a faded look. Its claws were very strong 
 and of brown color; and as if to mark its extreme old age the 
 teeth were a good deal worn and very much decayed. I caught 
 it with diflBculty. For about two weeks it had been infesting 
 my martin road, tearing down the traps and devouring the 
 baits. . So resolved to destroy it, I made a strong wooden trap. 
 It climbed up this, entered from above, and ate the meat. A 
 gun was next set but with no better success, it cut the line 
 and ran off with the bone that was tied to the end of it. As a 
 'dernier resort' I put a steel trap in the middle of the road, 
 covered it careflilly, and set a bait at some distance on each 
 side. Into this it tumbled. From the size of its footprints my 
 
 ii'iiiy 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OP THE PEKAN. 
 
 73 
 
 impression all aloug w<i8 that it was a small wolverene that was 
 annoying me, and I was surprised to find it to be a fisher. It 
 shewed good fight, hissed at me much like an enraged cat, bit- 
 ing at the iron trap, and snapping at my legs. A blow ou the 
 nose turned it over, when I completed its death by compressing 
 the heart with my foot until it ceased to beat. The skin when 
 stretched for drying was fully as large as a middle sized otter, 
 and very strong, in this respect resembling that of a wolverene. 
 
 t'ln their habits the fishers resemble the martins. Their 
 food is much the same, but they do not seem to keep so gener- 
 ally in the woods. They are not so nocturnal in their wander- 
 ings as the foxes. An old fisher is nearly as great an infliction 
 to a martin trapper as a wolverene. It is an exceedingly pow- 
 erful animal for its size, and will tear down the wooden traps 
 with ease. Its regularity in visiting them is exemplary. In 
 cue quality it is however superior to the wolverene, which is 
 that it leaves the sticks of the traps where they were planted : 
 while the other beast if it can discover nothing better' to hide, 
 will cache them some distance off. It prefers meat to fish, is 
 not very cunning, and is caught without difficulty in the steel- 
 trap. Fishers are caught by methods similar to those employed 
 in fox-trapping." 
 
 It may not be generally known that the Pekan successfully 
 assaults an animal as large as the Kaccoon; indeed, that the 
 abundance of the latter in some districts depends in a measure 
 upon the rarity of the former. The following letter, addressed 
 to Prof. Baird, in 1857, by Mr. Peter Keid, of Washington 
 County, New York, sufficiently attests these facts: — "Raccoons 
 are more numerous here now than they were at the first set- 
 tlement of the country, or for some time subsequent. Thirty 
 years ago they were so seldom found, that many boys 15 or 
 IS years old had scarcely seen one. Before the increase in 
 their numbers I once witnessed a circumstance that satisfied 
 my mind on this score. Whilst hunting, early one winter I 
 found the carcase of a freshly killed sheep, and by the tracks 
 around it in the light snow perceived that a Fisher had sur- 
 prised a Baccoon at the feast. A hard chase had ensued, the 
 Raccoon tacking at fnll speed to avoid his pursuer, the Fisher 
 outrunning and continually confronting his intended victim. 
 I saw where at length the Fisher had made an assault, and 
 where a bloody contest had evidently ensued. The Raccoon, 
 worsted in the encounter, had again broken away, and the chase 
 
Mi 
 
 74 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 was resumed, but with dimiuinbed euergy on the part of the Rac- 
 coon; the animal had been soon overtaken again, and a still more 
 desperate encounter had taken place. The Goon had failed 
 fast, and it had at length become merely a^unning fight, when 
 both animals had entered a swamp where it was impossible for 
 me to trace them further; but I have no doubt the Goon was 
 killed. 1 have witnessed similar engagements between the 
 Mink and Muskrat, the Weasel and House Sat, always ending 
 in the death of the assaulted. The Fisher has been nearly 
 extinct in these parts for about twenty-five years, and this to 
 my mind accounts for the great increase in numbers of the 
 Baccoon.^' 
 
 INTKRPOLATED MATTER RELATING TO THE EXOTIC MUSTEL^E, 
 MM. MARTES, FOINA, AND ZIBELLINA. 
 
 Before entering upon the discussion of the intimate relatiousbips of the 
 American Sable or Pine Marten with its extralimital allies, some notice of 
 the latter seems to be required in order to a better understanding of the in- 
 tricate questions concerned. I accordingly present the three exotic species, 
 with such remarks as seem called for and as I' am able to offer. The ma- 
 terial before me indicates, with little hazard of error, that the American 
 form is specifically distinct from both the Beech Marten and the Pine Marten 
 of Europe. Its relationships with the Asiatic Sable seem to be closer, but 
 these I am unable to discuss satisfactorily, owing to lack of specimens of the 
 Asiatic animal. 
 
 3ro(«.— Much of the synonymy relatinj; to these exotic species has been rather summa- 
 rily compiled at second hand, and should be talien with the allowance for " probable error " 
 jrhich nsnally obtains in such cases. 
 
 1. The European Pine IVIarten. 
 
 Nnstela martea. 
 
 Plati III. 
 
 Martn, Antiquorum.—Aldrov. Quad. Digit. 1645, 331.— Charkt. Ezercit. 1677, i^.—Wagn. 
 
 Helvet latlO, 161.— <9ibb. Scots. Illust. 1684, ii. 11.— £zac2. Polon. 1721, 9^; 1736, 314.— 
 
 Linn. 8. X. i. 9d ed. 1740, 44.— Jontt. Tbeatr. Quad. 1755. pL 64. 
 Hartes sylf estrls, Oem. Quad. ISSl, 865. fig.— Jontt. Theatr. Quad. 1759, 156. 
 Martes arb*rea, Sehwenekf. Theriotroph. 1603, 110. 
 Maries la arborlbasi Agrie. Anim. Subter. 1614, 38. 
 Martes abletaa, Ray, Syn. Quad. 1693, iOO.—KUin, Quad. 1751, 64.— Fleming, Br. An. 1838, 
 
 14.— BeU, Brit. Quad. 1837, 174 ; 3d ed. 1874, 317.— 6err. Cat. Bones. Br. Mas. 1863, 90.— 
 
 Oratf, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 63; P. Z. S. 1865, 104 ; Cat Cam. Br. Mas. 1869, 61.— 
 
 FiU. yAtVLTg. SauK. i. 1861, 335, f. 67. 
 Martes abieiHB van. nartes, ralgarls, aliaica, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 104; Cat. Cam. Br. 
 
 Mus. 1869, 83 (bat obviously not Muitela altaiea Pall., which is a Putoriua). 
 Mnstela ftalvo nigricans, gula pallida, Linn. Fn. Suec. 1st ed. 1746; 3, no. 7 ; Syst Nat ed. 
 
 6th, 1748, 5, no. 3 —Hill, Hist. An. 175-2: 546, pi. il—Kram. Blench. An. 17.-i6, 311. 
 
EUROPEAN PINE MARTEN, MUSTELA MARTES. 
 
 75 
 
 MnnteU marles, BrUii. Quad. 17M, '247, no. 9.—L. Pn. 8u«o. 9d ed. 1761, 6, no. IS ; S. N., lOtb 
 
 ed. 1738, 46, DO. 9; 1. 1766, 67, no. 6.— JftUL Zool. Dan. Prod. 1776, 3, no. li.—ErxL Syit. 
 
 ■ 1777, 439, no. i.—Sohrtb. S<iai{. ill. 1778. 479, pi. VM.—Zimm. OooL Oeaoh. ti, 1760, 303, 
 
 no. 107.— Mrm. Oba. Zool. 43.— WUdung. TMOh. 18U0, 94, pi. 3.— Om. S. N. L 1788, 93, no. 
 
 S.—B*eh»t. TSfttnrg. Deutichl. I. , 169.— ViieM. M6m. Soc. Nat Mows. i. 1806, 949 (by 
 
 bridity with oat).— 7ur(. S. N. i. 1806, iO.—Pall. ZoJig. 1. 1811, ai.—Dtim. Mamm.i. 
 1890, lei, no. 980 ; Ency. M^th. pi. 81, f. 4.—Fr. Cue. Mamm. 111. Uvr. 69 ; Diet. Sci. Kat. 
 sxix. 955, Ag. X.-Qeoff. Diet. Ci»M.x.900.-£«M. Mam. 1837, 148.-i^eA. Syn. 1899, 914.— 
 Jenyni, Brit. Vert. 1833. U.—Sitm.PUt, Arob. Naturg. 1839, 2H,—K*yt. A Bla$. Wlrb. 
 Ear. i. 1640, m.—S«lyi-L. Fn. Belg. 1849, H.—Blainv. Compt Rend. zlv. 1849, p. 910 
 aeq. pis.; Oat^ogr. 1849, —.—Bark. N. Act. Leop. xsv. 1843, t60.'-8thiru, Syn. 1844, 
 
 35.— Bp. Fn. Ital. iv. t. —.—Oieb. Fn. Vorn-. Siiug. , 56 ; Odout , 33 ; SHag. 1835, 
 
 774.— «m««I, Arch. Naturg. xix. 18.53, M.—Brnndt, Bern. Wirb. Nord. Ear. RomI. 93; 
 Beit. Kennt Siiog. Riisal. 1. 1835, pi. Iv.-Midit. 81b. Siiug. 69, pi. 9, t.—.—Sekr«nek., 
 
 Reiite AmurL , M.—Blai. Wlrb. Dentacbl. 1837, 313, f. 191. 133.— JUekil, Zool. Oart 
 
 ziv. 1873.457 (albino). 
 
 .MuBtela HirteH var. aklrluH, L. S. x. i. 1766, 67. 
 
 TiTem nanet, Shaw, o. z. i. isuo, 4id. 
 
 Martes sylTStlea, IfiUi. Skand. Fn. {Uartat itylreiitriti (jesu.). 
 NasteU VHlgarlS, OHff. Cuv. R. A. v. 18:27, 193, uo. 34». 
 
 MaNer, Riding. Abbild. Tblere. 1740, pi. 19.— J/iiK. Samml. ill. , .'lU ; Nature. 1773, 967.— 
 
 2Iartent, Zool. Oart xi, 1870, p. 934 (philological).— (rerman. 
 Martre, CharUr. Nout. France, iii. 1744, n*.—French. 
 BaaniHarter, Hatter, Natarg. Vierf. Tb. 1737, 451.— Oennnn. 
 Marie. BrUi. L e. BniT. Hist Nat vil. 186, pi. •a.— Bom. Diet ill. 176^. '.i'.— French. 
 Marie coaaaae. Cur. R. A. i. 149. 
 
 Marler, Houtt Nat Hiat. Dieren. ii. 1761, Vi3.—Belaic. 
 
 .Vaar, Pontopp. Daa i. 1763, 610— DanUh. 
 
 Marlora« Seatao. An. Quad, ii, pi. 6». (from Batton}.— Italian. 
 
 FeldnaNer, J/are. Buff. Vierf. Th. Iv. I5H. 
 
 Kielaarier, Oim. 
 
 Maria, Jipani^A. i •■ 
 
 MiN, SwedUh. 
 
 Marllll,ti>«nn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 913, no. 154 ; Brit Zool. :)H. tie. 
 
 Plae marten, Sweet Marlen, lellow*breasled M»ntn.-En'jlUh. 
 
 Deatription of the iikuU atid teeth of M. martea. 
 ■,. (See Plate III.) 
 
 The 8kull aud teeth of M. martes may be described ia general terms to 
 illustrate this part of the stracture of the genus, aud to serve as a standard 
 of comparison for the other closely related species. The points in which they 
 specially differ from that of Pntoriua are elsewhere summed. The skull 
 indicates considerable strength, particularly in the rostral portions, where it 
 is massive (still it is not so strong reliitively as in either Gtilo or Putorim); 
 the cranial part is thinner, and usually gives indication of the cerebral folds 
 within. Most of the sutures are early obliterated ; those of the nasals, bullte 
 anditoriaR, and zygomatic processes of squamosal and malar are the last to 
 disappear. The nasals persist separate from each other long after they fuse 
 with the maxillaries. 
 
 The zygomatic width of the skull is more thau half its length ; these 
 arches are upright, but are borne well away from the skull by the outward 
 obliquity of their roots, both fore and aft. From an egg-shape cerebral 
 part, the skull tapers to a decided postorbital constriction ; this is approxi- 
 mately of the same (more or le^^s) width as the rostral part. The cerebral 
 part is rather broader than high. Tbn upper profile of the skull is slightly 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 / 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 u. 
 
 1.0 
 
 1^ li£ ill 2.2 
 
 w ij^ IIIIIk 
 
 
 l.i 
 
 
 1.4 III ,,6 
 
 1.25 
 
 0> 
 
 ^ 
 
 /: 
 
 
 y 
 
 /^ 
 
i 
 
ji'l 
 I' 
 
 il 
 
 Uh 
 
 76 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 convex, sloping more rapidly down behind, with a frontal concavity and 
 oblique nasal orifice. The roof of the brain-box is convex in every direction ; 
 a temporal "fossa" being only indicated by the ridges (sagittal and lamb- 
 doidal), which indiciite the extent of the temporal muscle. The sagittal crest 
 divaricates anteriorly to run out to each snpraorbital process; in old ani- 
 mals, it is a thin high ridge ; in the young, a tablet of greater or less width. 
 The occipital crest rises and flares with age, but is always a thin edge. The 
 occipital depression below this is well marked ; the condyles are notably 
 projecting, and connected by a sbarp ridge below the foramen magnum. 
 The mastoids are not conspicuous. The bulhe are large, elongate, oblique, 
 convex forward ; a slight constriction across them, and some outward pro- 
 longation, develops a tubular meatus. Excepting the bnllse, the general 
 floor of the skull is quite flat. The palate is completely ossified some dis- 
 tance back of the molars, and nearly plane. A broad, deep emargination 
 lies between the pterygoids ; these are simply laminar, vertical, and terminate 
 in a well marked haniular process. The palatal plates of the intermaxil- 
 laries, when not fused, are seen to be of very slight extent ; the small incisive 
 foramina do not reach as far back as the hinder border of the canines. The 
 orbits are pretty well defined by the curve of the zygoma and presence 
 of supraorbital processes, but are not otherwise distinguished from the 
 general temporal cavity. The auteorbital foramen is large, high up over the 
 fore edge of the last premolar. The nasal orifice has a well-marked and little 
 irregular bony parietes. 
 
 The jaw has a lightly and somewhat irregularly convex inferior profile. The 
 coronoid plate is large, erect, its apex reaching or slightly overlapping the 
 zygomatic arch. The angle of the jaw is a slight sharp process. The con- 
 dyle is low, about on the level of the teeth, broad from side to side, but very 
 narrow in the opposite direction. Its reception in the glenoid fossa is close, 
 but the articulation does not lock as in Mths or Taxidea. 
 
 The single upper molar is completely tubercular, low, flat, with irregular 
 minor elevations and depressions, much broader transversely than length- 
 wise, subquadrate in general contour, partly divided by a slight median 
 constriction (both vertical aud horizontal), with an inner and outer moiety, 
 whereof the former more or less considerably exceeds the outer in length. 
 The inner border of this inner moiety is always strongly convex, with a 
 raised brim. In typical M. martis, the inner moiety is twice (to speak 
 roundly) as large aa the outer. In M. anwicana, much as in foina, the 
 disproportion is obviously less. The outer border of the outer moiety in 
 martea iz »iniply convex ; in the other forms just mentioned it is more or 
 les8emargi.;ate. The inner moiety shows one tubercle within the brim^ the 
 outer has two such. 
 
 The next tooth — last premolar — is the largest of all, and sectorial in char- 
 acter, but with a prominent fang projecting inward from the anterior end. 
 In profile, it shows a large, pointed, central cusp, flanked before and behind 
 with a small one. There is quite an excavation between the large central 
 and small posterior cusps. The next two molars, of nearly equal size, are 
 much smaller than the last, but repeat its characters in diminishing degree, 
 minus the antero-internal fang. The remaining anterior premolar is very 
 small. It is a simple conical cusp, with a slight heel behind, but none be- 
 fore; it occaeionally aborts. The large canines are not peculiar. The six 
 
EUROPEAN BEECH MARTEN, MUi-T£LA FOINA. 
 
 77 
 
 inoisors are closely crowded ; the ontei pair are much larger than the rest ; 
 these are all alike. The onter are regularly curved, with an enlarged cin- 
 gulum around the base; the others start obliquely forward from the jaw, 
 then turn vertically downward with an appreciable angle. 
 
 In the lower jaw, of the two molars the hindermost is small, circular, and 
 completely tuberculous. The next is the largest of the under teeth, chiefly 
 sectorial in character, but with a depressed, rimmed, tubercular, posterior 
 moiety. This rim at each of its ends rises into a slight cusp, but the inner 
 one is merely a slight heel to the central cusp, instead of a prominent point 
 as in M. foina. The two main cusps of the tooth are much higher, the 
 hinder one highest, compressed, with cutting edge, forming with each other 
 the usual V-shape reentrance, continued further down as a closed slit. The 
 last premolar is a conical cusp augmented posteriorly by a secondary cusp 
 half as hi^h, and with a heel both before and behind at the base. The next 
 premolar is like the last, but smaller, with a mere trace of the secondary 
 cusp, though it is well heeled fore and aft. On the next premolar, the sec 
 oudaiy cusp entirely subsides in a general gentle slope from the snmmit of 
 the tooth to its base behind, and the front heel is not developed. The first 
 premolar is simply a minute knob. It looks like a tooth hardly yet estab- 
 lished, or else about to disappear. The lower canines are shorter, stouter, 
 and mure curved than the upper. The six incisors are greatly crowded be- 
 tween the canines, so much so that, through lack of room, one at least some- 
 times fails to develop, leaving only five, as in more than one specimen before 
 me. They are smaller than the upper ones, and not so regular, for one ur 
 a pair— most frequently the middle one — on each side is crowded back out 
 of the plane of the rest. As in the upper jaw, the onter pair of under inci- 
 sors are the largest, and have slightly clubbed and bilobate tips. 
 
 3. The European Beech marten. ' 
 
 - ■ • 
 
 Uliistela folna. 
 
 Plate IV. 
 
 Marte!) domestlca, Getn. Quad. 1531, 865, fig.—Aldroe. Qiad. Oigit. ir>4S, JXl.—Jonst. 
 
 Theatr. Quad. 1755, 156. 
 Martes saxallllii, Sehwenckfeld, Tberiotroph. 1603, 110. 
 Mttftes In saxis, Agric. Anim. Subter. 1614, 38. ' 
 
 Maries HtgAmni, Ray, Syn. Quad. 1693, 200.— Kem. Br. An. 1828, 14. 
 Maries saxorum, Klein, Quad. 1751, 64. 
 
 Miistela foyna, BrUs. Quad. 1756, 246, no. 7.— PaH. Zoiig. R. A. i. 1811, 86. 
 MUHteU folna, WhiU, Phil. Trans. Ulv. 1774, VJ6.—Erxl. Syst. An. 1777, i53,no. 5.— Sehreb. 
 
 SKu(j. iii. 1778, 494, pi. 129.— Zimm. Geogr. Gesch. ii. 1780, 303, no. 198.— Om. S. N. i. 
 
 1788, 95, no. U.—Herm. Obs. Zool. ii.—Wildung. Tasch. filr 1800, —.—Beehat. Naturg. 
 
 i. , 755.— D?«w. Mamm. 1. 1820, 182 ; Nouv. Diet. xix. 380 ; Enoy. M6th. pi. 81, f. 1. - 
 
 Fr. Out). Diet. Sci. Nat. xiii. 254.—/*. Oeoff. Diet. Class, x. 209.— Ori/f. An. Kiugd. 
 
 V. 1887, 193, no. 350.— J«n. Br. Vert. 1835, 11.— Selys-L. ^n. Belg. i. 1842, 9.— Keys, ct 
 
 BUM. Wirb. Eur. 1840, 6T.—Sokim, Syn. Mamm. i. 1844, 336.— fitoinv. Compt. Rend. 
 
 xiv. 1842, 210 seq. pl».— Witift. Odont. 33, pi. 12, f. 3 ; Sflug. 1855, ^^i.—Henlel, Arch. 
 
 Naturg. xix. 1853, n.— Power, Ann. Mag. N. H. 2(1 ser. xx. 1857, 4X0.— Brandt, 
 
 Bemerk. Wirb. Eur. N. E. Russl. , 24.-B«a«. Wirb. Deutsehl. 1857, 817, f. 123.— 
 
 Jiiekel, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 437 (albino). 
 Tlverra folna, Shau\ Gen. Zool. i. 1800, 409. 
 
78 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. 
 
 MHrtes rotna, Bell, Brit. Quad. 1837, 1G7 : 2d ed. 1874, WS.—Oray, List Mamm. Br. Masv 
 1M3, 63; P. Z. S. 1865, 108; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 86.— Gerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 
 1863, yi. 
 
 MosteU martes var. folna, L. S. X. i. 17C6, 67. 
 
 Ma8t«la|fol8Da, Ohatin, Ana. Soi. Nat. Stb ser. xix. 1874, 97 (anat.). 
 
 Foulne, Brist. op. loe. cit.—Bomare, Diet. d'H. N. ii. 1768, 232.— Bu/. Hist. Nat. vii. 161.— 
 Out). R. A. 1. 149.— JVencft. . ,....,. ..„, 
 
 FolBa< Seatag. Qnad. ii. pi. 6S.— Italian. 
 
 Htelnmarder, Hall. Xatnrg. Vierf. Th. 1757, 459 —German. 
 
 Nteinmarder oder Buchmariier« Meyer, Yorstell. Thiere, pi. 4.— German. 
 
 Hauiwarder, Mart Bnff. Vierf. Tb, 147, pi. 61 a.—Schr. Fn. Boic. i. no. 9.— Ger.nan. 
 
 Martin, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 215, no. 154 ; Br. Zuiil. 38. (House, Stone, and Beech Mar- 
 ten, Martem, Marteron, Martlett.) 
 
 Fulna, Spanish. 
 
 The Beech or Stone Marten, which aeema to ba well established as a species, 
 may nsaally be distinguished from the Pine Marten by the pure white throat 
 and some other external features, as well as by some difference in habits. 
 But stronger characters are found in the skull and teeth. Some differences 
 in the proportions of the skull are obvious, and sufficient to confer a recog- 
 nizably different physiognomy ; the rostral part of the skull is much shorter. 
 The frontal profile above is more sloping ; the zygomatic width is relatively 
 greater. The zygoma is regularly arched throughout, instead of rising ab- 
 ruptly behind and then sloping down gradually forward. The anterior root 
 of the zygoma, owing to the shortness of the muzzle, is nearly half-way 
 from the supraorbital process to the end of the skull ; it is much further 
 back in If. martea. The palate is much shorter aud broader for its length. 
 The back upper molar is very notably less massive ; its inner moiety is but 
 little larger than the outer : the latter is nicked on the outer border, whereas 
 in M. martea the inner moiety of the same is neariy cwice as large as the outer, 
 and the border of the latter is strongly convex. In M.foina, the inner anterior 
 fang of the last premolar is very small aud oblique ; in M. martea, it is much 
 larger and projects inward at a right angle. The next premolar is appreciably 
 smaller than the same tooth in M. martes. These dental peculiarities, taken 
 from specimens before me, are confirmatory of Blasius' diagnosis. The skulls 
 are 3.25 or less in total length by about 1.90 in greatest width ; those of if. 
 martta are 3.50 or more in leugth, with a width scarcely greater than in 
 M. martea. It seems a slight difference in the tigures, but the resulting mod- 
 ification in shape is decided. Similarly, the palate of M.foina is about 1.40 
 in length by 0.90 in greatest width inside the teeth ; that of M. martea is 
 1.70 in length, with no greater width. As a practical means of appreciating 
 these differences, let one take the jaw of M. martea, and try to fit it to a 
 skull of M. foina, or conversely. Cautious and accurate observers, like Dau- 
 benton and Bell, have recorded vheir doubts of the specific distinctness of 
 the two forms; but Bell, at least, has found reason to change his opinion, 
 while the views of many equally good judges are concurrent with thosejhere 
 adopted. 
 
ASIATIC SABLE, MISTELA ZIBELUNA. 
 
 1\) 
 
 3. The Asiatic liable. 
 
 ainstela slbelllna. 
 
 MuSileU SObella, Oesn. Quad. 1551, 869.—Rzacz. Anct. Folon. 173C, 317. 
 
 MUHtela zobela, Forer, AUg. Thierb. Gesner, 1609, 347. 
 
 Mnstela Zibellln*, Aldrov. Quad. Digit. 1645, 335.— CAarfet. Esercit. 1677, 90.— Ray, Syn. 
 
 Qasd. 16U3. 201.— Xtnn. S. X. 2d ed. 1740, 44 ; Ot.n ed. 1748, 5, no. 1.— Klein, Quad. 1751, 
 
 64 Jonst. Theatr. Qoad. 1755, 156.— Linn. S. N. lOtb ed. 1758, 46, no. 8; ISth ed. 
 
 1766, 68, no. 9.— J. O. Otn. N. C. Petrop. v. 338, pi. 6 Erxl. Syst An. 1777, 467, no. 
 
 d.-Schreb. Sang, iii, 1778, 478, pi. 136.-^imm. Geogr. Gescb. ii. 1780, 303, no. 196.— 
 
 Pall. Spio. Zool. xiT. 1780, 54, pi. 3, f. 3; Zoog. E. A. i. 180, 83, pi. 6.—Turi. S. S. i. 
 
 1806, 59.— 6m. S. N. i. 1788, 96, no. 9.— ifUII. Rnss. Gesch. iii. 495.— Deem. Mamm. i. 
 
 1820, 182, no. 383; Noav. Diet. xix. 382; Enoy. H6tb. pi. 83.— JV. Cue. Diet. SoL Nat. 
 
 xxix. 1823, 255.— /«. Qeoff. Diet. Class, x. 210.— (?rt/. An. Kingd. y. 1897, 124, no. 351.— 
 
 Leu. Man. 1827, 148.— Fi$eh. Syn. 1839, 216.— Btoind. Compt. Rend. xlv. 1848, 210 seq. 
 
 plB.—Sehim, Syn. Mam. i. 1844, 336.— Gieb. SSag. 1855, 776.— Brandt, Bemerk. Wirb. 
 
 N. E. Knsal. il.—Midd. Sibir. Saug. <;e, pi. i.—Sckreiusk, Reise Amarl. , 27. 
 
 Mugtela martes Elbelllna, Brits. Qnad. 1756, 248, no. 9. . 
 
 Viverra zlbelllna, Shaw, Gen. Zool. i. 1800, 411. 
 
 Martes Zibelllna, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 105 {"Muatela" lapgu) ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mns. 1869, 83. 
 
 Mart«g zibelltna var. asiatlea, Brandt, Beit. Kennt. SSag. Rassl. 1855, 6, pll. i, ii, and pi. 
 
 iii, f. 7, 8, 9 (many "subvarieties" named). 
 Zobela, .ilj/ric. Anim. Sabter. 16U\ 39. 
 8ebeillna, Schef, Lappon. 1673, 34a 
 Zobel, Strahlenb. Eur. n. Asia, 1730, 430 J. O. Om. Reise, i. 1751, Zdl.—Hall. Xaturg. Vierf. 
 
 Thiere, 1757, 459.— JftiM. Natura. 1773, 272.— 5«eK. Kamtscht. 1774, 119.— Martens, Zool. 
 
 Gart. xi, 1870, 254 (pbilological). 
 Sabeldler, Houtt. Nat Hist. Dieren, ii. 1761, 9H.—Ihttch. 
 ZIbeline, Bnflf. Hist Nat xiiL 1765, 309.— Somare, Diet iv. 1768, 650.— French. 
 Gebelllna, Cevelllna, <S!pa/twh.— Zibellino, Kalian.— Sabbel, Swedish.— ^bol, Polish, Rus- 
 sian. 
 Sable, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 217, no. 156 j Hist Qnad. 328, no. 201; Aret. Zool. i. 1784, 79, no. 
 
 30. {Saphilinas Pelles, sable skins, is found in Jornandes; Zombolines occurs in 
 
 Marco Polo — Webster . ) 
 
 Lack of specimens of this form uDfortiinately prevents me from bringing 
 it into the discussion upon any original investigations ; the views of authors 
 are discussed beyond. I have, however, carefully examined both skins 
 and skalls of 31. martes, foina, and americana. Such is the variability 
 of the pelage, that probably no decisive indications can be gathered from 
 comparisons of the skins, however widely these may differ in extreme cases^ 
 The skulls and teeth afford the readiest means of separating these three 
 closely-allied forms. 
 
 The following measurements of three skulls, selected as fairly expressing 
 averages of M. martes, foina, and americana respectively, will show in 
 what the cranial differences consist. The skull of M. foina differs more 
 from those of both M. martes and M. americana than these latter do from 
 each other ; but these latter are readily distinguished by their dental 
 characters. 
 
;:■!': 
 
 Ii!f!.v 
 
 lls-j 
 
 80 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Meaiurementa of akiilh of MM. foina, martes, and Americana. 
 
 Totallength 
 
 Greatest width 
 
 Least width (exclusive of muzzle) 
 
 Distance between orbits 
 
 Upper incisors from front hinder margin 
 of palate 
 
 ■Upper molars and premolars, length taken 
 together 
 
 Lower jaw, length, from apex of symphy- 
 sis to back of condyle ' .'. . 
 
 Lower jaw, height angle to top of coro- 
 noid 
 
 Front border of orbit, end of intermax- 
 illary 
 
 Width of muzzle behind canines 
 
 Greatest length of zygoma 
 
 Greatest width of palate insi le teeth 
 
 Width across supraorbital proi^CoobS . . . . 
 
 Greatest length (longitudinal) of back 
 upper molar 
 
 Width of cranium proper 
 
 M. foina 
 (Germany). 
 
 Inches. 
 3.25 
 1.8S 
 0.80 
 0.65 
 
 1.55 
 
 0.95 
 
 2.05 
 
 0.90 
 
 0.95 
 0.68 
 1.50 
 0.85 
 l.dO 
 
 0.23 
 1.40 
 
 M. martes 
 (Sweden), 
 
 M. ameticana 
 (Alaska). 
 
 Inchet. 
 3.50 
 1.95 
 0.80 
 0.85 
 
 1.75 
 
 1.10 
 
 2.40 
 
 1.00 
 
 1.10 
 0.70 
 1.65 
 0.90 
 0.95 
 
 Inchet. 
 3.fi0 
 1.85 
 0.70 
 0.80 
 
 1.75 
 
 1.10 
 
 2.40 
 
 1.10 
 
 1.10 
 0.70 
 1.70 
 0.89 
 0.90 
 
 0.20 
 1.40 
 
 The indications afforded by the foregoing measurements, together with 
 some other cranial and dental characters, may be summed in the following 
 diagnostic paragraphs. It will be seen that most of the cranial points brought 
 out by Prof. Baird (oj). cit. p. 155) are substantiated, but it must be borne 
 in mind that they are matters of degree, which may not always hold, except 
 of averages. The remarkable ditlerence iu the back upper molar, as insisted 
 upon by Gray, is the principal character upon which to rely between morses 
 
 and americatia. 
 
 Comparative diagnosen. 
 
 M. martes. — Inner moiety of back upper molar one-third longer thau outer 
 moiety, and altogether about twice as large (coincidently with which the 
 entire dentelure of martes is stronger than in the other two forms, though 
 diflferenc38 in particular teeth are not readily expressed) ; outer border of 
 outer moiety regularly strongly convex. Fang of last upper premolar large, 
 transverse. Penultimate under molar with a cusp well developed at the 
 |)ostero-internal base of the main cusp. Sides of muzzle nearly parallel. 
 ■Supraorbital processes midway between greatest constriction of cranium and 
 anterior root of zygoma ; the constriction moderate. Zygomatic width more 
 than half total length of skull. 
 
 M, americana. — Inner moiety of back upper m'>lar scarcely longer or larger 
 than the outer [in 25 skulls examined] ; outer border of outer moiety double- 
 convex, t. e., with an emargination. Fang of last premolar small, oblique. 
 Penultimate under molar with merely a slight heel at base inside of the main 
 cusp. Bides of mnzzlo sensibly tapering. Supraorbital processes nearer point 
 of greatest constriction than anterior root of zygoma ; constriction great. 
 Zygomatic width about half total length of skull. 
 
 M. foina. — Molar and last upper premolar as in americana ; penultimate 
 lower molar with prominent supplementary cusp as in martes. Sides of muz- 
 zle sensibly tapering. Supraorbital processes much nearer point of greatest 
 constriction than anterior root of zygoma ; constrictiou slight. Zygomatic 
 ■width much more than half total length of skull. 
 
SYNONYMY OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 
 
 m 
 
 The American Unfile or Harten. 
 
 iWiiNteIn nmerfcnnn. 
 
 Plate V. 
 
 Mustela martes, Forst. Phil. Trans. Ixii. 1772, 372.— 7. Sab. Frankl. Jonrn. 1893,051.— ffarl. 
 Fn. Araer. 1885, 67 (qnotes a " Mustela vison var.")— Warden, Hist. IT. 8. v. 1819, G13.— 
 Kich. F. B. A. i. 1829, 51, no. n.—Gapp. Zoiil. Jonrn. t, 1830, 303.— Godm. Am. N.|H. 
 i. ie.U, WO.— Emmons, Rep. Qnad. Mass. 1840, 40.— D« K. N. Y. Zool. 1. 1843, 32, pi. 11, 
 f. 3, pi. 19. f. 2 (skull).— 4 ud. <£ Bach. Q. X. A. iii. 1853, 176, pi. 138.- Iftomp*. N.IH. 
 Termont, 1653, 3a.—Billingi, Canad. Xat. and Geol. ii. 1857, 463.— AUen, Bnll. M. C. 
 Z. i. 1870, 161 (critical). -£«nn. Tr. 111. State Agric. Soc. for 1853-54, 1855, 578.— AH. 
 Bail. Ess. Inst. vl. 1874, 54, 59 (Colorado and Wyoming).- HaiZ, Canad. Nat. and 
 Geol. vi. 1661, 395. 
 
 Mlistela smerlcail*, Turton, ed. L. S. N. i. 18*i6, 60— lid. M. X. A. 1857, 152, pL 36, f. 3 (skull), 
 pi. 37, f. 1 (sknll).— .Veic6. P. R. R. Rep. vi. If57, il.-Kneel. Proo. Bost. Soc. N. H. vi 
 1858, 418.— Ooop. <C Suett. N. H. W. T. 18fiO, !I9.— iJo»«, Canad. Xat. vi. 1861, 35.— Gilpin, 
 
 Tr. Nov. Scot. Inat. ii. 1870, 10, 69.— Ames, Bull. Minn. Acad. Xat. Sot. 1674, 69 
 
 Coue.'i c£ rorrmc, Zool. Expl. W. 100 Merid. v. 1875, 61 (Taos, X. Td.).— Allen, Bull. U. S. 
 Geol. Surv. vol. il. no. 4, 1876, 328 (skull). 
 
 Martm amerlcann, Oray, P. Z. S. 1665, 106; Cat. Cam. Br. Mua. 1869, 84. 
 
 Maries americana vara, abietinoldes, baro, et leuropus, Oray, u. cc. 
 
 Mnstela zibelllna var. americana, Brandt, Beit Siiag. Russl. 1855, 16, pi. 3, f. 10 (critical). 
 
 Mustela Zibeiltna, Oodrn. Am. Nat. Hist. i. 1631,308 (refers to true Sable, but the Amer- 
 ican speciea described). 
 
 .Muslela VUlpina, Ra/. Am. J. Sc. i. 1819, 82 ; Phil. ilag. 1819, 411 ; Isis, 1834, 453 (Upper 
 Missouri River) (tail whitie at end).— FiVft. Sj'u. 1829, 215. . 
 
 Mustela (Hnrtes) vuiplna, /ScAtnz, Syn. Mamm. i. 1644, 337. 
 
 MuStelalcuCOpuSjiTuW. Beit. 1820, 74.— Fk^c/i. Syn. 1829,216. • ' 
 
 Mustela (Martes) leucopus, Schinz, Syn. Mnunu. i. 1844, 337. 
 
 MartfS leucopus, Oray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 6X—tierr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1863, 91. 
 
 MllStela leucopus, Qrif. Cuv. R. A. v. 1827, 126, no. 357. 
 
 .Mustcia huro, F. Cuv. Diet Sci. Xat. xxix. 1823, 2,".6; Snppl. Buff. i. 1831, 321.— Jo. Geoff, 
 Diet. Class. X. 211.— Fwcft. Syn. 1829, 217. 
 
 MU8tela (Martes) huro, .Se^inz, Syn. Manim. i. 1844, .337. 
 
 Mustela marllnus.Anw*, Bnll. Minn. Acad, Xat. Sci. 1874, 60. 
 
 Martin or Marten, Pine Marten, American Sable, of American writers. 
 
 Wawpeestau, Wawbeechlns, Wappanvw, Indian (Richardson). . 
 
 Description and disctiHsion of the species.* 
 
 This animal is about the size of a large House Gat, though 
 standing much lower on account of the shortness of the legs. 
 The length of the head and body is about a foot and a half, 
 more or less ; the tail with the bairs is a foot long or less ; the 
 tail-vertebr{B are less than half as long as the head and body. 
 The tail is very full and bushy, particularly toward the end, 
 the reverse of the tapering pointed shape which obtains in if. 
 pennanti. The longer hairs of the tail at and near the end 
 measure aboat 3 inches. The head is quite broadly triangular, 
 or rather conical, with the contraction of the muzzle beginning. 
 
 * Prepared from nutnerous specimens in the Smithsonian Institution. 
 6m 
 
NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 I :;i:i 
 
 K 
 
 ;v i^'i 
 
 m 
 
 at the site of the eyes. These are oblique, and situated about 
 over the angle of the mouth, midway between the snout and 
 the ears. The latter are quite high, somewhat pointed, though 
 obtusely so, but not regularly orbicular as in M.pennanti; their 
 height above the notch is rather greater than their width at base; 
 they are closely hairy ou both sides. The longest whiskers 
 reach to the back of the ears ; there are other bristles over the 
 eyes, on the cheeks, and chin. The end of the snout is defi- 
 nitely naked in T-shaped area, as usual in this genus. The 
 liuibs are short and stout ; the feet appear small in comparison 
 with the calibre of the legs. The outstretched hind legs reach 
 more than half- way to the end of the tail. The soles are ordi- 
 narily densely furred, only the ends of the pale-colored claws 
 appearing. But in the frequent specimens observed with scant- 
 haired soles, the tubercles may be distinctly seen, without part- 
 ing the fur ; they have the ordiuary disposition. 
 
 The pelage is long and extremely soft and full. It consists 
 of three kinds of fur. The first is very short, soft, and wool- 
 like, immediately iuvesting the skin, as may be seen upon pluck- 
 ing away both kinds of the longer hairs. The second is soft 
 and kinky, like the first, but very much longer, coming to the 
 general surface of the pelt. The third is the fewer, still longer, 
 glossy hairs, bristly to the roots. 
 
 It is almost impossible to describe the colors of the Pine 
 Marten, except in general terms, without going into the de- 
 tails of the endless diversities occasioned by age, sex, season, 
 or other incidents. The animal is " brown", of a shade from 
 orange or tawny to quite blackish ; the tail and feet are ordi- 
 narily the darkest ; the head lightest, often quite whitish ; the 
 ears are usually rimmed with whitish ; on the throat, there is 
 usually a large tawny-yellowish or orange-brown patch, from 
 the chin to the fore legs, sometimes entire, sometimes broken 
 into a number of smaller, irregular blotches, sometimes want- 
 ing, sometimes prolonged on the whole under surface, when 
 the animal is bicolor, like a Stoat in summer. The general 
 " brown " has a grayish cast, as far as the under fur is con- 
 cerned, and is overlaid with rich lustrous blackish-brown in 
 places where the long bristly hairs prevail. The claws are 
 whitish; the naked nose-pad and whiskers are black. The 
 tail occasionally shows interspersed white hairs, or a white tip. 
 
 Upon this subject, I cannot do better than quote again from 
 
DESCRIPTION OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 
 
 83 
 
 the article of Mr. B. R. Ross, who describes the Marten from 
 long experience of its variations : — 
 
 " The winter fur of this species is full and soft, about an 
 inch and a half deep, with a number of coiirse black hairs 
 interspersed. The tail is densely covered with two kinds of 
 hair, similar to those of the back but coarser. The hairs on 
 the top are longest, measuring 2^ inches, and giving the end a 
 very bushy appearance. The fur is in fullcoat from about the 
 end of October until the beginning of May, according to locality. 
 When in such condition the cuticle [sic, meaning skin viewed 
 from inside] is white, clean, and very thin. From the latter of 
 these dates the skin acquires a darker hue, which increases 
 until the hair is renewed, and then gradually lightens until the 
 approach of winter, the fur remaining good for some time 
 before and after these changes. When casting its hair the 
 animal has far from a pleasing appearance, as the under fur 
 falls off leaving a shabby covering of the long coarser hairs, 
 which have then assumed a rusty tint. The tail changes later 
 than any other part, and is still bushy in some miserable look- 
 ing summer specimens now lying before me. After the fall 
 of these long hairs, and towards the end of summer, a fine 
 short fur pushes up. When in this state the pelage is very 
 pretty and bears a strong resemblance to a dark mink in its 
 winter coat. It gradually lengthens and thickens as winter 
 approaches, and may be considered prime after the first fall of 
 snow. 
 
 " It is difficult to describe the color of the martin fur accu- 
 rately. In a large heap of skins (upwards of fifty) which I 
 have just examined minutely there exists a great variety of 
 shades darkening from the rarer of yellowish-white and bright 
 orange, into various shades, of orange brown, some of which 
 are very dark. However, the general tint may with propriety 
 be termed an orange brown, considerably clouded with black 
 on the back and belly, and exhibiting on the flanks and throat 
 more of an orange tint. The legs and paws as well as the top 
 of the tail are nearly pure black. The claws are white and 
 sharp. The ears are invariably edged with a yellowish white, 
 and the cheeks are generally of the same hue. The forehead 
 is of a light brownish gray, darkening tdwards the nose, but 
 in some specimens it is nearly as dark as the body. The 
 yellowish marking under the throat, (considered as a specific 
 distinction of the pine martins) is in some well defined and of 
 
84 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 m : il; 
 
 K?''t'' ■ 
 
 m 
 
 pi I 
 
 an orauge tint, while in others it ia almost perfectly white. It 
 also varies much in extent, reaching to the fore legs on some 
 occasions. At other times it consists merely of a few spots, 
 while in a third of the specimens under consideration it is 
 entirely wantiny. 
 
 "After minutely comparing these skins with Prof. Baird's 
 and Dr. Brandt's description of the martins, and the latter 
 gentleman's paper on the sables, I find that the M. Americana 
 of this district agrees in general more closely with the latter, 
 and am therefore disposed to coincide with that gentleman in 
 his opinion that they are only varieties. The martins of this 
 district bear a greater resemblance to the sables of Eastern 
 Siberia than to the martins of Europe, holding, as it may be 
 with propriety said, an intermediate position. I am also in- 
 clined to believe that the various colors found in these regions 
 are simply varieties of the same species, and that the diftier- 
 ences if any, seen in the Zib. [sic, lege sibelWm] are merely 
 continental. In summer, when the long hairs have fallen off, 
 the pelage of this animal is darker than in winter. The fore- 
 head changes greatly, becoming as deeply colored as any other 
 part of the body, which is of an exceedingly dark brown tint 
 on the back, belly and legs. The yellow throat-markings are 
 much more distinct at this season, but vary much both in color 
 and extent, though in only one summer skin are they abso- 
 lutely wanting. The white edging on and around the ears still 
 remains, but the cheeks assume a grayer tint. The tail is not 
 so full, but from the high North latitude (the Arctic coast) 
 from which these skins were procured it is still rather bushy. 
 One of the specimens has the dark hairs laid on in thin longi- 
 tudinal stripes, causing a curious appearance." 
 
 The last paragraph brings us directly to the cousideratiou 
 of the position which the American Marten holds among its 
 congeners. Upon this vexed question it is incumbent upon 
 me to review the testimony for and against the specific dis- 
 tinction of this animal from the Old World Pine Marten and 
 Sable, and to state clearly the grounds upon which my own 
 conclusions rest. Passing over some earlier accounts, which, 
 owing to inadequacy or lack of point, are entirely superseded 
 by later and better investigations, we may examine four au- 
 thors who have made the subject a matter oi special examina- 
 tion, namely, Gray, Brandt, Baird, and Allen. 
 
 In the first place, M. foina may be thrown entirely out of 
 
RELATIONSHIPS OF MU8TELA AMERICANA. 
 
 85 
 
 the questiou. It is dow almost universally admitted to be a 
 distinct species, even by the most cautious and conservative 
 writers, some among whom, like Bell, were formerly inclined 
 to the contrary opinion. Some external characters, more or 
 less obvious and constant, like the white gular patch, are 
 correlated with perfectly definite and satisfactory cranial and 
 dental peculiarities, as elsewhere detailed in this paper. 
 
 In discussing the European and American Pine Martens, to 
 which I will now direct attention, Gray, Brandt, and Baird 
 were agreed upon specific distinction. Allen dissented from such 
 view, reviving the case as presented by Richardson, Audubon, 
 and others. Dr. Gray made the separation entirely upon the 
 character of the posterior upper molar. Dr. Brandt elaborately 
 detailed external characters of size, proportion, color, and char- 
 acter of pelage. Baird adduced certain cranial and dental as 
 well as external features. Allen confined himself to ezternal 
 points. Finding that the accounts of authors are unsatisfac- 
 tory or conflicting in these respects (as may be truly said to be 
 the case), observing the great admitted range of variation, and 
 not examining the skulls and teeth, he disallowed specific valid- 
 ity. I myself, with ample material before me, do not find suffi- 
 cient grotinds derived from examination of the skins alone for 
 admitting the specific distinction of M. americana and martes 
 (but it is otherwise when the skull and teeth are considered). 
 Some of the alleged distinctions obviously fail. Thus, there is 
 no difference in the furring of the soles (cf. Baird, oj). cu. p. 
 154) ; in the animal from either country, the pads may be ex- 
 posed or concealed according to season or locality. Many of 
 the minute points of coloration adduced by Brandt cannot be 
 verified, and, indeed, are negatived in the examination of suffi- 
 cient series of specimens. Prof. Baird has, I think, most perti- 
 nently summed the case in the following terms {I. c): — "The 
 Swedish specimens are much larger, although the skulls appear 
 to indicate the same age. The fur is harsher and coarser, and 
 the prevailing tints paler ; the tail and feet are not very dark 
 brown, instead of being almost black. The color of the fur at 
 base lis lighter. The throat-patch does not touch the fore legs. 
 The tails of the European specimens appear longer in propor- 
 tion to the boily . . . . " This greater length of the tail is 
 also attested by Brandt, who says that the tail-vertebife in M. 
 martes equal one half or more of the length of head and 
 body, and extend nearly one-third beyond the outstretched 
 
 '< J 
 
86 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 hind legs. This distinction is confirmed, as an average char- 
 acter, by the specimens before me, thongh, like other matters 
 of mere degree, it is subject to some uncertainty of determina- 
 tion. I similarly endorse, on the whole, a lighter, grayer, more 
 uniform coloration of .V. martes, although in the interminable 
 variations of M. amcrivana probably no infallible distinctions 
 can be substantiated. But all these points have a certain value 
 when correlated, as they should be, with the cranial and dental 
 peculiarities. These are decided, and, I think, not open to 
 reasonable question as atfording good specific characters. 
 Baird has tabulated most of them, and the specimens I have 
 examined confirm nearly all the distinctions he has sought to 
 establish. While he has not, as asserted by Gray, overlooked 
 certain dental peculiarities, he has perhaps not laid the stress 
 upon them which is warranted. Gray rests secure, I think, in 
 basing the primary distinction upon the remarkable features 
 presented by the tick upper molar. We may bring the points 
 to mind by saying that in M. martes we find an hourglass- 
 shaped tooth with one bulb (the inner) very much larger than 
 the other ; while in M, americctna there is less median constric- 
 tion, nearly an equality in size of the two bulbs, and an emar- 
 giuate instead of simply convex exterior contour of the outer 
 bulb. There are coordinated dental characters : the last upper 
 premolar in M. martes has a strong, directly transverse. Inner 
 fang; t'uv. same in M. amcricana is smaller and oblique. The 
 penultimate lower molar in M. martes develops a compara- 
 tively strong supplementary cusp at the base on the inner side 
 of the main cusp, represented in M. americana merely by a 
 slight heel. It is to these dental characters that I primarily 
 refer in predicating, as I do, specific validity of ilf. americana. 
 I coordinate them with the cranial characters elsewhere de- 
 tailed, and supplement them with the less essential external 
 features already noted, in coming to the conclusion that the 
 American is not the Pine Marten of Europe. 
 
 The question then narrows to the characters cf ilf. amcricana 
 in comparison with those of M. zibellina, the true "Eussian" 
 Sable. Gray separate? .j two upon dental peculiarities; the 
 Sable having, according to his determination, the same dental 
 characters as M. martes. I regret that I have not been able to 
 verify this. If it indeed holds, it would be sufficient to settle 
 the issue between M. zibellina and M. americana, whatever 
 might then become of the ascribed and supposed differences 
 
RELATIONSHIPS OP MUSTELA AMERICANA. 
 
 87 
 
 between the former of these and ^1/. martes. Viewing the un- 
 questionably close relations between the American and Asiatic 
 Sables, it becomes very desirable to clear up this point. With- 
 out reference to dental or cranial characters, Baird says that 
 ''the' true Sable is readily distinguishable by the short tail, 
 which does not extend as far as the end of the outstretched 
 hind feet, and by the bfills of the toes covered entirely with 
 woolly fur ". The latter distinction does not hold, as we have 
 seen; the former is disallowed by Brandt, who finds that in 
 both the Asiatic and American Sable the tail has much the 
 same length, being, without the hairs, about one-third the body, 
 and not reaching as far as the outstretched hind feet. Certain 
 supposed color distinctions which Brandt found in the Ameri- 
 can specimens he examined are clearly negatived by the more 
 extensive series before me. He, however, finds in the Ameri- 
 can animal a pelage less dense and lighter-colored, with a less 
 bushy tail, and, upon such considerations, is induced to regard 
 it rather as a variety of the zihellina than as a distinct species 
 or as the Pine Marten of Europe. The very close relationships 
 of the American and Asiatic Sables are unquestionable. Brandt 
 properly alludes to intermediate specimens he had seen ; Mr. 
 Ross reaflflrms such a state of the case; in fine, external char- 
 acters, when thoroughly sifted, are seen to be inadequate as a 
 means of specific diagnosis. The case really hinges upon the 
 validity of the dental characters ascribed by Gray, of which it 
 is seen that Brandt makes no note. If these characters hold, 
 there is no doubt of the propriety of separating M. americana 
 specifically ; otherwise, it must be referred to M. zihellina as a 
 continental race, as Brandt has done. 
 
 In the present state of the case, this may be consideied the 
 proper reply to the often-asked question, have we the true Sable 
 in America ? The animal is, to all external appearance, indis- 
 tinguishable except in some of those slight points of pelage 
 which, through the whims of fashion, affect its commercial 
 value, but there may be a technical zoological character of im- 
 portance in the teeth. «' ; .'.:. 
 
 I will only add that I see nothing tending to give weight to 
 a supposition that there might be more than one species or va- 
 riety of Marten on this continent. All the endless diversity in 
 minor points which inspection of large series reveals comes 
 clearly within the range of individual variability as a result of 
 climate, season, age, sex, or other incidents. 
 
 : 
 
 
 'i i 
 

 r 
 
 88 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Meaauremenh * of thirty-four fresh Mpicimeua of Mustula amekicana. 
 
 !1:' 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 i!i' .. 
 
 1017 
 1018 
 1019 
 lOiO 
 lOSl 
 10S9 
 1033 
 1035 
 1043 
 1046 
 1649 
 165e 
 1651 
 
 lefM 
 
 16S5 
 1638 
 1663 
 1863 
 1706 
 1634 
 1633 
 1636 
 1637 
 1640 
 1648 
 M34 
 1635 
 1636 
 1637 
 1628 
 1639 
 1630 
 1631 
 1639 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Ynkon (November) 
 
 ...do do 
 
 do .. (October) 
 
 ....do ..(December) 
 
 , ...do do 
 
 ....do do 
 
 ....do do 
 
 , ...do do 
 
 do ..(Marcb) , 
 
 ...do do 
 
 Peel's River (December) 
 
 ...do. 
 
 do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 . . . do . . 
 
 do .. 
 
 do .. 
 
 do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 — do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 . . . . do . . 
 — do .. 
 
 . . . dn . . 
 — do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do .. 
 
 ...do.. 
 
 .(November) 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 .do 
 
 .. . (December). 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 ...(November). 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 . , . (December) . 
 ...(October) ... 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 . do 
 
 . . do 
 
 ..do 
 
 ..do 
 
 .do 
 
 From tip of noae 
 
 to— 
 
 ^ I «' 
 
 !l.6ol3. 
 
 il.70;3. 
 
 11. 40 3. 
 
 1.45,3. 
 !l. 5513. 
 
 1. 65 3. 
 !l.60 3. 
 |l.70i3. 
 
 I. 5()'3. 
 1.73 3. 
 11.45 3. 
 
 II. 43 3. 
 11.603. 
 1 1.40.'. 
 
 1. 70 3. 
 
 1. 43 3. 
 
 1. 65 3. 
 
 1. 60 3. 
 
 1.60,3. 
 !l. 60 3. 
 
 1.60 3. 
 
 1.40 3. 
 ; 1.45 2. 
 11.60 3. 
 ;i.6.i:i. 
 
 1.35 3. 
 
 11.60 3. 
 'l.fi0 3. 
 jl. 60 3. 
 11.60 3. 
 11.60 3. 
 
 '1. tin 3. 
 
 1.50 3. 
 {1.40 3. 
 
 18 
 
 00 4. 40 
 
 00i4.3U| 
 6013. 80 
 60'3. 43; 
 6OI3. 60 
 90|3. i»5 
 90';». 95 
 75|3. 90 
 65'3. 60 
 I0|4.05i 
 60':i. 50' 
 fO 3. 30| 
 90 :}. 85 
 70|3. 45 
 M 4. 10 
 503. 55 
 00,3. 95I 
 90 3. 85! 
 90 3. 90; 
 Oii:i. m| 
 h5 .1. 73 
 50 3. 50; 
 60 A. 60t 
 80 3. >>0' 
 10 4. 10| 
 .-10 3. 80 
 90 3. 851 
 30 4. 00 
 95 3. 95i 
 75 3. 85! 
 10 4. OOJ 
 90 :). 80! 
 80 3. 85i 
 70 3. 50; 
 
 18.50 
 18.75 
 13.60 
 16.00 
 16.30 
 18.23 
 17.50 
 19.30 
 16.60 
 18.70 
 16.00 
 16.70 
 17. 75 
 15.50 
 18.30 
 16. 30 
 
 Tail to 
 end of— 
 
 a 
 » 
 
 7.60 
 8.301 
 8.25! 
 6.30! 
 7.30 
 8.35! 
 8.00' 
 8.50 
 7.10' 
 7.80i 
 6.50 
 6.60' 
 8.00i 
 6.50 
 7.85! 
 7.15! 
 
 17. 60i7. 20 
 18. 30 8. 00! 
 
 18. 40 7. 80i 
 17. 4017. 90! 
 17. 40 7. 30 
 
 16. OOI7. 00' 
 16.501 7. 25 
 
 17. 907. 90! 
 
 18. 30:7. 80 
 17. 00 7, 25 
 
 17. I0I7.40, 
 
 18. 00'7. 15 
 17. 00 7. 10 
 17. 60 7. 75' 
 17. .50 7. 30 
 17. 50 7. 60 
 17. 70 7. 35 
 15. 80 6. 90' 
 
 1 I 
 
 10. 00 3. 
 12.00 3. 
 
 Length 
 of— 
 
 9.85 
 
 9.80 
 10.60 
 11.83 
 11.00 
 IS. 00 
 10.40 
 11. 4013. 
 
 9. 80 3. 
 10. 50 3. 
 11.60 3 
 10. 10|3. 
 
 10. 60|3. 
 10. 19 3. 
 10. 30 3. 
 liL 00l3. 
 
 11. 30j3. 
 
 10. 70I3. 
 
 10. 30|3. 
 
 9. 90|3. 
 
 10. 0013. 
 
 11. 1013. 
 
 10. 8013. 
 10. 35 3. 
 
 10. 70:3 
 
 10. 35^3. 
 10. 3013. 
 11. 05l3. 
 11. 10 3. 
 
 10. 70 J. 
 9. 85,3 
 9. 80 3. 
 
 35' 4. 45 
 
 40 4.30 
 70 3. 59 
 90 3.63 
 80 3. 80 
 104.30 
 00 4.30 
 104.40 
 50 3.6.=) 
 10 4. 10 
 65 3.80 
 80.3.80 
 30 4. 30 
 60 3.60 1.33 
 23 4. 45 1. 63 
 603.701.40 
 10 4.20 1.43 
 
 00 4.31 
 
 10 4.25 1.50 
 
 Ml 
 
 'S 
 
 » 
 
 1.40 
 
 1.30 
 1.25 
 1.20 
 
 1.55 
 1.20 
 1.60 
 1.30 
 
 ■| 
 
 a Si 
 
 c 
 
 1.50 
 
 05 4. 10 
 
 10 4. 30 
 70 3. 70 
 75 3. 75 
 05 4. 10 
 15 4. 10 
 00 4.10 
 00 4.00 
 00 4.00 
 80,4. 00 
 00 4. 10 
 05 4. 20 
 00 4. 25 
 00 4.10 
 653.70 
 
 l.35| 
 1.40 
 1.25| 
 1.30i 
 1.50 
 1..53 
 1.60 
 l.SOl 
 1.55! 
 1.5.31 
 I.43I 
 1.601 
 1.55 
 1.50 
 1,40! 
 
 Fresh. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ..do. 
 ..do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ..do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ..do. 
 ..do. 
 ...do. 
 ..do. 
 ..do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ...du. 
 ...do. 
 ...do. 
 ..do. 
 
 ' A» recorded by the collectors on tbe l.tbels of the spectmens. 
 
 y^f 
 
 1 
 
 j;;h . 
 
 1 
 
 I;!! 
 
 1 
 
 ft 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 The foregoing table of careful fresh measurements satisfac- 
 torily indicates the average lUmeusious and range of variation 
 of this species in the higher latitudes. The female is seen to 
 be considerably smaller than the male on an average, though 
 the dimensions of the sexes inosculate. The range is from 15^ 
 to over 19 in length of head and body, with an average near 
 17J. The tail-vertebrte range from little over C to 8^, averaging 
 near 7 J. With the hairs, this member ranges from 9J to 12 
 inches, being generally about 11 inches, ijar from about 1{ to 
 If, generally about 1 ^. Fore toot 2f to 3f , settling near 3. Hind 
 foot 3§ to nearly 4 J, generally a little over 4. These extremes, 
 it will be remembered, are those between the largest males and 
 smallest females ; neither sex has so wide a range. 
 
VARIATION IN SKULLS OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 89 
 OEOGBAPBICAL YARIATx 'N IN THE SKULLS OF M. AMERICANA. 
 
 Mr. J. A. AUeu has recently * giveu a table of measuremeut of 
 length and breadth of forty-six skulls of this species, prepared to 
 show the range of geographical variation. His results are here 
 reproduced, together with his critical commentary on the 
 specific validity of M. amcricanu. It will be seen that he aban- 
 dons his former t position, and endorses the distinctive charac- 
 ters of the dentition of MM. martes, foina, and americana. 
 
 The forty -six male skulls of this species, of which measuremeuts are 
 given below, are mainly from four or five localities differing widely in lati- 
 tude. A comparison of the average size of a considerable number from each 
 shows a well-marked decrease in size southward. Four skulls from Peel 
 River, the largest, and also from the most northerly locality, have an aver- 
 age length of 3,39, and an average width of 2.0?, the extremes being 3.50 and 
 3.3.') in length and 2.12 and 2.02 in width. Nine skulls from the Yukon (prob- 
 ably mostly from near Fort Yukon ) give an average length of 3.34 and an aver- 
 age width of 1.98, the extremes being 3.55 and 3.00 in length and 2.15 and 1.73 
 in width. Five skulls from Fort Good Hope give jiu average length of 3.24 
 and an average width of 1.95, the extremes in length being 3.37 and 3.15 and 
 in width 2.05 and 1.73. Ten skulls from the northern shore of Lake Superior 
 average 3.14 in length and 1.76 in width, the extremes in length being 2.23 
 nud 3.02 and in width 1.89 and 1.65. Eight skulls from the vicinity of Um- 
 bagog Lake, Maine (Coll. Mus. Comp. ZoiJl.), average 2.96 in length and 1.7 
 in width, the extremes in length being 3.10 and 2.73 and in width 1.H5 and ■ 
 1,50. Five skulls fi'om Northeastern New York average 3.02 in length and 
 1.61 in width, the extremes being in length 3.10 and 2.92 and in width 1.63 
 and 1.50. There is thus a gradual descent in the average length from 3.39 
 to 3.02, and in width from 2.07 to l.Ol. The largest and the smallest of the 
 series are respectively 3.55 and 2.92 in length. Several fall as low as 3.00, 
 and an equal number attain 3.50. The difference between the largest and 
 the smallest, excluding the most extreme examples, is one-sixth of the dimen- 
 sions of the smaller and one-seventh of the size of the larger. 
 
 The sexes differ considerably in size, relatively about the same as in Piup- 
 riiis vismi; but the above generalizations are based wholly on males, and in 
 each case on those of practically the same age, only spticimens indicating 
 mature or advanced age being used. 
 
 The series of fully one hundred skulls of this species contained in the 
 National Museum presents a considerable range of variation in details of 
 structure, involving the general form of the skull, the relative size of differ- 
 ent parts, and the dentition, especially the form and relative size of the last 
 molar. In a former paper,t I had occasion to notice somewhat in detail the 
 variations in color our American Martens present, and the difficulty of flnd- 
 
 * Bull. IT. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, vol. ii, 
 no. 4, pp. 328-330 (July, 1876). 
 
 t Bull, Mus. Comp. Zool. Cambridge, i, pp. 161-167 lOct. 1869). 
 
 t" Mammals of Massachusetts"', Bull. Mus. Comp, Znijl. vol. i, pp. 161-167 
 (Oct., 1869). 
 
 J 
 
 J 
 
90 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID-E. 
 
 ing »ny features of coloratiou that seemed to indicate more than a single 
 American species, or that would serve to distinguish this even from the Mar- 
 tens of the Old World. Dr. J. E. Gray, it is true, had already called atten- 
 tion to the small size of the last molar iu the American Martens as compared 
 with the size of the same tooth in the Old World Martens ; but, as his obser- 
 vation was apparently based on a single American skull, and as I was at 
 the time strongly impressed with the wide range of individual variation I 
 had found in allied groups, even in dental characters, and also with the great 
 frequency of Dr. Gray's characters failing to be distinctive, I was misled 
 into supp<^Hing all the Martens might belong to a single circumpolar upecies, 
 with several more or less strongly-marked geographical races. My friend 
 Dr. Coues some months since kindly called my attention to the validity of 
 Dr. Gray's alleged difference in respect to the size and form of the last molar, 
 which I have since had opportunity of testing. This character alone, however, 
 fails to distinguish Mmiela foina from Muntela americana, in which the last 
 molar is alike, or so nearly so that it fails to furnish distinctive diiferences. 
 The size and general form of the skull in the two are also the same, the 
 shape of the skull and the form of the last upper molar failing to be diag- 
 nostic. The second lower true molar, however, in Mustela foina presents a 
 character (shared by all the Old World Martens) which serves to distinguish 
 it from Muatela amerkaiia, namely, the presence of an inner cusp not found 
 iu the latter. In Muatela Jiavigula, the last molar is relatively snwller than 
 even in Mustela americana, and of the same form. Mustela martea differs iu 
 its more massive dentition and in the heavier structure of the skull, but 
 especially in the large size of the last molar and the very great development 
 of its inner portion. Hence, while the size apd shape of the last upper molar 
 serves to distinguish Mustela martes from Mustela americana, it fails as a valid 
 distinction between Mustela americana and Mustela flavigula and Mustela foina. 
 As already remarked, however, Mustela americana lacks the inner cusp of the 
 second lower molar, which is present in the Old World Martens, or at least 
 possesses it only in a very rudimentary condition. . , 
 
 , > ' ' •,■■> ,1 , , '■ 
 
 Measurements of forty-six skulls of Mustela americana. 
 
 6043 
 6049 
 
 eoes 
 
 A04T 
 6044 
 6091 
 6048 
 6046 
 9090 
 7159 
 7167 
 7168 
 7164 
 7163 
 6081 
 6080 
 6063 
 6059 
 3385 
 
 Locality. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ya1{0D River cf 
 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 
 d 
 
 d" 
 
 'Kenai, Alaska | d" 
 
 Fort Good Hope ; dT 
 
 do I d" 
 
 do I d 
 
 do ' d 
 
 do d 
 
 Peel River d" 
 
 do d 
 
 do I d 
 
 do .1 d 
 
 Red River i d 
 
 EC 
 
 a 
 
 3.55 
 
 50 
 
 45 
 
 37 
 
 30 
 
 00 
 
 38 
 
 3.38 
 
 3.30 
 
 3.37 
 
 3,35 
 
 3.35 
 
 3.35 
 
 3.15 
 
 3.50 
 
 3.37 
 
 3.35 
 
 3.35 
 
 3.40 
 
 
 3.15 
 1.85 
 1.83 
 1.83 
 1.85 
 1.73 
 
 1.83 
 3.03 
 3.05 
 1.98 
 1.93 
 1.76 
 1.73 
 3.03 
 3.13 
 
 t.»4 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Imperfect. 
 
 Imperfect. 
 ....:. do. 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THK MARTEN. 
 
 M€((»u I emenis of forty-six «A«7fs 0/ Mustela americaxa— Continued. ' 
 
 II 
 "38 
 
 = 
 
 Locality. 
 
 4670 
 4668 
 4664 
 4668 
 4666 
 4675 
 4674 
 4667 
 4672 
 4681 
 
 1668 
 
 1163 
 
 3819 
 
 3818 
 
 2<245 
 
 541 
 
 550 
 
 543 
 
 552 
 
 553 
 
 543 
 
 545 
 
 544 
 
 Lake Superior (north shore) . 
 
 .do 
 
 .do 
 
 .do 
 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 
 .do. 
 
 05 
 
 .do. 
 
 d 
 
 d 
 d 
 
 Wasliington Territory 
 
 do 
 
 do J 
 
 do 
 
 Essex County, New York \ d 
 
 do I cT 
 
 <lo i d 
 
 do I d 
 
 Sarauac Lake, New Toi & i d 
 
 Umbagog Lake, Maine I d 
 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 ■d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Rather young. 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE SPECIES. 
 
 According to the foregoing consideratioos, the history of 
 this interesting animal, one highly valuable iu an economic 
 point of view, is to be disentangled from that of the European 
 and Asiatic species, with which it has always been to a greater 
 or less degree intermixed. The first specific name, so far as I 
 have become aware, is that bestowed iu 1806 by Turtou, in an 
 edition of the Systema datura!; if there be an earlier one, it 
 has escaped me. This name, however, appears to have been 
 generally overlooked, or at least unemployed, until of late 
 years revived by Professor Baird. His usage of the term, 
 however, has received but partial support, some of the later 
 writers agreeing with the custom of earlier ones in referring 
 our animal to the European Marten, from which, as I have 
 shown, it is well distinguished. Previous to the appearance of 
 Dr. Brandt's elaborate memoir, only one author, it seems, 
 among those who denied its specific validity, came so near the 
 mark as to refer it to the Asiatic Sable. This was Dr. God- 
 man, but even he used the name under the impression that the 
 true Sable existed in America, as well as the Pine Marten, 
 
92 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 i^ 
 
 % 1 
 
 K t 
 
 11. 
 
 which he refers to as M. martes. As will be seen by reference 
 to the list of synonyms, several nominal species have been 
 established at the expense of the American Sable, upon slight 
 individaal peculiarities. The earliest of these is the M. viilpina 
 of M. Raflnesque, which represents the occasional anomaly of 
 the tail white-tipped, as alluded to by Mr. Ross in the article 
 already quoted. A similar condition of the feet constitutes 
 Kuhl's M. leucopiis ; while the M. huro of F. Cuvier is appar- 
 ently only light-colored individuals. Dr. Gray seeks to estab- 
 lish these last two varieties, and adds another, M. abietinoides, 
 based upon dark-colored examples, with the *' throat-spot large 
 or broken up into small spots". But these pretended species 
 are not such, nor even as varieties are they entitled to more 
 than passing allusion, a? .'udicating to what extent some iudi- 
 vidnals may depart from the usual style of coloration. 
 
 Although the American animal was known in very early 
 times, long before it received a distinctive name, having been 
 referred alternately to the European Pine Marten and Asiatic 
 Sable, or to both of these species, v^ry little definite informa- 
 tion upon its range and habits was recorded for many years. 
 Pennant, our principal early authority on the animals of the 
 Xorth American fur countries, and the source of much subse- 
 quent inspiration on these species, considered it the same as 
 31. martes, and drew its range accordingly. He states that it 
 inhabits, in great abundance, the northern parts of America, 
 in forests, particularly of pine and fir, nesting in the trees, 
 bringing forth once a year from two to four young ; that itf 
 food is principally, mice, but also includes such birds as it can 
 catch ; that it is taken in dead-falls, and sometimes eaten by 
 the natives. As an article of commerce in comparatively early 
 times, we notice the sale of some 15,000 skins in one year (1743) 
 by the Hudson's Bay Company, and the importation from Can- 
 ada by the French into Rochelle of over 30,000. '* Once in two 
 or three years," he adds, they " come out in great multitudes, 
 as if their retreats were overstocked : this the hunters look on 
 as a forerunner of great snows, and a season favorable to the 
 chase." Such periodicity in numbers thus early noted is con- 
 firmed by later observations. , /; 
 
 Sir John Richardson has the following observations upon th(> 
 distribution of the Sable in British America : " The Pine-martin 
 inhabits the woody districts in the northern parts of America, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in great numbers, and have 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MARTEN. 
 
 93. 
 
 been observed to be particularly abundnnt where the trees have 
 been killed by flio but are still standing. It is very rare as 
 Hearne has remarked, in the district lying north of Churchill 
 Eiver, and east of Great Slave Lake, known by the n&me of 
 Cbepewyan or Barren Lands. A similar district, on the Asiatic 
 side of Behring's Straits, twenty-five degrees of longitude io 
 breadth, and inhabited by the Tchutski, is described by Pen- 
 nant as equally unfrequented by the Martin, pad for the same 
 reason, — the want of trees. The limit of its northern range 
 in America is like that of the woods, about the sixty-eighth 
 degree of latitude, and it is said to be found as far south as New 
 England. Particular races of Martins, distinguished by the 
 fineness and dark colours of their fur, appear to inhabit certain 
 rocky districts. The rocky and mountainous but wood^ district of 
 the Nipigon, on the north side of Lake Superior, has long been 
 noted for its black and valuable Martin-skins. ... Upwards 
 of one hundred thousand skins have long been collected annu- 
 ally in the fur countriea." 
 
 But the range of the American Sable is now known to be 
 more extended in both directions than appears from the fore- 
 going. In some longitudes, at least, if not in all, it reaches the 
 Arctic coast, as mentioned by Mr. B. E. Boss, and as attested 
 by specimens I have examined. Mr. Ross states that it is found 
 throughout the Mackenzie Eiver District, except in the Barren 
 lands, to which it does not resort, being an arboreal animal. It 
 occurs abundantly in Alaska, apparently throughout that vast 
 country ; and, in short, we cannot deny it a less highly Arctic 
 extension than that of the Asiatic Sable. Along the Pacific 
 side of the continent, west of the Rocky Mountains, the Sable 
 has been traced to the Yuba River of California by Dr. J. S. 
 Newberry, who i onresents it as not uncommon in Oregon ; and 
 Dr. George Suckl >y procured specimens in Washington Terri- 
 tory. Mr. J. ^. /• i m found the animal in Wyoming and Colo- 
 rado, and CO > . lert? it as common iu the last-mentioned Territory 
 in Park County. But however far south it may extend in such 
 longitudes, there is apparently a great stretch of treeless country 
 in which it is not found at all. I obtained no indications of its 
 presence in any of the unwooded portions of Dakota and Mon- 
 tana, which I have explored with special reference to the dii"' 
 tribution of the Mammals and Birds. It is represented as com- 
 mon in CF^nada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. In 
 Kew England, according to Dr. Emmons, writing in 1840, it 
 
 m 
 
94 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 1= 
 
 ! ih 
 
 was uot infrequent in the pine and beech forests of Massachu- 
 setts, and Mr. Allen states that it is still occasionally seen in 
 the mountains of Berkshire County. It inhabits the mountain- 
 ous regions of New York and some parts of Pennsylvania ; but 
 in tracing its extreme southern limit in the Atlantic States, we 
 see that it has uot been found so far south as the Pekan has. I 
 find no indication of its occurrence in Maryland or Virginia. 
 The southern limit, which has been set at about 40<^ north, is 
 probably correct for this longitude, though in the mountainous 
 regions of the West it may require to be somewhat extended. 
 General considerations aside, its local distribution is determined 
 primarily by the presence or absence of trees, and further 
 affected by the settlement of the country. Being of a shy and 
 suspicious nature, it is one of the first to disappear, among the 
 smaller animals, with the advance of civil zation into its woody 
 resorts. In unpeopled districts, even the vast numbers that 
 are annually destroyed for the pelts seems to affect their abund- 
 ance less materially than the settlement of tho country does. 
 Notwithstanding such destruction, they abound in the northern 
 wilds. Even in Nova Scotia, a thousand skins are said to have 
 been exported annually within a few years, and they may justly 
 be regarded as among the most important of the land fur-bearing 
 animals. Eespecting their comparative scarcity at times, Mr. 
 Boss has recorded a remarkable fact of periodical disappear- 
 ance. " It occurs in decades," he says, " or thereabouts, with 
 wonderful regularity, and it is quite unknown what becomes of 
 them. They are not found dead. The failure extends through- 
 out the Hudson's Bay Territory at the same time. And there 
 is no tract, or region to which they can migrate where we have 
 uot posts, or into which our hunters have not penetrated. . . . 
 When they aie at their lowest ebb in point of numbers, they 
 will scarcely bite at all [at the bait of the traps]. Providence 
 appears thus to have implanted some instinct in them by which 
 the total destruction of their race is prevented." 
 
 The Sable is ordinarily captured in wooden traps of very 
 simple construction, made on the spot. The traps are a little 
 enclosure of stakes or brush in which the bait is placed upon 
 a trigger, with a short upright stick supporting a log of wood; 
 the animal is shut oflf from the bait in any but the desired 
 direction, and the log falls upon its victim with the slightest 
 disturbance. A line of such traps, several to the mile, often 
 extends many miles. The bait is any kind of meat, a mouse, 
 
 B!u I'i 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MARTEN. 
 
 95 
 
 squirrel, piece of fisb, or bird's head. One of the greatest ob- 
 stacles that the Sable huuter has to contend with in many 
 localities is the persistent destruction of his traps by the Wol- 
 verene and Pekan, both of which display great cunning and 
 perseverance in following up his line to eat the bait, and even 
 the Sables themselves which may bo captured. The exploits 
 of these animals in this respect may be seen from the accounts 
 elsewhere given. I have accounts from Hudson's Bay trappers 
 ot a Sable road fifty miles long, containing 150 traps, every one 
 of which was destroyed throughout the whole line twice — once 
 by a Wolf, once by the Wolverene. When thirty miles of 
 this same road wa3 given up, the remaining 40 traps were 
 broken five or six times in succession by the latter animal. 
 The Sable is principally trapped during the colder mouths, from 
 October to April, when the fur is in good condition ; it is nearly 
 valueless during the shedding in summer. Sometimes, however, 
 bait is refused in March, and even early that month, probably 
 with the coming on of the rutting season. The period of full 
 furring varies both in spring and autumn, according to lati- 
 tude, by about a month as an extreme. 
 
 Notwithstanding the x^ersistent and uninterrupted destruc- 
 tion to which the Sable is subjected, it does not appear to 
 diminish materially in numbers in unsettled parts of the 
 country. The periodical disappearances noted by Mr. Ross 
 and the animal's early retreat before the inroads of population 
 are other matters. It holds its own partly in consequence of its 
 shyness, which keeps it away from the abodes of men, and 
 partly because it is so prolific; it brings forth six or eight young 
 at a litter. Its home is sometimes a den under ground or be- 
 neath rocks, but ofteuer the hollow of a tree; it is said to fre- 
 quently take forcible possession of a Squirrel's nest, driving off 
 or devouring the rightful proprietor. Though frequently called 
 Pine Marten, like its European relative, it does not appear to be 
 particularly attached to coniferous woods, though these are its 
 abode in perhaps most cases, simply because such forests pre- 
 vail to a great extent in the geographical areas inhabited by 
 the Marten. 
 
 The Sable is no partner iu guilt with the Mink and Stoat in 
 invasion of the farm-yard, nor will it, indeed, designedly take 
 up its abode in the clearing of a settler, preferring always to 
 take its chances of food supi)ly in the recesses of the forest. 
 Active, industrious, cunning, and predaceous withal, it finds 
 
96 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN Ml'STELID^. 
 
 ample siibsisteuce in tlie weaker Rodents, Insectivora, and birds 
 and their eggs. It hunts on the ground for Mice, which con- 
 stitute a large share of its sustenance, as well as for Shrews, 
 Moles, certain reptiles, and insects. An expert climber, qaite 
 at home in the leafy intricacies of tree tops, it pursues Squirrels, 
 and goes birds'-nesting with success. It is said to also secure 
 toads, frogs, lizards, and even fish. Like the Wolverene and 
 Fekan, it sometimes makes an entrance upon the hoards of meat 
 and fish which are cached by the natives in the higher latitudes. 
 It is said not to reject carrion at times. It has been stated to 
 eat various nuts and berries, as well as to be fond of honey; but 
 we may receive such accounts with caution, viewing the very 
 highly carnivorous character of the whole group to which the 
 species belongs. ;.','.,v' '•:,■;-<■ ;- .:„-■„;■'.*:...;■.■■• 'w:-:- ■-•. 
 
 The Sable has some of the musky odor characteristic of its 
 family, but in very mild degree compared with the fetor of 
 the Mink or Polecat. Hence the name " Sweet Marten ", by 
 which its nearest European ally is known, in contradistinction 
 from Foulimart, or " Foul Marten ", a name of the Polecat. 
 With a general presence more pleasing than that of the spe- 
 cies of Putorius, it combines a nature, if not less truly preda- 
 ceous, at least less sanguinary and insatiable. It does not kill 
 after its hunger is appeased, nor does a blind ferocity lead it 
 to attack animals as much larger than itself as those that the 
 Stoat assaults with success. Animals like the Eabbit and 
 Squirrel form less of its prey than the smaller Bodents and 
 Insectivores. In confinement, the Marten becomes in time 
 rather gentle, however untamable it may appear at first ; it is 
 sprightly, active, with little unpleasant odor, and altogether 
 rather agreeable. i '^ 
 
 •:w4- ' /^»if •/ 
 
 liiiili! 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MUSTELINiE— Continued : The Weasels. 
 
 The genus PutoriiiH — Generic characters and remarks — Division of the genus 
 into sabgenera — Analysis of the North American species — The subgenus 
 Gale — Putmius vulgaris, the Common Weasel — Synonymy— Habitat— Spe- 
 cific characters — General characters and relationships of the species — Geo- 
 graphical distribution — Habits — Putoriua erminea, the Stoat or Ermine^ 
 Synonymy — Habitat — Specilic characters — Discussion of specific charac- 
 ters and relationships — Table of measurements — Note on the skull and 
 teeth — Description of external cluiracters — Conditions of the change of 
 color — General history and habits of the species — Its distribution in the 
 Old World — Ptitorius longlmuda. the Long-tailed Weasel — Synonymy — 
 Habitat— Specific characters — Description — Measurements — General ac- 
 count of the speciep — Putoriut braaiUetms frenaius, the Bridled Weasel — 
 Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — General account of the species. 
 
 CONTINUING with the subfamily Miistelince, but passing 
 from the genus Miistela, we reach the next genus, Pnto- 
 m», which contains the true Weasels or Stoats (subgenus 
 Gale), the Ferrets and Polecats (suligenus Putorius proper), 
 the American Ferret (subgenus Cynomyonax)^ and the Minks 
 (subgenus Lutreola). This chapter is devoted to the considera- 
 tion of the species of the first of these sections, after presenta- 
 tion of the characters of the genus at large. The other sec- 
 tions are reserved for succeeding chapters. , 
 
 . . The Genus PUTORIUS. (CuviER.) 
 
 < MnsteU, or Msrtes, of some anthers. 
 
 X Viverra «p., I<u(ra «p- of some authors. 
 
 = Putorius, Ouviw, Rdgne Anim. i. 1817, and of authors generally. 
 
 ■= FflBtoriUS, Keyi. d BVm. Wirbelth. Eur. 1840. 
 
 > Gymnopus, Oray, Cat. Mamm. Br. Mns. 1842. 
 
 > Lutreola, " Wagner ", Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 117. (Type Mxutela lutreola L .) 
 
 > Gale, "Wagner", Oray, P. Z. S. 1865, 118. 
 
 > Neogale, Oray, P. Z. S. 1865, 114. (Type P. braeiliengit.) 
 
 > Vlson, G^ray, P. Z. S. 1865, 115. (Type P. wiwn.) 
 
 3 
 
 -3 . 
 
 C. 
 
 Pm. 
 
 Gknbric characters. — Dental formula: I. ^ __ 
 M. i^ =1| =34 (one premolar above and below less than in Gu Jo and Mm- 
 tela). Sectorial tooth of lower jaw (anterior true molar) without an inter- 
 7 m 97 
 
n 
 
 NORTH AX.ERICAN MUSTELID/E. 
 
 mi i 
 
 rl 
 
 nal cusp. Aatoorbital foramen preMenting downward-forward (as in .Vjjs- 
 tela; revertto of (hih), a mere oriticu, not canal-like, and opening over the 
 last premolar (the opening more anterior in Giilo and Mualvia), Skull as a 
 rule* little contracted at tbe middle ; the rostral portion extremely short, 
 stout, turgid, scarcely tapering, and much more vertically truncated than in 
 Giilo or Mustrla; frontal protilo convex, and usually more nearly horizontal 
 than in Galo or Mu»tela. Nasal bones widening forward from an acute base. 
 General outline of skull in profile scarcely arched — sometimes (luite straight 
 and horizontal in most of its length. Production of mastoids and auditory 
 buUie and general promlneuco of pcriotic region at a minimum ; the bulhi> 
 flatter than in Mimtela or Gnlo, and scarcely so constricted across as to pro- 
 duce a tubular meatus. Zygomatic arch usually not higher behind than iu 
 front, nowhere vertical nor developing a posterior convexity. Depth of 
 emargination of palate little if any greater, or less than, distance thence to 
 the molars. Skull as a whole more massive than in Mmtela, though smaller. 
 Size medium and very small (including the smallest species of the whole 
 family). Bo<ly cylindrical, slender, ofteu extremely so; legs verj' short; 
 tail long, terete, uniformly bushy or very slendes and close-haired, with a 
 terminal pencil. Ears large, orbicular. Soles commonly furry. Pelage 
 usually close and short, whole-, or oftener, parti-colored ; turning white iu 
 wiutor in Northern species. Progression digitigrade. Habits Indetermin- 
 ate — terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic. , 
 
 The foregoing characters are drawn up from consideration of 
 the European and North American forms, and may require 
 some qualification, in ultimate details, to cover all the modifi- 
 cations of this extensive genus, containing, as it does, several 
 sections or groups of species, probably of subgeneric value. 
 From Gulo or Mustela it is at once distinguished by the diiier- 
 ent dental formula. The skull, as compared with that of its 
 nearest ally, Mustela, differs notably in the shortness and 
 bluntness of the muzzle, position and direction of the ante- 
 orbital foramen, slight convexity of the upper profile, and other 
 points noted above. There is a decided difterence in the char- 
 acter of the auditory bullai, more readily perceived on compar- 
 ison than described; the bulhe are^ usually less inflated — some- 
 times quite flat, as in P. vison ; andf even when, as iu some 
 cases, the inflation of the basal portion is not much less than 
 in Mustela, we miss the constriction| which in the latter genus 
 produces a well-determined tubular meatus. The skull of Fn- 
 tortus is decidedly heavier for its size than that of Mustela, in 
 this respect more like that of Oulo, though it is comparatively 
 much flattened and other svise dissimilar from the latter. 
 
 The name of the genus is from the ILatin putor, a stench 
 
 * In some species of Putorim, however, the constriction is as great as is 
 ever found in Muatela. 
 
ANALY&iS OF THE GENUS PUTORIUS. 
 
 99 
 
 {puteo, to stink), aa one of its synonyras, F<etorius, is from 
 fietor^ /<eteo, of the same siguitication. The rehitiou of the 
 Eng\i»h putri<1, fetid, &c., is obvious. 
 
 The extensive genus Putorius is divisible into several well- 
 marked sections, doubtless of aubgeneric value. Three such 
 groups exist in North America. These may be analyzed as 
 follows, in connection with a fourth group, Putorius proper, 
 introduced to further elucidate the position and relations of a 
 new subgenus I propose for the reception of the Putorius ni- 
 yrii)es. 
 
 Dirisioii of the geiiitH iuto mthgriiera. 
 
 1. tfAi.K. * — The, StoafH or ICrmhien, and Weaseh, — Skull smooth, without 
 woll-devoloped Hagittal cro.st. Frontal profile strongly convex and decli- 
 vous. Pterygoids with small haninlar processes, or none. Bulhe anditoritr 
 nicked at end by orifice of the meatus. Skull moderately abruptly con- 
 stricted near the middle; postorbital processes slight. Species of snuill and 
 smallest size, with very slender, cylindrical, " vermiform " body, very loug 
 neck, and tail (of variable length) slenderly terete, with terminal pencil, 
 usually black ; pelage, including that of the tail, short and close set (the 
 Northern species usually turning white in winter), bicolor, of uniform color 
 above, lighter below. Ears li.ige, higlr, and orbicular. Palmar pads all 
 separate. Toes scarcely wobbed. Habits terrestrial, and somewhat arbo- 
 real ; not a<iuatic. Of general distribution in both hemispheres. 
 
 'i. CvNOMVONAXt (nob., subg. nov.).—Aiiivrir<in Ferret. — Skull developing 
 sagittal crest. Frontal profile scarcely or not convex, strongly declivous. 
 Pterygoids with slight Immular process. Bulla" auditoriie nicked by orifice 
 of meatus. Sectorial tooth of upper jaw with its outer border nearly straight, 
 developing no decided antero-oxtcrnal process, and the antero-internal pro- 
 cess merely a slight spur. Skull abruptly and strongly constricted iu ad- 
 vance of the middle, with strongly developed postorbital processes. Last 
 molar of under jaw minute, merely a cylindrical round-topped stump, without 
 trace of cusps or other irregularity of surface. Animal of large size, equal- 
 ling or exceeding a large Mink, yet retaining the attenuate, elongate and 
 cylindrical body, long neck, large suborbicular ears, slenderly terete black- 
 tipped tail, and close short pelage of Gale. Coloration not distinctively 
 bicolor ; legs darker than body ; peculiar facial marking. Toes not serai- 
 palmate. Palmar pads discrete. Habits terrestrial. No seasonal change of 
 colors. One species known, peculiar to North America. 
 
 3. Putorius I (proper). — The Ferrets or Polecats. — Skull finally develop- 
 ing sagittal crest, and roughened muscular impressions. Frontal profile 
 
 *£tym. — The Greek ya'/.i'/, a weasel. 
 
 \Etym. — Greek kvuv, dog, five, mouse, uva^ (or fivof), king. — The genns 
 Vynomys {kvuv, five) is that of the so-called " prairie-dogs", among which the 
 species lives, and upon which it largely subsists. — Cynomyonax, "king of 
 the prairie-dogs ". 
 
 \ Etym. — See above. 
 
 ':i I I 
 

 1^' :: 
 
 100 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDVE. 
 
 convex, strougly doclivoua. Pterygoids developing large hi 'nnlar processes. 
 Bullu) auditoriiD nicked by oriQce of ineatHH. Hkiill scarcely constricted near 
 the middle, where, if anything, it is broader than rostrum ; postorbital pro- 
 cesses poorly developed. Sectorial tootli of upper jaw as in Ciinomnonax. 
 Back molar of lower jaw of ordinary size, circular, developing irregularities 
 of the crown. Animals rather large, comparatively stout-bo<lied, less length- 
 ened, with rather bushy, tapering tail, and low, orbicular ears; pcluge 
 long and loose, instead of close-set, variegated above, or there not notably 
 darker than below ; do not turn white in winter. Palmar pads separate. 
 Toes not semipahnatc. Terrestrial in habits. The species confined to the 
 Old World, 
 
 4, LuTRKOLA*. — The Minks, — Skull of adult developing sagittal crest and 
 muscular impressions. Frontal outliue nearly straight and scarcely declivous. 
 Pterygoids with strong hamular procoss. BuUte auditoriiu notably less 
 inllated than in the foregoing, prolonged into a somewhat tubular meatus, 
 not nicked at orifice. Constriction of skull and development of postorbital 
 processes intermediate in degree between I'utorius proper and Vijnomyonax. 
 Sectorial tooth of upper jaw with its outer border concave, owing to devel- 
 opment of a strong antero-exterior spur, which lies out of the axis of dentition, 
 and forms with the antero-iutorior cusp (present in all Miintelinw) a rather 
 open V, into which the antecedent premolar fits, the antero-internal process 
 developing to a conical cusp. Back lower molar as in I'uturius proper. 
 Animals of large to largest size in the genus, stout-bodied, rather long and 
 very busby tail, cylindrico-tapering ; pelage moderately loose, but thick, 
 to resist water, very bristly and lustrous, dark-colored, unicolor or only 
 varied with irregular white patches on under parts ; no seasonal changes of 
 pelage. Ears very low. Feet semipnlmate, natatorial. Palmar pads with- 
 out hairy intervals. Habits highly aquatic. Species common to both hem- 
 ispheres. 
 
 The first of these subgenera is represented in North America 
 by several species, some of which are not clearly distinguished 
 from their congeners of Europe, while another is specifically 
 identical with an animal which ranges through Central into South 
 America. The second and fourth each contain a single North 
 American species, as far as known, the fourth having a closely 
 allied European congener ; while the second, peculiar to Amer- 
 ica, is the nearest analogue of the third, which has no exact 
 American representative. 
 
 The North American species of Putorius at large may be 
 determined by the following analysis of subgeneric and specific 
 characters: — , ,, 
 
 * Etym.—" Lutreola ", " Little Otter "—diminutive form of the Latin lutra, 
 an Otter, which the Mink much resembles. For von Marten's exposition of 
 the word lutra in its several forms, and discussion of the philological ques- 
 tions involved, see p. 29. 
 
ANALYSIS OP N. A. SPECIES OP PUTORIUS. 
 
 101 
 
 AnnlyxiH of Xorth Jmrricdn xpeiien nf I'litoriiig. 
 
 A. (Giile.) Of HumlloHt m/.o (len>;tli of Imail and body midor 12 inches), most 
 
 slender and attenuate body, and lonj^est nock. ICars conspiciiouH, 
 orbicular. Tail (jloTidtirly terete, witli tlio tip usually (rarely in 
 viilij((fin) black. Toes cleft. Palmar pads separate. Coloration 
 bicolor, in distinct upper and under areas, latter not darker than 
 former, feet not black; or, entirely white, excoptinjj black tip of 
 tail. (Weasels, Stoats or Erniincs.) 
 (I, Head not darker than rest of upper parts, nor variegated witli stroaki* 
 or spots. 
 a'. Tail pointed at end, scarcely or not black-tipped, 2 inchet* or less 
 in length, including hairs; belly white or scarcely tinged with 
 
 sulphury 1, P. vl'uiakis. 
 
 //. Tail with a terminal pencil of black hairs, and over 2 inches long, 
 
 including hairs. 
 
 a". Belly pure sulphury-yellow; tail-vertebne 2-5 inches long, the 
 
 black tip not confined to the terminal pencil. . . 2. P. kuminka. 
 
 ?>". Belly tawny, satlVon or salnion-yoUow ; tail (>-7 inches long, the 
 
 black tip reduced to terminal pencil. . . . :}. P. i-onoicaud.v. 
 
 h. Head darker than rest of ui ^.ar parts, with light stripes or spots; belly 
 
 as in h" 4. P. ijrasilikxsis fiu'.xatus. 
 
 B. {Cynomiionax.) Much larger; length of head and body over It inches; 
 
 body scarcely stouter, and equally close-haired, and tail very 
 short, slenderly terete, black-tipped. Ears conspicuous, orbic- 
 ular. Toes cleft. Palmar pads separate. Coloration not bicolor 
 in distinct areas. (American Ferret.) 
 Pale brown, nearly uniform, or brownish-white, scarcely darker on 
 the back ; feet, end of tail, and broad bar across the face black. 
 
 5. P. NIGKIPES. 
 
 C. {LiiQ'eohi.) Size of the last, or rather less ; body as stout or stouter. Ears 
 
 low. Toes semipalmate. Palmar i^ads fused. Tail uniformly 
 bushy. (Mink.) 
 Dark chestnut-brown or blackish, uniform, or only varied by white 
 patches below ; tail without differently colored tip. 
 
 6. P. VISON. 
 
 The Subgenus GALE. (WAGNER.) 
 
 This subgenus, which lucludes the Weasels proper and the 
 Stoats or Ermines, comprises a large majority of the species of 
 Putorius, widely distributed over the globe. The leading char- 
 acters which distinguish it from its nearest allies have already 
 been given (p. 99), together with an analysis of the four species 
 known to inhabit North America. Further details of the skull, 
 teeth, and external form are presented beyond, under head of 
 G. erminea, which, as a typical member of the subgenus, may 
 serve as a standard of comparison. We may at once, there- 
 fore, proceed to consider the several North American species. 
 
if 
 
 102 
 
 NORTU AMERICAN MUSTELID/E. 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 I fl 
 
 The IVeaMel. 
 
 Piitoriiis (Onle) Tiilgrnris. 
 
 Plate VI, Fios. 2, 4. • 
 («. Old World reforeneet.) 
 
 Mustela, Vitriorum {"Oem. Quad. 1551, 851, f. —.—Sc/iiwnriltA Tlieriotroph. 1603, 116.— 
 
 Ohai-M. Exercit. 1677, iO.—Rzncz. Polou. 1721, 235"). 
 Mustela vulijaris, Aldfov. Qnad. Digit. 1645, -im.-Sm. Scot. Illust. ii. Ifiell, W.—Kay, Syn. 
 
 16!»3, 195— i. ,S. N. eii*. 2(l-5tli, 1740-47, H.—Kb'ln, Quad. 1751, &i.—Jomt. Thoatr. 1755, 
 
 152, pi. 04.— B)-M«. Quad. 1756, 241, no. l.—Ei'xl. Syst. Auiin. 1777, 471, uo. 12 (syiion. 
 
 iiiHcb mixed with that of other species).- .S'eftrWi. Siiug. lii. 1778.— Om. S. N. i. 1788, 99.— 
 
 Jifchst. Xttturg. 1. , 612.— Ihirt. S. N. i. 1806, 61.— Dc«m. Marani. i. 1820, 179, no. 275; 
 
 Nouv. Diet. xix. 372; KQcy. Meth. pi. 84,f. l.—Fr. Our. Diet Sci. Xat. xxix.1823, 251, no. 
 
 7.— /». Oeof. Diet. Class. x.SKJ.- tcM. Man. 1827,146.— Fwo/i. Syn. 1829, 2'i3.—Fl<'m.lir. 
 
 An. 1828, 13— J(!«. IJr. Vert. 1835, 12.— B. H, Br. (,>nad. 1837, Ml ; 2d ed. 1874, 182, f. — .— 
 
 Seljfs-L. ¥u. Belg. 1842, 10.— Griiy, List Mainiu. Br. Mus. 1843, Gb.-Oirh. Siiug. 1855, 
 
 lS2.—FiU. Natiirg. Siiiis. i. 1861, 335, f. 69.— rrcrr. Cat. Br. Mas. 1862, 'Si.—Farwick, Zool. 
 
 <iart. xiv. 1873, 17 (alhino). 
 Muslela vultturlst a. «i><itlvii, P. nivalis, Om. S. K. i, 1788, 99, nos. 11 a, 11 b. 
 VIverra vulgaris, Shmr, G. Z. i, 1800, 4iO, pi. 98, upper tig. 
 Mustela (liale) viilKaris, ScAiHz.Syu.M.imm.i. 1844,344. -0;ai/.P. Z.S. 1865, 113; Cat. Carn. 
 
 Br. Mus. 1869, 90. 
 Putorlus vulgarlii. Griff. An. Kinjid. v. 1827, 121, no. 344 (but not same name on p. 120, no. 
 
 •Xid).—Hrandt. Wirb. Eur. N. E. Russl. , 26. 
 
 FflBtorliis vulKariN. Keys, dr Jilai. Wirb. Eur. 1840, 69, no. 14~.— Bins. Wirb. Deutschl. 1857, 
 
 'iZl.-Jiickel, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 459 (albino). 
 MllsteiA llivall!*, Linn. Fn. Suec. 2d ed. 1701, 7, no. 18; S. N. i. 1766, 69, no. 11.— Miill. Zool. 
 
 Prod. 1776, 3, no. 15.—Frxl. Syst. An. 1777, 476, no. U.—Schreb. Siiup. iii. 1778, pi. 138.— 
 
 Jl,ll. Kon. Vet. Akad. StncVh. vi. 1785, 212, no. 9, pi. l.—Lese. Man. 1827, 146. 
 Mustfia Kale, I'nU. Zoo;;. K.-A. i. 1831, 94, no. 32. 
 BtMtQ, liries. op. e,^ loc. eit.—liuf. Uiat. Nat. vii. 225, pi. 29, f. l.—J5omn/c, Diet. 1. 1768, 
 
 2G-i.— French.— Marcot, Marrolle, French. 
 roilimoil Weescl, Venn. Syu. (Jiiad. 1771, 212, no. J51 ; IJrit. Zool. 1. , 95, pi. 7, 1". It.— Shaw, 
 
 op. loc. cif.— Weasel or MecSf I, Knglish. 
 Srheeiiwlescl, Miill. Natnrs. i. 17;o,276 (= Jf. nivalis). 
 WIesel, Kleine WIeael, German (il. r. Martens, Zool. Gart. xi. 1870, p. 276, philological).— 
 
 We/el, JM(iie.—\«isv\, Laskatt, /^hhi*;!.— Sneemuus, Danish (white).— Snbmus, 
 
 Swedish (white).- BalluUula, //aitan.— I'oiuadreja, Spanish. 
 
 (ft. American references.) 
 
 .Muslela nivalis, Font. Phil. Tr. Ixii. 1772, 373. 
 
 Mustela vulgaris, iTf/c!. Fn. Amer. i. 1825, ai.— Maxim. Keisc, ii. If 41, QS.-Thomps. N. 11. 
 
 Verm. 1853, •M.—Uall, Canad. Nat. and Geol. vi. 1861, 295. 
 Mustela (Piiloriiis) vulgaris, Kick. F. B.-A. 1. 1839, 45. 
 Pulorius vulgaris, Emm. Hep. Quad. Mass. 1840, 44.— J^;;.Pr. Bost.Soc. xiii. 1869, 183; Bull. 
 
 M. C. Z. i. 1870, 167. 
 Miistela (Uale) vulKaris raramerlcana. Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 113; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 91. 
 MllStela pusllla, De K. N. Y. Zoiil. i. 1842, 34, pi. 14, f. l.—Jleesley, Geol. Cape May, 1857, 137. 
 PutorlUS |)U8lllU8, Aud. cfi Uach. Q. N. A. ii. 1851, 100, pi. 64.— M. M. N. A. 1857, 159.-Suckl. 
 
 N. H. W. T. 1860, 92.— *(!»». Kep. Mass. Agric. for 1861 (1862), 154, pi. 1, f. 2, 4.— Maxim. 
 
 Arch. Naturg. 1861, —; Verz. N. Am. Siiug. 1862, 49.— ifo»», Canad. Nat. and Geol. vi, 
 
 1861, m.—Mcrriam, Uep. U. S. Geol. Siirv. Terr. 1872, 661 (Idaho).- ^ww*. Bull. Minn. 
 
 Acad. Nat. Scl. 1874, 69. 
 Pntorlus •' f Icognani ", iJav ZoiJl. Beechey's Voy. 1839, 10* (err.). 
 Common Weesel, Penn. Hist. (^uad. 1781, no. 193; Arct. Zoiil. i. 1784, 75, no. 2.5. 
 
 Hab. — In America, tbo northern portions of tiic United States and north- 
 ward. Enrope and Asia, northerly. 
 
CHARACTERS OF PUTORIUS VULGARIS. 
 
 103 
 
 Si'KCiFiC ciiAUACTEHS. — Very small; lougthof hoadund body (5 or 8 iuohes; 
 of tail-vertebrm 2 inches or less ; tail-vertebne about one-fourth or less of 
 the head and body; tail slender, cylindrical, pointed at tip, which is con- 
 color or not obviously black ; under parts white, rarely, if ever, tinned with 
 sulphury; coloration otherwise as in P. erminea. Caudal vertebnu 15 
 (Gerrard). 
 
 General characters and relationships of the species. 
 
 To describe the general body-colors of this animal would be 
 to repeat, in substance, most of what is beyond said of P.erminea. 
 I find no differences susceptible of intelligible description ex- 
 cepting those given in the foregoing diagnosis, although, as 
 usual in this genus, there is considerable individual variation 
 in the shade of the mahogany-brown upper parts, in the details 
 of the line of demarcation with the white of the under parts, 
 and in the color of the feet, which appear to be indifferently 
 like the back or like the belly. I do not observe, however, in 
 any of the specimens before me, that the under parts are nota- 
 bly tinged with sulphury yellow, as is frequently or usually the 
 case with P. erminea. They are quite purely white. 
 
 The points of this animal to which attention should be di- 
 rected in comparison with its ally, P. erminea, are the general 
 dimensions and the color of the tail. This member is both abso- 
 lutely and relatively shorter than in P. erminea; it is cylin- 
 drical, very slender, and usually terminates in a point, without 
 the slightest bushy enlargement. In most specimens, as in all 
 the European examples I have seen, there is no black whatever 
 at the end of the tail ; on the contrary, the tip is frequently 
 mixed with a few white hairs. In other specimens, however, 
 the end of the tail is dusky, as in No. 0401, from the Yukon 
 {Kennicott) ; while in Xo. 3310, from Oregon ( Wayne), the tip 
 is quite blackish. The tail-vertebnu rauge from rather less 
 than an inch in length to full two inches, if not a trifle more, 
 though the latter dimension seems to be rarely reached ; the 
 terminal pencil of hairs from )f to '^. According to Gerrard, 
 there are fewer (15) caudal vertebrie than in P. erminea. 
 
 Accounts of authors are surprisingly at variance in assigning 
 dimensions to tliis animal. De Kay says in one place 12-13 
 inches (nose to end of tail), but this is probably a slip of the 
 pen, for his detailed measurements amount to 8.80 for head and 
 body and 1.80 for tail-vertebrio ; Audubon, 8 ; Bachman gave 
 7 inclios, the tail-vertebne 2. Baird gives ; the tail from 0.83 
 to 1.00; the head, 1.4.1; fore foot, 0.58; hind foot, 0.02. The 
 
104 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 i^ I 
 
 MP % 
 
 f:^ 
 
 smaller dimensious seem to be nearer the average. The skin 
 from the Yukoo, above mentioued, probably well stretched, 
 measures 7.50; tail-vertebne, 1.25; hind foot, 1.10. The Ore- 
 gon specimen was apparently about 7 inches ; the tail 2. Two 
 skins from British America (4411, Fort Resolution, Kennicott, 
 and 4231, Moose Factory, Brexler) are notably smaller and 
 shorter-tailed than any others I have seen. They are about 6 
 inches long, the tail-vertebrii,' an inch or less, the hind feet 
 about 0.75.* They are also somewhat peculiar in the intensity 
 of a liver-brown shade. 
 
 With only such small and dark-colored specimeuvs as these 
 last before us (strictly representing P. pnsUlus of Audubon and 
 Bachman), there raightbe little difliculty in distinguishing at least 
 an American race; but, as already indicated, such distinctions 
 disappear on examining larger series, and consequently fail to 
 substantiate a geographical race. Whatever minute discrep- 
 ancies may be noted in comparing certain American with cer- 
 tain other European examples, assuredly these do not hold 
 throughout the series ; and, moreover, the differences inter se 
 between animals of either continent are as great as any of those 
 which can be detected when the animals of the two continents 
 are compared. Thus, holding in my hands the Yukon speci- 
 men and No. 2290, from Leeds, England, I find that I have in- 
 contestably the same species. In size and color, these two are 
 much more nearly identical than Nos. 2290 and 2279, the latter 
 being also from Leeds. The Yukon animal has, indeed, a bushy 
 tip to the tail ; but, again, the one from Moose Factory has not. 
 A specimen from Scotland (No. 1058) has proved susceptible of 
 overstuffing up to more than 10 inches for length of head and 
 body ; but No. 2290 was scarcely 7 inches long. The presence 
 of true M. vulgaris on our continent may be considered estab- 
 lished. So that the question practically narrows to whether 
 we have not also an additional species. This I cannot admit ; 
 for if minute differences of the grade allowed to distinguish a 
 supposed ^^pusillus " be taken into account, we must, to be con- 
 sistent, also separate from this latter the specimen from Oregon,! 
 with its longer blackish-tipped tail, and so have three North 
 
 * Reliable European writers assign a length of about 8 inches of head and 
 body, the head IJ, the tail 2. The female is usually an inch, if not more, 
 smaller than the male. 
 
 tThis furnishes a case parallel with that of Hesperomyti "boylii" and Ff. 
 " ansterus". There is a strong local inllueuce exerted upon various animals 
 iu this region. 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF P. VULGARIS. 
 
 105 
 
 American "species" of the vulgaris type, namely, vulgaris as 
 attested by the Yukon specimen ; '•'■pusillus ", as by the Hudson's 
 Bay example and others ; and a nameless Oregon species. We 
 should obviously be reduced to this dilemma in any such at- 
 tempt to describe specimens instead of characterizing species. 
 And in determining our species and races, it is quite sufiicient 
 to note the minor variation^" from a common type without giv- 
 ing the subjects of such variation a name. 
 
 Nevertheless, as it is desirable to carry investigations of the 
 characters of animals into minute particulars, the following 
 summary is presented : — 
 
 Var. 1. An animal averaging slightly less than P. vulgaris of 
 Europe, with the end of the tail blackish, Alaska, »SjC. 
 
 Var. 2. Eather smaller than the last; the tail relatively longer 
 (vertebrje about two inches) and distinctly dusky-tipped. Ore- 
 gon and Washington Territories. 
 
 Var. 3. Very small — about six inches long; tail-vertebraj one 
 inch or less; color darker than in P. vulgaris, but tail concolor. 
 Hudson's Bay, &c. 
 
 Geographical distribution. 
 
 The area over which this species turns white in winter may 
 be approximately deduced from the accounts of various au- 
 thors. This is nearly coincident with what is now know^n of 
 the American range of the animal. Mr. J. A. Allen states that 
 it turns in northern New England, but not so far south as 
 Massachusetts, where the change sometimes, but not always, 
 occurs to P. erminea. Dr. De Kay denies any change in New 
 York, though I suspect this may not hold for the northern 
 mountainous portions of the State. According to Maximilian, 
 the change takes place in the region he explored, as it doubt- 
 less does in all higher latitudes. 
 
 The range of the Least WeavSel extends entirely across the 
 continent on this hemisphere ; but its north and south disper- 
 sion are less definite, in the present state of our knowledge. 
 To the northward, Richardson formerly limited its extension 
 to the Saskatchewan; but my specimens, from the Yukon, 
 Fort Resolution, and Hudson's Bay, largely extend the sup- 
 posed range, and I infer that the animal is generally distrib- 
 nted in British America and Alaska. Audubon's examples 
 were from the Oatskills and Long Island; and this author 
 alludes to others from Lake Superior. The Bed River and 
 
 ii 
 
'W 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 ik n 
 
 |i 
 
 lU 
 
 \i^. 
 
 106 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Ul)i)tr Missouri regions, Oregon and Washington Territory, 
 are other recorded localities. According to Mr. Allen, it is 
 rather rare in Massachusetts — much more so than P. erminea. 
 The total lack of citations of the species from Southern or even 
 Middle districts in the United States is in evidence, though of 
 a negative character, of the geographical distribution at pres- 
 ent assigned. 
 
 Habits. 
 
 Our accounts of the habits of this animal are lamentably 
 meagre; nor can I add to them from personal observation. 
 De Kay says it is by no means a rare animal, but one difficult 
 to capture; that it feeds on mice, insects, young birds, eggs, 
 &c., and possesses all the rapacity characteristic of the tribe. 
 Audubon repeats this, in substance, with the inference that, 
 owing to its small size, it would not be mischievous in the 
 poultry-house, and would scarcely venture Lv attack a full- 
 grown Norway Eat. 
 
 In this dearth of facts respecting the animal in America, we 
 turn to other authors. One of the most particular, and at the 
 same time interesting and apparently reliable accounts, is that 
 given by Thomas Bell (who was evidently familiar with the 
 animal) in the work above cited. Comparing its habits with 
 those of the Stoat, Bell finds them considerably distinct, 
 and believes that the accusations current against the Weasel 
 should mostly be laid rather at the door of the Stoat. He 
 continues: — 
 
 "It is not meant to be asserted that the Weasel will not, 
 when driven by hunger, boldly attack the stock of the poultry 
 yard, or occasionally inak< free with a young rabbit or sleep- 
 ing partridge ; but that its usual prey is of a much more igao- 
 ble charactei is proven by daily observation. Mice of every 
 description, the Field and Water Vole, rats, moles, and small 
 birds, are their ordinary food ; and from the report of unpre- 
 judiced observers, it would appear that this pretty animal 
 ought rather to be fostered as a destroyer of vermin, than ex- 
 tirpated as a noxious depredator. Above all, it should not be 
 molested in barns, ricks or granaries, in which situations it is 
 of great service in destroying the colonies of mice which infest 
 them. Those only who have witnessed the multitudinous num- 
 bers in which these little pests are found, in wheat-ricks espe- 
 cially, and have seen the manner in which the interior is 
 drilled, as it were, in every direction by their runs, can at 
 
HABITS OF THE WEASEL. 
 
 107 
 
 all appreciate the amoani of their depredationa ; and surely 
 the occasional abduction of a chicken or duckling, supposing 
 it to be even much more frequently chargeable against the 
 Weasel than it really is, would be but a trifling set off against 
 the benefit produced by the destruction of those swarms of 
 little thieves. 
 
 " The Weasel climbs trees with great facility, and surprises 
 birds on the nest, sucks the eggs, or carries off the young. It 
 lias been asserted that it attacks and destroys snakes; this, 
 however, I believe to be entirely erroneous. I have tried the 
 experiment by placing a Weasel and a common snake together 
 in a large cage, in which the former had the opportunity of 
 retiring into a small box in which it was accustomed to sleep. 
 The mutual fear of the two animals kept them at a respectful 
 distance from each other; the snake, however, exhibiting quite 
 as much disposition to be the assailant, as its more formidable 
 companion. At length the Weasel gave the snake an occa- 
 sional slight bite on the side or on the nose, without materially 
 iujuriug it, and evidently without any instinctive desire to feed 
 upon it; and at length, afcer they had remained two or three 
 hours together, in the latter part of which they appeared 
 almost indifferent to each other's presence, I took the poor 
 snake away and killed it. 
 
 " Far different was this Weasel's conduct when a Mouse was 
 introduced into the cage; it instantly issued from its little box, 
 and, in a moment, one single bite on the head pierced the 
 brain and laid the Mouse dead without a struggle or a cry. I 
 have observed that when the Weasel sei/.os a small animal, at 
 the instant that the fatal bite is inflicted, it throws its long 
 lithe body over its prey, so as to secure it should the first bite 
 fail; an accident, however, which I have never observed when 
 a ]\rouse has been the victim. The power which the Weasel 
 lias of bending the head at right angles with the long and 
 flexible, though powerful neck, gives it great advantage in this 
 mode of seizing and killing its smaller prey. It also frequently 
 assumes this position when raising itself on its hinder legs to 
 look around. 
 
 " The disposition which has been attributed to the Weasel 
 of sucking the blood of its prey, has, I believe, been generally 
 much exaggerated. Some persons have positively denied the 
 existence of such a propensity, and my own observation, as far 
 as it goes, would tend to confirm that refutation of the com- 
 
§'• 'I' 
 
 108 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 1 
 
 ii 
 
 
 monly received notion. The first gripe is given on the head, 
 the tooth in ordinary cases piercing the brain, which it is the 
 Weasel's first act of Epicurism to eat clean from the skull. 
 The carcase is then hidden near its haunt, to be resorted to 
 when required, and part of it often remains until it is nearly 
 putrid. 
 
 "The Weasel pursues its prey with facility into small holes, 
 and amongst the close and tangled herbage of coppices, thick- 
 ets and hedge-rows. It follows the Mole and the Field Mouse 
 in their runs ; it threads the mazes formed in the wheat- 
 rick by the colonies of Mice which infest it, and its long flexi- 
 ble body, its extraordinary length of neck, the closeness of its 
 fur, and its extreme agility and quickness of movement, com- 
 bine to adapt it to such habits, in which it is also much aided 
 by its power of hunting by scent — a quality which it partakes 
 in equal degree with the Sto!it. In pursuing a rat or a mouse, 
 therefore, it not only follows it as long as it remains within 
 sight, but continues the chase after it has disappeared, with 
 the bead raised a little above the ground, following the exact 
 track recently taken by its destined prey. Should it lose ihe 
 scent, it returns to the point where it was lost, and quarters 
 the ground with great diligence till it has recovered it ; and 
 thus, by dint of perseverance, will ultimately hunt down a 
 swifter and even a stronger animal than itself. But this is not 
 all. In the pertinacity of its pursuit, it will readily take the 
 water, and swim with great ease after its prey. 
 
 " It is, however, sometimes itself the prey of hawks, but the 
 following fact shows that violence and rapine, even when ac- 
 companied by superior streng* h, are not always a match for the 
 ingenuity of an inferior enemj. As a gentleman of the name 
 of Pinder, then residing at Bloxworth in Dorsetshire, was rid- 
 ing over his grounds, he saw, at a short distance frc u him, a 
 kite pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with it in 
 its talons. In a few minutes, however, the kite began to show 
 signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in the air, or as quickly 
 falling, and wheeling irregularly round, whilst it was evidently 
 endeavoring to force some obnoxious thing from it with its feet. 
 After a short but sharp contest, the kite fell suddenly to the 
 earth, not far from where Mr. Pinder was intently watching the 
 manoeuvre. He instantly rode up to the spot, when a Weasel 
 ran away from the kite, apparently unhurt, leaving the bird 
 dead, with a hole eaten through the skin under the wing and 
 the large bloodvessels of the part torn through. ... 
 
SYNONYMY OF PUTORIUS ERMINEA. 
 
 109 
 
 " The female Weasel .... brings forth four, or more fre- 
 quently five youug, and is said to have two or three litters in a 
 year. The nest is composed of dry leaves and herbage, and is 
 warm and dry, being usually placed in a hole in a bank, in a 
 dry ditch, or in a hollow tree. She will defend her young with 
 the utmost desperation against any assailant, and sacrifice her 
 own life rather than desert them ; and even when the nest is 
 torn up by a dog, rushing out with great fury, and fastening 
 upon his nose or lips." 
 
 The signification of the name 'Weasel \ or, as it is also some- . 
 times written, ^WeeseV, is obscure. Webster states that he 
 does not know the meaning, but observes that the German 
 hciese^ is a meadow. Von Martens, as quoted on p. 26, dis- 
 cusses the subject in its philological bearings. The name 
 'Weasel' in strictness should pertain to the present species, as 
 distinguished from its various larger allies, as the Stoats and Fer- 
 rets ; but it has come to have rather a generic application to the 
 various species of the same immediate group. 
 
 The fiitoat oi* Ei'iiiiiic. 
 
 Pntorliift (Oale) ermlnea. 
 
 Platk VI, Figs. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7. 
 
 (a. General references.) 
 
 Mus poiitlrus, quem hodle vocant nermelmn, Agric. "De Auim. Subter. 1614, 33". 
 
 MUitteIn rnndlda, Sehiveackf. " Theriotroph. 1603, 118 ". 
 
 .Uustela Candida In extrema caud& niKrIcans, J.{(2(oti. "Quad. Digit 1645, 310, fig ". 
 
 Mustela alpina Candida, Wagn. " Hist Nat. Helvet 16d0, 180' . 
 
 Mustela Candida «. animal Ermlneum recenUorum, Ray, " Syn. Qnad. 1693, 198 ". 
 
 Mustela alba, itzacz. " PoIod. nai, 235 ". 
 
 Mustlela caudK aplce atro, Linn. Fn. Sueo. Ist ed. 1746, 3, uo, 90. 
 
 Mustela Candida «. ermlneum, Linn. Syst. Nut. eds. 6tli, 7th, 1748, 5, no. 6. 
 
 Mustela armelllna, Klein, "Quad. 1751, 63 ". 
 
 Mustela nivea auribus augustls, caudie aplce nigro, 27(2<, " Hist Anim 1752, 548 ". 
 
 .Mustela hieme alba, testate supra rutlla Infra alba, caudie aplce nlgru. Bris$. Qaad. 
 
 1756,243. 
 Mustela ermlnea, Linn. Mas. Adolph. Frid. Ist ed. 1754, 5 ; S. X. i. lOtli ed. 1758, 46, no. ; 
 Fq. Suec. 2d ed. 1761, 6, na 17 ; Syst. Nat. 12tli ed. i. 1766, 68, no. 10.— ffottt. Katnurl. 
 Hist. iii. 1761, 206, pi. 14, f. 5.— 5. O. Gmel. Reise, ii. 1770, pi. 23 {ermitieum majut).— 
 iliill. Zool. Dan. Prod. 1776, 3, no. U.-Erxl. Syst An. 1777, 474, no. 13.— Sehreb. Siiug. 
 iii. 1778, 496, pi. 137, A, B.—Zimm. Oeogr. Gescb. ii. 1780, 308, no. 205.— &m. S. N. i. 1768, 
 
 98, no. 10.— Herm. Obs. Zool. 45.— Beehtt. Naturg. i. , 797.— Turt. S. N. i. 1806, 61.— 
 
 J'all. Zoog, B.-A. 1. 1831 , 90, no. 31 {ermineum).—De»m. Mamm. i. 1820, 180, no. 277 ; Nonv. 
 
 Diet, xix, 37«| Encj-. M6th. pi. 83, f. 2, 3.—Fr. Ow«. Diet Sci. Nat xiix, 1823,250.— 
 
 Is. (/eo/. Diet Class. X. 212.— ie»«. Man. 1827, HS.—Fiseh. Syn. 1829, 222.— J'ieMi. Br. 
 
 . An. 1828, 13.— J'en. Br. Vert 1835, 13.— BeH, Br. Qaad. 1837, 148 ; 2d ed. 1874, 191, flg.— 
 
 Srlys-L. Fn. Belg. 1843, IQ.—Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 65 Sekim, Syn. 
 
 Mamm. i. 1844, di'i.-Schrenek. Reise Amnrl. , 4Q.—0ieb. Saug. 1855, 781.— Gerr. Cat. 
 
 Bones Br. Mus. 1863, 93.—0rUl, Zool. Gart iii. 1862, 238.— Oray, P. Z. S. 1865, 111; Cat. 
 Carn. Br. Mus. 1869. 88. 
 
rf i' 
 
 110 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN J^USTELIDiE. 
 
 
 I;i 
 
 Mustela ermlnea n. mtl\a, h. hyberna, Qm. S. N. i. 1786, OS, nos. 10 a, lOb. 
 
 VIverra ermlnea, Shaw, Uen. Zoiil. i. 1800, 426, pi. 90. 
 
 PutoriUH ermlnea, Onf. An. Kliiuil v. 1827, 123, no. :UX—Owen, Br. Fobs. Mamm. , 116, 
 
 f. 40, 41, 42 (skull).— Bca/idi. Wirb. Kur. N. K. KushI. , 24. 
 
 FCBtorlus ermlnea, Kfj/n. <C Blag. Wirb. Kur. 1H40, OO, no. 185 Bias. Wirb. Doutschl. 1857, 
 
 ^2S.— jacket, Zool. Oart. xiv. 1874, 450 (albino). 
 ArmellnuH, Oesn. Quad. l.^Sl, 852. 
 Hcrmvlinus, Schejf. Lappou. 1673, 343. 
 
 HermellaenuH, OhatM. Exercit l(i77, 30.— /o)i«<. Thoatr. 1755, l.'JS. 
 Hermlne, Oharlev. Nouv. France, ili. 1744, 134.— Bjim. Quad. 1756, 243, no. H.—Buf. Hist. 
 
 Nat. vii. 240 ; Diet. Antra. iL iiO.— French. 
 Hermelln, Hell. Vierf. Tliioto, 1757, 453.— A', (i. dm. Roiso, ii. 192, pi. 23, iii. 370.— /'««. Relse, 
 
 1771, 129.— JMcf. Huff. Vierf. iv. lOB, pi. 67.— .Vui/., Natursyst. i. 1773, 274, pi. 14, f. 5.— 
 
 Stell. Kaintscli. 1774, Ii5.-Maiteng, Zool. Gart. xi. 1870, p. 278 (philological). 
 Hermyn-Wczel, HotUt. Nat. Hist. Dieren, ii. 1761, 206, pt. 14, f. 5.—Belgic, 
 Ermellino, Scatag. Anim. Quad. ii. pi. 74, H(f. from Buffou.— /fa?i«/i. 
 
 Stoat, Ermine, Venn. Brit. Zoiil. , Si.—KiiglM. 
 
 Roselet (summer), i'/vuc/i.- Armlilu, Armelinu, 5/>r(ui8ft.— Armellino, Italian.— lekatt, 
 
 Swedish.— UrotMntay, Polwh flornostal, Itusnian. 
 
 (b. American references.) 
 a. erminca. 
 
 Mustela ermlnea, Forst. Phil. Trans. Ixii. 1772, Vi'i.—lLirlan, Fn. Amer. 182.5, fa.—Oodmnn, 
 Am. X. U. L 1831, \m.—Thompa. X. IX. Verm. 185;t, 31.— £f«H, Canad. Nat. and Geol. vi. 
 1861, 295. 
 
 .MuHtcIa erminca mr. amcrlrana, Qray, V. Z. S. 1865, ill j Oat. ("am. Br. Mus. 1869, 89. 
 
 PutoriUH ermlnea, A»d. dt Bach. Q.N. A. ii. 1851,56, pl.59.— ? Wood. Sitgr. Rep. 1853,44 
 (Indian Territory).— Aii. Bull. M. C. Z. i. 1870, 167 (critical).— iJi7rt«flr«, Canad. Nat. and 
 Geol. ii. 18.57, 45,'i (biographical).- AMt'H, Pr. Bost. Soo. N. H. xiii. 1869, 183. 
 
 PutorlUS noveboracensls, De Kay, Rep. N. Y. Survey, 1840, 18; N. Y. Zool. ii. 1842, 36, pi. 12, 
 f. 2 (winter) and pi. 14, f. 2 (summer).— £/n.mo/w. Rep. Quad. Mase. 1840,45. — Bd.'M. 
 N. A. 1857, 166, pi. 36, f. 3 (skull).— £■<;«»». Tr. 111. State Agric. Soc. 1853-4, .578.— itoox, 
 Canad. Nat. and Geol. vi. 1861, 441.— Maxim. Ardi. f. Naturj;. 1861, iiO.— Verz. N. A. 
 
 SiiuK. 1862, 44 Gitpin, Tr. Nov. Scot. Inst. ii. 1870, 1.5, 5\).—Sam. Ann. Rep.»Ma88. 
 
 Agrio. tor 1861, 1862, 156, pi. 1, f. 1.— Amc», Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69. 
 
 (6. eicoona7ii.) 
 
 Mustcia (I'utorlus) ermlnea, Tft'cA. F. B. A. i. 1829, 46. 
 
 Mustela ermlnea, Thomps. N. IT. Vermouth 1853, 31. 
 
 Mutitela cirognani, Bp. Charlesw. Mag. ii. 1838, 37; Fn. Ital. 1838, sub. M. buccamtla.— 
 
 Wiegm. Arch. 1839, 4-23.— Gray, Cat. Mamm. Br. Mus. 195. 
 PutoriU!^ l-tCOgnaul,£(/. M. N. A. 1857, IfH.—SuckU'y, P. R. R. Rep. xii. pt. ii. 1859, 9i.— Gilpin, 
 
 Tr. Nov. Scot. Inst. ii. 1870, 13, 59.— Sciwi. Aun. Rep. :Ma8s. Agric. for 1861, 1862, pi. 1, f. 6. 
 Mustela richardsoni, Bp. Charlesw. Mag. ii. 1838, 38 (based on Richardson).- G/a^/, P. Z. S. 
 
 1865, 112: Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 90. 
 PutorlUN richardsoni, liich. Zool. Beechey's Voy. 1839, 10*.— Bd. M. N. A. 1857, Idi.— Gray, 
 
 Cat. Mamm. Br. Mus. 195.— Sam. Rep. Mass. Agric. for 1861, 1862, 155, pi. 1, f. 3, 5, l.—Rosn, 
 
 Canad. Nat. and Geol. vi. 1861 ,441.— Gilpin, Tr. Nov. Scot. Inst. ii. 1870, 1559.— ( 1) Stev. U. 
 
 S. Geol. Surv. Terr. 1870, 461 (Wyoming).— A»ne«, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69. 
 Mustela fusca, Aud. di Bach. J. A. N. S. P. viii. pt. ii. 1842, 288.— /)e Kay, N. Y. Z. i. 1842, 35 — 
 
 TTaf/n. Wiegm. Arch. 1843, Bd. ii. 32. . /v. ., . >• < 
 
 .Mustela (tlale) fusca, Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. 1844, 343. .:''*" 
 
 Putorlus fUSCUiS, Aud. <£• Baeh. Q. N. A. iii. 1853, 234, pi. 148. 
 Putorlus agills, Aud. a- Back. Q. N. A. iii. 1853, 184, pi. 140.— £e»n. Tr. Illinois State Agric. 
 
 Soc. for 1853-4, 1855, 578 (Illinois). 
 Putorius kanei, Bd. M. N. A. 1857. 172 (Kamtschatka aud Siberia). 
 Putorlus ermlnea var. kanel, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, in : Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 89. 
 
 Hab. — ArctogHiii : Europe, Asia, aad America, north to the limit of exist- 
 
CHARACTERS OF PUTORIOUS ERMINEA. 
 
 ni 
 
 ence of torreHtrial Maininala. In America, south to very nearly the soutberu 
 border of the United Htateti, but no opeoiiuens seen from the Gulf States, 
 New Mexico, Arizona, or Southern -California. Tiie range meets that of P. 
 hraailienxin, which conducts the genus into South America. 
 
 Spkcii'ic characters. — Length of head and body 8-11, of tener U-IO inches ; 
 of tail-vertebrai 2-5 inches, averaging 3J-4, only exceptionably passing the 
 tirst-named limits. Tail ut all seasons brushy, conspicuously black-tipped 
 for i-jf, generally about if, its total length. In suuuner, dull mahogauy- 
 browu above, pale sulphury-yellow below ; in winter, in most regions pure 
 white all over except the black end of the tail, tinged in places with sul- 
 phury-yellow. Caudal vertebrio 17 or 18 {Gerrard). 
 
 Discussion of specific characters and relationships. 
 
 In entering upon the subject of the Ermines, the following 
 pricmonenda, which will be attempted to be proven in the 
 course of the article, will assist to an appreciation of the 
 points of the discussion : — 
 
 1. The Ermines of Europe, Asia, and America are speciti- 
 cally identical. 
 
 2. None of the supposed characters which have been relied 
 upon to separate them have any exi.stence in nature except as 
 peculiarities of individual specimens examined. 
 
 3. The American Ermines are of two forms according to size 
 alone, which in the extremes stand widely apart, but which 
 grade insensibly into each other. 
 
 4. Within certain limits (to bo hereafter defined), length of 
 the whole animal, length of tail, both absolutely and relatively 
 to that of body, aiid length of the black portion, either abso- 
 lutely or relatively to that of the tail, are utterly fallacious as 
 a means of specific diagnosis. 
 
 5. No question of coloration, of stoutness of body, of shape 
 of ear, of furriness of feet, of character of pelage, and the like, 
 can enter into the question, since such details are proven fortui- 
 tous circumstances of sex, age, season, locality, or merely normal 
 individual variability. 
 
 I have before me a considerable suite of specimens of the 
 Ermine, taken at various seasons in Great Britain, France, 
 Germany, Sweden, Siberia, and Kamtschatka, together with 
 an immense collection from all portions of North America 
 inhabited by the animal. I may therefore set forth my conclu- 
 sions without hesitation. The Ermine is the same animal in 
 Europe, Asia, and America. Kespecting the various trivial and 
 insignificant distinctions which Gray and others have sought 
 to establish, upon obviously insufficient material and inadequate 
 
112 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 i' 
 
 »■:% 
 
 H"-' !?■'' 
 
 ¥W 
 
 investigation, it may be stated unequivocally that they fail as 
 bases of speciflc or even varietal separation. Not that the 
 alleged trifling difterences do not exist ; I can find them all and 
 others besides : but they occur equally in the specimens from 
 all countries, are not in the least correlated with any supposed 
 geographical limits, and are, in short, an expression merely of 
 the normal individual variability of the animal. As perfect 
 duplicates as I ever examined came from Alaska and Northern 
 Europe respectively: in all those nice points of pelage, shades 
 of color, &c., which the practiced eye recognizes, they are 
 more exactly alike than, for example, several specimens from 
 England and France are among themselves. Every point which 
 has been seized upon to separate an American from the Old 
 World animal is nullified by sufticient series of specimens. 
 
 In seeking either resemblances or diflFerences in the nicer 
 minor points, we must not look at the animals as limited by 
 certain continental areas, nor in any way by longitude : experi- 
 ence proves that this would be useless. A creature of thoroughly 
 and conspicuously circumpolar distribution, extending probably 
 as near the pole as any land Mammal, it is modified, wheu 
 changed at all, by latitude, as expressed in the climate to which 
 it is subjected, state of its food-supply, &c. These points are 
 thoroughly understood in the commercial world by those whose 
 wits are sharpened by their pecuniary interests; and it is 
 surprising that some naturalists have failed to appreciate them. 
 
 The existence in North America of the true Ermine being 
 established, there yet remains the question whether there be 
 not also in this country other species of the same type, for we 
 must not hastily assume that, because we have the true Er- 
 mine, all our other Stoats must be identical with it. 
 
 Throwing out of consideration the quite different P. longi- 
 eauda, three species have of late years been currently recog- 
 nized. These are the P. noveboracemis of De Kay, P. richard- 
 goni of Bonaparte (= agilis Aud. and Bach.), and P. cieognani 
 of Bonaparte (==f uncus A. and B.). Of the first-named it may 
 be said, simply, that it is based upon the ordinary United States 
 animal, of dimensions exactly corresponding to an average 
 English specimen, for instance, and not otherwise different. 
 This may be accepted as a convenient standard of comparison 
 for the ordinary United States animal, identical with that from 
 corresponding latitudes in the Old World. The P. richardsoni 
 of Bonaparte was originally a mere presumptive attempt to 
 
CHARACTERS OF PUTORIUS ERMINEA. 
 
 113 
 
 scpanito the Ermine of America, being based npon P. erminea 
 of Kichardson, who does not hint at any supposed distinction 
 from the Old Workl animal, and whose description and 
 measurements indicate identity with ordinary P. erminea. Later, 
 the name was adopted by Prof. Baird for specimens from Massa- 
 chusetts and northward, considerably smaller than the average 
 (8 inches), but with proportions of body and tail much as usual. 
 ]'. iujUis of Audubon and Bachmau is obviously the same as 
 Baird's richardsoni. Specimens from Massachusetts and north- 
 ward, of about the same size, but shorter tail, were separated 
 by Baird as 1*. cieognani. He compares richardsoni with cicog- 
 nani as follows: — "This species is readily distinguished from 
 r. cieognani by the longer tail, the vertebnc alone of which are 
 lialf the length of the body." Measurements of the tail-vertebrjo 
 of P. cieognani given range from 2.25 to 3.00. 
 
 As a matter of fact, I find the tails to present all the several 
 dimensions given by Baird, together with other intermediate 
 dimensions, constituting an unbroken series from the shortest 
 to the longest; and with additional dimensions which connect 
 them as closely with the largest examples of " novehoraccnsis ''. 
 It will be observed from Baird's tables that the difference 
 among the various examples of ^^ cieognani ^^ (2.25 to 3.00 = 
 0.75) is about the same as that supposed to distinguish rich- 
 ardsoni (3.00 as against 4.00). In regard to total size, the same 
 minute gradations are before me, from specimens scarcely 8 
 inches long to others over 10. The points of relative lengths 
 of the black tip, amount of white on the upper lip, &c., are 
 wholly matters of individual variability, to be thrown out of the 
 discussion. It may be said in brief that the xVmerican Ermines 
 are inseparably connected by the most minute intergradations 
 from the smallest and shortest-tailed to the opposite extreme. 
 
 This fact ascertained, however, should not blind us to the 
 equally notable fact of the existence of such differences. All 
 the points laid down by Baird are substantiated. There are 
 the larger and smaller Weasels, living side by side, in New 
 York and Massachusetts, for instance — the one scarcely 8 inches 
 long, with the tail-vertebra) under 3, and the other 11 inches, 
 with the tail over 5. And I find the same thing to hold through- 
 out the country to the Arctic Ocean. The P. kanei of Baird, a 
 type of which is before me, is merely one of these smaller 
 Ermines from Arctic regions. The author indeed says it 
 
 is about the size of the P. cieognani, " which it otherwise greatly 
 8 m 
 
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 4 
 
 114 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MITSTELID.E. 
 
 resenibles and represents''. The point I make is, tbat it is im- 
 possible to draw any dividing lino between tlie extremes. 
 Whatever character, or whatever set of characters, wo assume 
 as definitive, is instantly negatived by sutllcient material. There 
 is no dividing line. The differences may be relegated to the cate- 
 gory of individual variability in size ; and as such they possess 
 for the zoologist quite as much interest as if they were " speciffc 
 characters". To facilitate the recognition and handling of this 
 range of variation, I have above thrown the synonyms in two 
 batches, assorting them as far as practicable ; though it must 
 always be remembered that the name refers, in most cases, not 
 to either extreme, but to various intermediates, so that exact 
 location of the names is in the nature of the case impossible. 
 The smaller Stoat may be recognized, by those who desire to 
 give it a name, as P. cftninea var. vicognauL 
 
 So far from there being anything remarkable or exceptional 
 in this, it seems that a similar case occurs in Europe. Though 
 I am not cognizant of any species based upon tins distinction 
 in size, the specimens before me indicate the same range of 
 variation. Thus, one from France, in winter pelage, and there- 
 fore full-grown, is quite as small as typical cicognani; for all 
 I can discover, it is as nearly identical with a small Massachu- 
 setts skin as if the two had been born in the same litter.* 
 
 Those engaged in investigating the points at issue here 
 should not fail to consult, further, Mr. Allen's paper upon the 
 subject above quoted. It will be found an admirable historical 
 summary of the case, an acute analysis of imaginary distinc- 
 tions, and a logical conclusion. With the exception of the case 
 of P. longicauda, which Mr. Allen had not seen, his views are 
 substantially the same as those 1 have since been led to adopt 
 from my own studies, though I would lay a little more stress 
 upon the actually existing differences thaa he was inclined to 
 do when arguing solely figainst that absence of specific distinc- 
 tion in which I wholly agree with him. I wish to here bring 
 out the differences as strongly as he did the resemblances. Since 
 the point at issue is entirely a matter of dimensions, relative 
 and absolute, the following table of measurements is presented 
 without comment as a fair resume of the whole question : — 
 
 * " Earum inter Auierices auiiualia quoqiiu lueuiiiiit Charlevoix hist, de la 
 Nouv. France vol. iii. p. 134. Statnra ibi paiilo minoro sunt. Sic et in Dauu- 
 riJB densissimis sylvis occurreut sititliainam vix excedentcs." — (Paixas, Zoog. 
 lionso-Jsiatka i.lSll, 92.) 
 

 
 
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 MKASUREMENTS OP PlITORII'H ERMINEA. 
 
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 116 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 I^^ote on the skull and teeth. 
 
 Skull and teeth. — A description of the craDiuin and dentition 
 of this typical si^ecies will answer well for that of tbe subgenus 
 Oale (see p. 99). The skull, though strong, is smooth in its gen- 
 eral superficies, lacking almost entirely the sagittal ridge and 
 roughness of muscular attachment which characterize the crania 
 of the larger forms, like fvctidus and xlson for instance. The 
 forehead is turgid and convex in profile ; the muzzle very short, 
 swollen, and nearly vertically truncate. The zygomata are very 
 slender, regularly arched throughout; the anterior root is a 
 thin tiariug plate, perforated by a large foramen anteorbitale. 
 The cranium proper is peculiarly cylindrical rather than ovoidal; 
 the postorbital constriction is abrupt, though slight. Supra- 
 orbital processes are moderately developed. The palatal emar- 
 gination is slight; the pterygoids send out a spur to embrace 
 the adjacent foramen, and terminate roundly, without a hamu- 
 lar process, so conspicuous in the larger Putorii and in Mustela, 
 or with only a slight one. The bulhe auditoriic are very large, 
 llattisli, i)arallel rather than divergent, and not in the least 
 produced into a tubular meatus; on the contrary, the orifice of 
 the meatus shows from below as an emarginatiou. The glen- 
 oid fossie have so i)rouiiuent a hinder edge that they seem to 
 present forward rather than downward. 
 
 The teeth scarcely furnish occasion for remark, as they pre- 
 sent no peculiarities. In a specimen before me, the middle 
 upper premolar of the right side has failed to develop. This 
 is rather a large tooth to thus abort. Among the incisors 
 (much as elsewhere in this subfamily), various irregularities are 
 observable in different specimens, owing to the crowded state 
 of these small teeth. (For cranial and dental peculiarities as 
 compared with longicauda, see beyond.) 
 
 Description of the external characters. 
 
 A general description of this animal, herewith given, neces- 
 sarily embraces many points shared with its congeners. It may 
 be taken in amplification of the generic characters already 
 given, and serve as a standard of comparison for other species, 
 in the several accounts of which a repetition of non-essential 
 specific characters is by this means avoided. 
 
 In general form, the Stoat typifies a group of carnivorous 
 Mammals aptly called 'vermiform', in consideration of the ex- 
 treme length, tenuity and mobility of the trunk, and shortness 
 
■ 
 
 CHARACTERS OF PUTORIUS ERMINEA. 
 
 117 
 
 of the limbs. This elongation is specially observable in the 
 neck, the head being set exceptionally far in front of the shoul- 
 ders. The trunk is nearly cylindrical; it scarcely bulges iu 
 the region of the abdominal viscera, slopes a little over the 
 haunches, rises slightly about the shoulder muscles, is a little 
 contracted behind these; the neck is but little less in calibre 
 than the chest. The greatest circumference of body is little 
 more than half its length. 
 
 The head is shorter than the neck ; it is notably depressed, 
 especially flattened on the coronal area and under the throat ; 
 it is broad across the ears, whence it tapers with convex lateral 
 outline along the zygomatic region, thence contracting more 
 rapidly to the snout. The bulging of the sides of the head is 
 in great measure due to the bulk of the temporal and masset- 
 eric muscles, which form swollen masses meeting on the median 
 vertical line. This also contributes to the flattening of the 
 frontal outline. The width of the head across the ears is about 
 two-thirds its length. The eyes are rather smalV, situated mid- 
 way between the nose and ears; they glitter with changing 
 hues, and contribute, with the low forehead and protruding 
 canine teeth, to a peculiarly sinister and ferocious physiognomy. 
 The ample gape of the mouth, thin-lipped, reaches to below the 
 eyes. The nasal pad at the extremity of the miizzle, is entirely 
 and definitely naked; it is obscurely marked with a median 
 furrow. The nostrils are small, circular, with a lateral projec- 
 tion below. The ears are conspicuous, rising high above the 
 short surrounding fur ; they are rounded in contour, about as 
 wide across as high above the notch. Most of the auricle is 
 flat and closely furred both sides. The rim completes about 
 three-fifths of the contour. There is a conspicuous lobule 
 reaching half-way up the border behind. The concavity of the 
 vestibule is slight, naked, but hidden by a close-pressed pencil 
 •^f long, upright hairs from the base of the auricle in front, ex- 
 tending nearly to the top of the ear. The back of the ear is 
 on the occipital cross- line. 
 
 Tlie whiskers are few but long, the longest reaching far be- 
 yond the head. A few shorter, very slender bristles spring 
 over the eye and on the malar region. 
 
 The short forelimb is stout, and not fairly separated from the 
 body much above the elbow. The forearm tapers rapidly to the 
 wrist, causing the feet to appear slender in comparison, though 
 tbey are really relatively stouter than in many unguiculate 
 
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 118 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 animals. From the wrist the feet are little sliorter than the 
 .forearm ; they are broad and depressed. The 3d-4th digits are 
 sabequal and longest; the 2d-5th are subequal and shorter to 
 the extent that their claws scarcely or not reach the base of 
 the claws of the longer digits. The thumb is much shorter still. 
 All the digits are alike clawed. The claws are moderately 
 developed as to length, stoutness, and curvature ; though not 
 properly retractile, they remain sharp, and serviceable for climb- 
 ing, though probably not effective weapons on the chase. The 
 back of the hand is always full furred, the hairs reaching about 
 to the ends of the claws; the terminal and marginal hairs have 
 a peculiar stiff bristly character, different from that of the gen- 
 eral pelage. But the furring of the feet, no less than the general 
 character of the pelage, is very largely dependent in quantity 
 and quality upon season and latitude. In the most boreal 
 specimens, in winter, the wiiole foot is densely hairy, like that 
 of a Polar Hare or Ptarmigan ; no trace of palmar tubercles is 
 seen. In southern and summer examples, the foot-pads are 
 usually distinctly visible ; and this is their character : there are 
 ten rounded balls on the foot ; one at the end of each digit (5), 
 four on the palm (9), one at the wrist (10). The latter is far 
 back, and nearly median, commonly overhung with fur. There 
 is one at the har*^ of respectively the 1st, 2d, and 5th digits ; 
 and another largei , like two bulbs in one, at the bases of the 
 3d and 4th digits. The four strictly plantar pads are close 
 together, without intervening hairy spaces; that on the wrist, 
 like those on the ends of the digits, are isolated. 
 
 The hind limbs repeat the characters of the fore, in their 
 stoutness, taper, and little discrimination of the upper portion 
 from the trunk. The resemblance extends to the feet, which 
 are almost duplicates of the hands in size, shape, and in rela- 
 tive lengths of the digits. The same conditions of furring 
 occur; the tuberculation is likewise the Sfime, except that a 
 tubercle corresiwnding to the tenth one above enumerated is 
 not found. But the length of the foot from heel to end of toes 
 is about half as much again as that of the fore foot. 
 
 The tail is of moderate length. In proportion to the length 
 of head and body, it is rarely if ever so short as in P. vulgaris, 
 or so long as in P. longieauda. The vertebral portion, not includ- 
 ing that which runs into the body to join the sacrum, will 
 probably average between § and l the length of the body and 
 head; with the hairs, the proportion is about }j-'j. This num- 
 
 iiiV' 
 
CHARACTERS OF PUTORIUS ERMINEA. 
 
 119 
 
 ber is cyliudrical, with some etilar<?emeQt of the brushy black 
 tip, and well furred throughout. The terminal pencil of hairs, 
 an inch and a half or two inches in length, commonly repre- 
 sents about half the length of the vertebral portion, and more 
 than half the length of the part that is black. But no other 
 portion of animal's frame is so variable as this. 
 
 Of the general character of the pelage of this prized " fur- 
 bearing" animal, it would be useless to speak otherwise than as 
 a zoologist. Those differences which the whims of imperious 
 fashion render all-important in the commercial world have no 
 further interest for us than inasmuch as they indicate the 
 variable conditions resulting from season, climate, or particular 
 locality. Nevertheless, these points are evident to the prac- 
 tised eye when not altogether obscured by the furrier's art. 
 The rule is increase in softness, fineness, and density w'th 
 increase of latitude, and during the winter in all latitudes. 
 During summer and to the southward, the fur is stiffer, thinner, 
 and of the particular harsh gloss which comes from admixture 
 with longer bristly hairs — something different from the smooth 
 soft sheen of the opposite condition. In specimens from the 
 same regions, there is also observed a difference according to 
 freshness or worn condition of the coat, according to vigor of 
 the animal, and doubtless other causes. 
 
 In its summer dress, the Stoat is a good example of a " bicolor" 
 pattern of coloration. The upper parts are continuously and 
 uniformly of one color, the under of another, with strict line of 
 demarcation of the two. The color above ranges, according to 
 locality, season, or still more fortuitous circumstances (as, for 
 example, age of the particular coat and health of the individ- 
 ual), from a rather light dull " yellowish ■' brown, to a rich dark 
 mahogany brown, not very different from that of a Muskrat or 
 Mink. The tail, excepting the black brush, agrees in color. 
 The sh.ade is nearly uniform, though an intensified dorsal area 
 may often or usually be traced. Below, the animal is white, 
 almost invariably tinged with sulphury-yellow — often of a 
 decidedly strong shade of this color. Exceptional specimens 
 aside, we may say, iu round terms, the animal is sulphury-yellow 
 below — not white, as in P. vulfiaris, nor salmon nor buffy, as in 
 r. longicauda or I*, frenata. The chin, throat, and insides of 
 the legs are usually excepted from this sulphury discoloration, 
 being quite puiely white. The tail is invariably black-tipped 
 to the extent and in the manner rj ready sufllciently indicated. 
 
 -il 
 
 Ml 
 
 m-- 
 
rf:? 
 
 •■ ('■ 
 
 120 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID/E. 
 
 |i 
 
 m 
 
 Now, as to the details of coloration, especially the lino of 
 demarcation of the two body-colors, we must remember, in the 
 beginning, that we here h;!\', an animal which, under ordinary 
 conditions, turns entirely ,s i-ie once every year, and resumes 
 its bicolomtiou a- o*:'ien • that consequently we must expect to 
 find sk:)s slvowic^ i:\ .ry possible step of the transition ; and 
 that, moreover, v.alwus odd little matters of coloration are cer- 
 tain to appear in ditferent cases. Taken in its perfected sum- 
 mer dress in average latitudes, the animal ordinarily shows a 
 lino of demarcation, 1> inning at the snout, involving the edge 
 of the upper lip, runni..^ thence straight along the side of the 
 head and neck to the shoulder ; there dipping down the fore 
 edge of the limb to the paw, returning on the opposite border 
 of the limb, running thence nearly straight to the hind leg, 
 dipping down the outside of this also, returning to the 
 periuiijum, there meeting its fellow. The tail all around and 
 upper surfaces of the paws are like the back. A slight lower- 
 ing of this line would leave the end of the muzzle and the 
 whole upper lip dark, as is frequently' the case, showing how 
 absurd are any distinctions based on " amount of white on the 
 upper lip". The line also frequently encroaches upon the belly, 
 narrowing the sulphury band. But, as might be anticipated, 
 the chief deviations from this complete summer dress are in 
 the other direction — lessening of dark area. The commonest 
 point here is whiteness of the paws, the dark spurs stopping at 
 the wrist and ankle. Another common state is whiteness of 
 the anal region and under surface of the tail. Frequently 
 light patches reach irregularly up the sides of the head, par- 
 ticularly about the ears. These points may be witnessed in 
 midsummer, and appear to be purely fortuitous — that is, not 
 traces of the regular change. 
 
 Coming now to this matter of the change, we find it under 
 several aspects. I am not now speaking of the mode of change, 
 but of the appearances presented at different stages. A fre- 
 quent state of incipient change leaves much of the snout, ears, 
 legs, and tail, sulphury-white, with considerable elevation of 
 the general line of demarcation. This progresses until there 
 may be a narrow median dorsal stripe along the whole length 
 of the animal. In this kind of change, the fur of the dark 
 parts is often found without the slightest admixture of white, 
 the hairs being uniformly as dark as in summer, to the very 
 
CONDITIONS OF THE CHANGE OF COLOR. 
 
 121 
 
 roots. In other cases, however, with little or no restriction of 
 the general dark area, this insensibly lightens bj' progressive 
 whitening of the hairs from the roots outward, at first appear- 
 ing merely paler brown, then white with brown streakiness of 
 uniform character all over. The animal finally becomes pure 
 white except the end of the tail. But this white is generally 
 tinged in places, particularly on the belly and hind quarters, 
 with sulphur-yellow. 
 
 Conditions of the change of color. 
 
 Much has been said of the mode in which this great change 
 is effected , not only in the case of the Ermine, but of the Arctic 
 Fox,Northern Hare, Hudson's Bay Lemming, and other animals. 
 As I have not personally witnessed the transition, I can only 
 display the evidence aftbrded in the writings of others. Some 
 contend that the change is rapid and abrupt, resulting in a few 
 hours, simply from lowering of temperature to a certain point. 
 Others argue that the change is gradually accomplished; and 
 of those favoring the latter view, some maintain that the brown 
 coat is shed and a white one grown, while others hold that the 
 extinction of pigment is gradually ettected without a renewal of 
 the pelage. 
 
 We will first review the evidence adduced by the author 
 of Bell's Quadrupeds (p. 150, seq.): — " The winter change of 
 color which this species so universally assumes in northern 
 climates .... is effected, as I believe, not by a loss of the 
 summer coat, and the substitution of a new one for the winter, 
 but by the actual change of color of the existing fur. It is 
 perhaps not easy to otter a satisfactory theory for this phenom- 
 enon, but we may perhaps conclude that it arises from a similar 
 cause to that which produces the gray hair of senility in man, 
 and some other animals ; of this instances have occurred in 
 which the whole hair has become white in the course of a few 
 hours, from excessive grief, anxiety or fear ; and the access of 
 very sudden and severe cold has been known to i>roduce, almost 
 as speedily, the winter change, in animals of those species 
 which are prone to it. The transition from one state of the 
 coat to the other does not take place through any gradation of 
 shade in the general hue, but by patches here and there of the 
 winter colour intermixed with that of summer, giving a pied cov- 
 ering to the animal It appears to be established that 
 
 what ever may be the change which takes place in the structure 
 
 ?v.£ 
 
 v\ 
 
122 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 of the hair, upon which the alteration of colour imiucdiately 
 depends, the transition from the summer to the winter colours 
 is primarily occasioned by actual change of temperature, and 
 not by the mere advance of the season." The author quotes 
 in support of his views, and as tending to confirm them, the 
 observations of Mr. John Ilogg (Loudon's ]\rag. vol. v.), and 
 details an experiment upon a Lemming which turned white by 
 a few hours' exposure to severe cold. 
 
 As a supporter of the view that the change results from 
 renewal of the coat may be cited the eminent naturalist Mr. 
 Blyth, who communicates his conclusions to Mr. Bell in these 
 terms {op. cit. 153) : — ''Authors are wrong in what they have 
 advanced respecting the mode in which this animal changes 
 its color, at least in autumn; for in a specimen which I lately 
 examined, which was killed during its autumnal change, it was 
 clearly perceivable that the white hairs were all new, not the 
 brown changed in colour." 
 
 Once again we have the minute and detailed observations of 
 Audubon and Bachman, made from March 6 to 28, upon an 
 animal they kept in confinement, and which was observed dur- 
 ing this period to nearly complete the change from white to the 
 summer colors. These authors agree with Mr. Blyth: — "We 
 have arrived at the conclusion, that the animal sheds its coat 
 twice a year, i. e., at the periods when these semi-annual 
 changes take place. In autumn, the summer liair gradually 
 and almost imperceptibly drops out, and is succeeded by a 
 fresh coat of hair, which in the course of two or three weeks 
 becomes pure white ; while in the spring the animal undergoes 
 its change from white to brown in consequence of sheddiug its 
 winter coat, the new hairs then coming out brown." 
 
 This conflicting testimony, which might be largely added to 
 if this were desirable, is perhaps not so difiicult to harmonize 
 as'it appears at first sight ; nor is it in the least required to 
 impugn the credibility of the witnesses of observed facts. I 
 should state in the beginning, however, that it seems to me to be 
 like straining a point to find any analogy between this periodi- 
 cally recurring change in a healthy animal and the tardj' senile 
 change coincident with flagging of the vital energies, or with 
 the sudden pathological metamorphosis due to violent mental 
 emotions of a kind to which /oyc natunv are not ordinarily ex- 
 posed. This point aside, I would readily agree with Mr. Bell 
 that ^subjection to sudden severe cold may materially hasten 
 
CONDITIONS OP THE CFIANGE OP COLOR. 
 
 123 
 
 M (I 
 
 the cliauge. But it is to be remembered in this connection 
 that the difference in temperature is necessarily coordinated 
 more or less perfectly with the progress of the seasons, so that 
 it becomes in effect merely a varying element in the periodical 
 phenomena. The question practically narrows to this : Is the 
 change coincident with renewal of the coat, or is it independ- 
 ent of this, or may it occur in both ways f Specimens before 
 me prove the last statement. Some among them, notably those 
 taken in spring, show the long W00II3' white coat of winter in 
 most places, and in others present patches — generally a streak 
 along the back — of shorter, coarser, thinner hair, evidently of 
 the new spring coat, wholly dark brown. Other specimens, 
 notably autumnal ones, demonstrate the turning to white of ex- 
 isting hairs, these being white at the roots for a varying distance, 
 and tipped with brown. These are simple facts not open to 
 question. We may safely conclude that if the requisite tem- 
 perature be experienced at the periods of renewal of the coat, 
 the new hairs will come out of the opposite color ; if not, they 
 will appear of the same color, and afterward change ; that is, 
 the change may or may not be coincident with shedding. 
 That it ordinarily is n'ot so coincident seems shown by the 
 greater number of specimens in which we observe white hairs 
 brown-tipped. As Mr. Bell contends, temperature is the im- 
 mediate controlling age^t. This is amply proven in the fact 
 that the northern animals always change ; that in those from 
 intermediate latitudes the change is incomplete, while those 
 from farther south do not change at all. 
 
 The good purpose subserved in the animal's economy — in 
 other words, the design or final cause of this remarkable alter- 
 ation^ is evident in the screening of the creature from ob- 
 servation by assimilation of its color to that of the predomi- 
 nating feature of its surroundings. It is shielded not only from 
 its enemies, but from its prey as well. Another important 
 effect of the whiteness of its coat has been noted. Mr. Bell 
 has clearly stated the case : — " It is too well known to re(iuire 
 more than an allusion, that although the darker colours absorb 
 heat to a greater degree than lighter ones, so that dark-coloured 
 clothing is much warmer than light coloured, when the wearer 
 is exposed to the sun's rays — the radiation heat is also 
 never greater from dark than from light-coloui . surfaces, and 
 consequently the animal heat from within is more completely 
 retained by a white than by a dark covering ; the temperature 
 
 !|! 
 
 
 ii'- 
 
 ' I 
 
 
 
 t -■ii 
 
124 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 ; ! 
 
 therefore of an nninml having white fur, would continue more 
 equable than that of one clothed in darker colours, although the 
 latter would enjoy a greater degree of warmth whilst exposed 
 to the sun's influence. Thus the mere presence of a degree of 
 cold, sufficient to prove hurtful if not fatal to the animal, is 
 itself the immediate cause of such a change in its condition as 
 shall at once negative its injurious influence." 
 The latitudes in which the change occurs in this country in- 
 '•' le the northern tier of States, and the entire region north- 
 .d. In this area, the change is regular, complete, and uni- 
 rsal. Complete change is also usually effected — but not 
 always — nearly to the southern limits of dispersion in mount- 
 ainous regions. White winter specimens are the rule in Mas- 
 sachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania ; and I have seen 
 others, pure white, from Illinois, Wyoming Territory, and Cal- 
 ifornia (Fort Crook). For the Southern States, from which I 
 have no white examples, I will quote Audubon and Bachman : — 
 " We received specimens from Virginia obtained in January, in 
 which the colours of the back had undergone no change, and 
 remained brown ; and from the upper and middle districts of 
 South Carolina, killed at the same period, when no change had 
 taken place ; and it was stated that this, the only species of 
 Weasel found there, remained brown through the whole year. 
 . . . Those from the valleys of the Virginia mountains have 
 broad stripes of brown on the back, and specimens from Abbe- 
 ville and Lexington, South Carolina, have not undergone the 
 slightest change." It may be presumed that in the debatable 
 ground some individuals may change and others not, and that, 
 again, character of successive seasons may make a difference 
 in this respect. . 
 
 General history and habits of the species. 
 
 For the meaning of the name of this animal, we may refer 
 again to Bell : — " The derivation of the word Stoat is very prob- 
 ably, as Skinner has it, from the Belgic * Stout', bold; and the 
 name is so pronounced in Cambridgeshire and in some other 
 parts of England to the present time. Gwillim, in his * Dis- 
 play of Ileraldrie ', gives the following etymology of Ermine : — 
 'This is a little beast, lesse than a Squirrell, that hath his 
 being in the woods of the land of Armenia, whereof hee taketh 
 his name.' " The latter word is sometimes written in English 
 'ermin' or 'ermelin'; and the same term occurs in several 
 
HISTORY AND HAUITS OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 125 
 
 other languages, as in the French 'hermine', the Italian ' ar- 
 mellino', the Spanish 'arinino', Portuguese 'anniuho', Dutch 
 'hermelyu', German, Danish, and Swedish * hormelin ', and 
 Armoric ' erminicq '.* Barbarous nations of the northern por- 
 tions of the globe would appear to have each their own name 
 for an animal well known to them as an object of the chase 
 and of proQt; names of very various signification, according 
 to the different points which attracted their attention. Thus, 
 Pallas enumerates nearly fifty names, most of which have no 
 evident connection with each other. The technical appellation 
 of the animal is derived from putor, a bad smell. Fwtorius, 
 proposed as a substitute for Putorius by Keyserling and 
 Blasius, has the same signification. The name is highly appro- 
 priate; for the stench emitted by the animals, of both sexes, 
 is horribly off'ensive at times, as when under the influence of 
 fear, anger, or the sexual passion ; it is only less penetrating 
 and more fugitive than that of the Skunk itself. It may be 
 emitted at pleasure, as in case of the Skunk, and is scarcely 
 perceptible, except at certain periods, when the animal is at 
 rest. The source of the odor is a peculiar fluid contained in 
 special glands situated about the anus, opening upon two con- 
 ical papilliB, one on each side of the anus, just within the 
 verge of the opening. On slightly everting the anus, these 
 papilhii may be readily perceived ; slight pressure will cause 
 them to stand erect, while at the same time the fluid may be 
 caused to spirt several inches in a fine spray, or even trickle 
 in a stream about the parts.f 
 
 The female Ermine is provided with these glands, the same 
 as the male. She is much smaller than the opposite sex; but, 
 this and her sexual characteristics aside, she is quite identical. 
 She makes her home in an underground burrow, beneath the 
 stump of a tree, under a pile of rocks, in a decaying log, or 
 the hollow of a tree trunk, and brings forth a large litter. 
 The number at a birth is, however, very variable ; four or five 
 may be an average number. They have been found newly 
 born from March to June, according to latitude, but are ordi- 
 narily i)roduced in April or May. In northern latitudes, the 
 litter may be born while the female is still in her white pelage, 
 as in the case mentioned by Pallas ; he found two young of a 
 white mother, early in May, in the hollow of a tree. The 
 
 •Compare ospocially vou Martens, antea, p. 28. 
 
 t Compare aH<c«, p. 12. , .v . ? 
 
■f 
 
 If 
 
 ■ .,. > 
 
 ■ !'f 
 
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 12f5 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 cavitj' was separated into several compartments, arranged 
 with some care. One of these contained a heap of fresh mice 
 and shrews, another a quantity of the rejected skins, feet, and 
 tails of these animals. The nest was extremely foul. The cry 
 of the yonng is represented by Pallas to be like that of a 
 newly-born kitten. At the age often or twelve days, the little 
 animals were ashj- above and white beneath. The mother, 
 courageous in defence o her offspring, could scarcely be driven 
 away, and followed the captor of her brood for a long time. 
 The same author details the methods of capturing Ermine in 
 Siberia — by means of a noose set at the entrance of their 
 burrows, of spring-traps (at least so I understand by dccipulis 
 compressoriiH incscatiH), and of a bent stick with slip-kuot, set 
 off with a thread crossing their patnway, and placed before a 
 hollow made in the snow where the bait is put. The skinsj 
 used for vestments, were sent, he says, chiefly to China, Turkey, 
 and parts of Europe, being little used in Eussia, where the 
 tails, the principal ornaments, were reserved by law as the ex- 
 clusive perquisite of royalty {privilegio Mojestatis reservaUc). 
 The body was withdrawn from the skin through a single incision 
 across the posteriors; and it is added that not even those 
 tribes ''who eat all sorts of nasty things" will consume the 
 flesh, so thoroughly impregnated is it with the fetor. The 
 weight of a male is stated to be from five to eight ounces, 
 more or less ; of the female, scarcely four. 
 
 ]Mr. Hogg's observations on the British Stoats, in Loudon's 
 Magazine, v., 718 et scq., as already mentioned, relate chiefly 
 to the changes of pelage as affected by temperature rather 
 than season ; but further remarks, bearing upon some of the 
 habits of the animal, will be found interesting: — " Whilst walk- 
 ing along a footpath in a tteld, one day in the last week of 
 December, 1831, I observed a Stoat, or a Weasel, coming in 
 the same path towards me. I immediately stood still, and, as 
 he approached, I found that he carried his nose in the same 
 relative bearing to the ground, and was in the act of running 
 the scent of some bird, or other small animal, exactly after the 
 manner of a dog 'on scent', and in chase after game. His 
 whole attention being to the ground, with his head down, he 
 did not see me until close to me, when, suddenly catching 
 sight of me, he turned a little aside, stopped short, looked up, 
 and then scampered back along the path, with his tail erected 
 into somewhat of a carve, from the black end of which I was 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 127 
 
 l|l 
 
 able to distinguish him Iroin a Weasel, and, bounding; into a 
 hedge near the path, he there concealed himself; whence ho 
 would probably j?o forth again, when he perceive«l that all was 
 safe, and would perhaps follow up the scent from which I 
 had disturbed him. 1 was thus an eyewitness to the fact of a 
 Stoat being able to pursue its prey on .s ent, and I have little 
 doubt that nature has given the sense of smelling, in a similar 
 degree, to the Weasel and Polecat ; which will therefore 
 readily account for their being so destructive to game, and 
 chietly for their instinct in tinding the nests of partridges and 
 pheasants during the breeding season. 
 
 "... A Stoat does sometimes take to swimming. Walk- 
 ing on a fine evening in the spring, a few years ago, by the 
 banks of the Wear, between Schinclitto IJridge and Old Dur- 
 ham, I noticed an animal swimming in the water; and, making 
 haste to the place, which was just below the same bank 
 whereon I was walking, I saw that it was a Stoat; it then swam 
 gently across the river, which is there both deep and of con- 
 siderable width, to the opposite bank, where, owing to the 
 thick brushwood, I lost sight of it. In the act of swimming, 
 it lifted its head and neck well out of Avater, like a dog; and 
 so differed from a water rat, which usually keeps its head 
 close along the surface." That the Stoat readily takes to the 
 water, and swims well, has, however, been long known. Tallas 
 makes this statement : " habitat .... uecnon circa aquas, 
 in quibus etiam praidam dou illibenter quajrit, optime natans", 
 and similar testimony is afforded by the writings of various 
 authors. Audubon, however, says nearly the reverse: — "The 
 Ermine avoids water, and if forcibly thrown into it, swims 
 awkwardly like a cat." But this should be taken with qualifi- 
 cation, like the same author's further statement, that the ani- 
 mal "does not, like the Fisher and Pine jMarten, pursue its 
 prey on trees, and seems never to ascend them from choice, 
 but from dire necessitj", when closely pursued by its impla- 
 cable enemj', the dog." The Ermine indeed is neither so 
 aquatic as its congener, the Mink, nor so much at home on 
 trees as the Martens ; but it has too frequently been observed 
 in such situations to admit the doubt that it both swims and 
 climbs with ease and without reluctance. 
 
 The always pleasing pen of Mr. Wm. Macgillivray has fur- 
 nished us with the following general account of the habits of 
 the Stoat as observed in Great Britain : — " It appears that in 
 
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 i M 1 1* 
 
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 128 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID/E. 
 
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 M 
 
 England guncrally tho Erniino is less coiniuuu than the Wea- 
 sel; but in Scotland, even to the south of the Frith of Forth, it 
 is certainly of more frecjuent occurrence than that species; and 
 for one Weasel I have seen at least five or six Ermines. It 
 frequents stony places and thickets, among which it finds a 
 secure retreat, as its agility enables it to outstrip even a dog 
 in a short race, and the slimness of its body allows it to enter 
 a very small aperture. I'atches of furze, in particular, afford 
 it perfect security, and it sometimes takes possession of a 
 rabbit's burrow. It preys on game and other birds, from the 
 grouse sind ptarmigan downwards, sometimes attacks poultry 
 or sucks their eggs, and is a determined enemy to rats and 
 moles. Young rabbits and hares frequently become victims to 
 its rapacity, and even full-grown individuals are sometimes 
 destroyed by it. Although in general it does not appear to 
 hunt by scent, yet it has been seen to trace its prey like a dog, 
 following its track with certainty. Its motions are elegant, 
 and its appearance extremely animated. It moves by leaping 
 or bounding, and is capable of running with great speed, 
 although it seldom trusts itself beyond the immediate vicinity 
 of cover. Under the excitement of pursuit, however, its cour- 
 age is surprising, for it will attack, seize by the throat and 
 cling to a grouse, hare or other animal, strong enough to carry 
 it off; and it does not hesitate on occasion to betake itself to 
 the water. Sometimes, when met with in a thicket or stony 
 place, it will stand and gaze upon the intruder, as if conscious 
 of security; and, although its boldness has been exaggerated 
 in the popular stories which have made their way into books 
 of natural history, it cannot be denied that, in proportion to 
 its size, it is at least as courageous as the tiger or the lion." 
 
 With a mind preoccupied in contemplation of the exploits of 
 the chase of great Carnivora — those grand exhibitions of pred- 
 atory instincts on the part of some of the strongest beasts, 
 one is apt to overlook, or at least to underestimate, the compara- 
 tive prowess of some lesser animals. Doubtless, tho entomolo- 
 gist would give instances of equal courage and perseverance 
 in pursuit of prey, of vastly greater comparative strength and 
 skill in its capture, and superior destructiveness. Probably 
 the great mass of insect-eating animals — an immense and 
 varied host — are in no whit behind in this respect. And in 
 noting the instincts and predacious habits of the Weasels and 
 Stoats, we observe that, to grant them only equal courage and 
 
11^ 
 
 HISTORY AND HAHITS OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 129 
 
 pqnnl comparative i)rowe88, wo must novortheless accede to 
 them a wider and more searching range of active operations 
 against a greater variety of objects, uiore persevering and 
 more enduring powers of chase, and a higher grade of pure 
 destructiveneas, taking more life than is necessary for immedi- 
 ate wants. Tlie great cats are mainly restricted each to partic- 
 nhir sources of food supply, whi(!li they se(!ure by i)arttcular 
 modes of attack ; and, their hunger satislied, they (juietly 
 await another call of nature. Not so, however, with the Wea- 
 sels. No animal or bird, below a certain maximum of strength, 
 or other means of self-defence, is safe from their ruthless and 
 relentless pursuit. The enemy assails them not only upon the 
 ground, but under it, and on trees, and in the water. Swift 
 and sure-footed, he makes open chase and runs down his prey; 
 keen of scent, be tracks them, and makes the fatal spring 
 ui)on them unawares ; lithe aiul of extraordinary slenderness 
 of body, he follows the smaller through the intricacies of their 
 hidden abodes, and kills them in their homes. And if he does 
 not kill for the simple love of taking life, in gratification of 
 superlative bloodthirstiness, he at any rate kills instinctively 
 more than he can possibly require for his support. I know not 
 where to find a parallel among the larger Carnivom. Yet once 
 more, which one of the larger animals will defend itself or its 
 young at such enormous odds ? A glance at the physiognomy 
 of the Weasels w«uld suffice to betray their character. The 
 teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character ; the 
 jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all 
 the side of the skull. The forehead is low, and the nose is 
 sharp; the eyes are small, penetrating, cunning, and glitter 
 with an angry green light. There is something peculiar, more- 
 over, in the way that this fierce face surmounts a body extraor- 
 dinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It ends a remarkably long 
 and slender neck in such way that it may be held at right 
 aifgle with the axis of the latter. When the creature is glan- 
 cing around, with the neck stretched np, and flat triangular 
 head bent forward, swaying from one side to the other, we 
 catch the likeness in a moment — it is the image of a serpent. 
 
 In further illustration of the character of the Stoat, I con- 
 tinue with an extract from Audubon, which represents nearly 
 all that has appeared to the point in this country : — 
 
 " Graceful in form, rapid in his movements, and of untiring 
 industry, he is withal a brave and fearless little fellow ; cou- 
 
 9m 
 
 'fi. 
 
 S'iii 
 

 I ■ ifi 
 
 130 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELl^^. 
 
 Ml 
 
 'V 4' 
 
 K 
 
 scious of security within the windings of his retreat among the 
 logs, or heap of stones, he permits us to approach lim within 
 a few feet, then suddenly withdraws his head ; we remain still 
 for a moment, and he once more returns to his post of observa- 
 tion, watching curiously our every motion ; seeming willing to 
 claim association so long as we abstain from becoming his per- 
 secutor. 
 
 " Yet with all these external attractions, this little Weasel 
 is tierce and bloodthirsty, possessing an intuitive propensity 
 to destroy every animal and bird within its reach, some of 
 which, such as the American rabbit, the rutted grouse and 
 domestic fowl, are ten times its own size. It is a notorious 
 and hated depredator of the poultry house, and we have 
 known forty well-grown fowls to have been killed in one 
 night by a single Ermine. Satiated with the blood of proba- 
 bly a single fowl, the rest, like the flock slaughtered by the 
 wolf in the sheepfold, were destroyed in obedience to a law of 
 nature, an instinctive propensity to kill. We have traced the 
 footsteps of this bloodsucking little animal on the snow, pur- 
 suing the trail of the American rabbit, and although it could 
 not overtake its prey by superior speed, yet the timid hare 
 soon took refuge in the hollow of a tree, or in a hole dug by 
 the Marmot, or Skunk. Thither it was pursued by the Ermine 
 and destroyed, the skin and other remains at the mouth of the 
 burrow bearing evidence of the fact. We obierved an Ermine, 
 after having captured a hare of the above species, first behead 
 it and then drag the body some twenty yards over the fresh 
 fallen snow, beneath which it was concealed, and the snow 
 lightly pressed down over it ; the little prowler displaying 
 thereby a habit of which we became aware ibr the first time 
 on that occasion. To avoid a dog that was in close pursuit, it 
 mounted a tree and laid itself flat on a limb about twenty feet 
 from the ground, from which it was finally shot. We have 
 ascertained by successful experiments, repeated more than ^ 
 hundred times, that the Ermine can be employed, in the man- 
 ner of the Ferret of Europe, in driving our American rabbit 
 from the burrow into which it has retreated. In one instance 
 the Ermine employed had been captured onl> a few days be- 
 fore, and its cauiue teeth were filed in order to preve Jt its 
 destroying the rabbit ; a cord was placed around its neck to 
 secure its return. It pursued the hare through all the wind- 
 ings of its burrow, and forced it to the mouth, where it could 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 131 
 
 be taken in a net, or by the band. In winter, after a snow 
 storm, the ruffed grouse has a habit of plunging into the loose 
 snow, where it remains at times for o!ie or two days. In this 
 passive state the Ermine sometimt's detects ami destroys it. 
 
 "Notwithstanding all these mischievons and destructive 
 habits, it is doubtful whether the Ermine is not rather a bene- 
 factor than an enemy to the farmer, ridding his granaries and 
 fields of many depredators on the product of his labour, that 
 would devour ten times the value of the poultry and eggs 
 which, at long and uncertain intervals, it occasionally destroys. 
 A mission appears to have been assigned it by Providence to 
 lessen the rapidly multiplying number of mice of various spe- 
 cies and the smaller rodentia. 
 
 "The White-footed Mouse is destructive to the grains in the 
 wheat fields and in the stacks, as well as the nurseries of fruit- 
 trees. Le Conte's Pine Mouse is injurious to the Irish and 
 sweet potatoe crops, causing more to rot by nibbling holes in 
 them ti:an it consumes, and Wilson's Meadow-mouse lessens 
 our annual product of hay by feeding on the grasses, and by its 
 long and tortuous galleries among their roots. 
 
 " Whenever an Ermine has taken up its residence, the mice 
 in its vicinity for half a mile around have been found rapidly 
 to diminish in number. Their active little enemy is able to 
 force its thin vermiform body into the burrows, it follows them 
 to the end of their galleries, and destroys whole families. We 
 have on several occasions, after a light snow, followed the trail 
 of this Weasel through fields and meadows, and witnessed the 
 inimeuse destruction which it occasioned in a single night. It 
 enters overy hole under stumps, logs, stone heaps and fences, 
 and evidences of its bloody deeds are seen in the mutilated re- 
 mains of the mice scattered on the snow. The little Chipping 
 or Ground Squirrel, Tamiaa Lysteri [sc. striatus] takes up its 
 residence in the vicinity of the grain fields and is known to carry 
 off in its cheek pouches vast quantities of wheat and buckwheat, 
 to serve as winter stores. The Ermine instinctively discovers 
 these snug retreats, and in the space of a few minutes destroys 
 a whole family of these beautiful little Tamiw; without even 
 resting awhile until it has consumed its now abundant food, its 
 appetite craving for more blood, as if impelled by an irresistible 
 destiny, it proceeds in search of other objects on which it may 
 glut its insatiable vampire like thirst. The Norway rat and the 
 Common House Mouse take possession of our barus,wheat stacks, 
 
 If 
 
 I'l 
 
132 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDJE. 
 
 I m 
 
 mm 
 
 and granaries, and destroy vast quantities of grain. In some in- 
 stances the farmer is reluctantly compelled to pay even more 
 than a tithe in contributions towards the support of these pests. 
 Let however an Ermine find its way into these barns and gran- 
 aries, and there take up its winter residence, and the havoc 
 which is made among the rats and mice will soon be observa- 
 ble. The Ermine pursues them to their farthest retreats, and 
 in a few weeks the premises are entirely free from their depre- 
 dations. We ouQe placed a half domesticated Ermine in an out- 
 house infested with rats, shutting up the holes on the outside 
 to prevent their escape. The little animal soon commenced his 
 work of destruction. The squeaking of the rats was heard 
 throughout the day. In the evening, it came out licking its 
 mouth, and seemed like a hound after a long chase, much fa- 
 tigued. A board of the floor was raised to enable us to ascer- 
 tain the result of our experiment, and an immense number of 
 rats were observed, which, although they had been killed in 
 diftereut parts of the ^"Mlding, had been dragged together, form- 
 ing a compact heap. 
 
 " The Ermine is then of immense benefit to the farmer. We 
 are of the opinion that it has been over-hated and too indis- 
 criminately persecuted. If detected in the poultry house, there 
 is some excuse for destroying it, as, like the dog that has once 
 been caught in the sheepfold, it may return to commit further 
 depredations; but when it has taken up its residence under stone 
 heaps and fences, in his fields, or his barn, the farmer would 
 consult his interest by suffering it to remain, as by thus invit- 
 ing it to a home, it will probably destroy more formidable ene- 
 mies, relieve him from many petty annoyances, and save him 
 many a bushel of grain." 
 
 The same author, alluding to the Weasel's want of shyness, 
 and Its ready capture in any kind of trap, continues with a 
 matter that may next interest us — its relative abundance in 
 different localities : — " This species does not appear to be very 
 abundant anywhere. We have seldom found more than two or 
 three on any farm in the Northern or Eastern States. We have 
 ascertained that the immense number of tracks often seen in the 
 snow in particular localities were made by a single animal, as 
 by capturing one, no signs of other individuals were afterwards 
 seen. We have observed it most abundant in stony rogtous ; 
 in Dutchess and Ontario counties in New York, on the hills of 
 Connecticut and Vermont, and at the foot of the Alleghanies 
 
HISTCitY AND HABITS OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 133 
 
 iu tenusylvania and Virginia. It is solitary in its habits, as 
 we have seldc m seeu a pair together except in the rutting season. 
 Afa>u*^j' of young, hovc, er, are apt to remain in the same 
 locality until autumn. In winter they separate, and we are 
 inclined to think that f.ioy do not hnnt in couples or in packs 
 like the wolf, but that, like the bat and the mink, each indi- 
 vidual pursues its prey without copartnership, and hunts for 
 its own benefit." In Massachusetts, according to Allen, it is 
 comparatively common. I myself saw none in Labrador during 
 my summer visit ; but it must be quite abundant, to judge from 
 the number of skins I saw in possession of the natives at various 
 places. According to Richardson, " Ermine-skins formed part 
 of the Canada exports in the time of Charlevoix ; but they have 
 so sunk in value, that they are said not to repay the Hudson's 
 Bay Company the expense of collecting them, and very few are 
 brought to the country from that quarter." Nevertheless, it 
 would appear that the Ermine is much more abundant in British 
 America generally than it is in the United States. Over three- 
 fourths of the large miscellaneous collection of skins we have 
 examined in the preparation of this article came from this coun- 
 try and from Alaska. The writer last mentioned speaks of it 
 as "common", and adds that it often domesticates itself in the 
 houses of the fur traders, where it may be heard the live-long 
 night pursuing the white-footed mouse. Up to a certain limit of 
 latitude it would appear to increase in numbers to the north- 
 ward. The abundance of an Ermine, either the present or suc- 
 ceeding species, on the Missouri is attested by the regalia of 
 ceremony of some of the Indian tribes — picturesque costumes 
 decorated with the tails, in rude imitation of royal fashion. 
 
 Like a majority of thoroughly predacious animals, the Ermine 
 is somewhat nocturnal ; that is to say, it is active and success- 
 ful in the dark. Nevertheless, it is too often abroad in the day- 
 time, either in sport or on the chase, to warrant our reckoning 
 it among the truly nocturnal Carnivores. In the choice and 
 construction of its retreats we see little evidence of burrowing 
 instincts, or, indeed, of any considerable fossorial capacity. It 
 retreats beneath stone heaps, under logs and stumps, in hol- 
 lows of trees, and also in true underground burrows, though 
 these, it should be observed, are usually those made by Bodents 
 or other burrowers whom it has driven off or destroyed. Nev- 
 ertheless, there is evidence that the ani^xial sometimes digs. 
 Thus Captaiu Lyon, as rendered by Richardson, states, that be 
 
 
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 134 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 it- 
 
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 observed a curious kind of burrow made by ErmiDes in the snow, 
 " which was pushed up in the same manner as the tracks of 
 moles through the earth in England. These passages run in a 
 serpentine direction, and near the hole or dwelling place the 
 circles are multiplied, as if to render the approach more intri- 
 cate." Audubon has a passage of similar effect : — " We have 
 frequently observed where it had made long galleries in the 
 deep snow for twenty or thirty yards, and thus in going from 
 one burrow to another, instead of travelling over the surface, it 
 had constructed for itself a kind of tunnel beneath." 
 
 Accounts of different writers indicate a great variation in the 
 number of young i>roduced at a birth — from two to twelve. We 
 may safely assume that these are unusual extremes, the aver- 
 age litter being five or six. As in case of the Mink, the rutting 
 season is early ; in the United States, during a part of Febru- 
 ary and March. Young have been noted, toward the southern 
 extreme of the range of the species, before the end of March ; 
 but most are produced in May or late in April. Without defi- 
 nite information respecting the period of gestation, we may sur- 
 mise this to be about six or seven weeks. Information is also 
 wanting of the length of time that the young nurse or require 
 to have food brought them by the parents. 
 
 On the distribution of the Ermine in the Old World.* 
 
 Georgi {loc. cit. [i. e., Geogr. Phys. Besch. iii. 6], p. 1539) 
 indicates, with regard to the distribution of the Ermine in 
 Eussia, the southern temperate, and the cold regions almost 
 to the Arctic Ocean. He mentions, as special localities, the 
 Polish-Russian and Dnieper governments, Curland, Livonia, 
 and Ingermannland, also Finland, the governments on the 
 Volga and its tributaries, and also the governments of Arch- 
 angel, Wiburg, Wologda, Perm, those of the southeast to 
 Bucharia; Siberia from the Ural to the Jeuisei, Dauria, the 
 Lena Biver, Kamtschatka, and finally the Kurile and Aleu- 
 tian Islands ; and calls attention to its abundance in Siberia. 
 Pallas (Zoogr. R.-A. i. p. 92) gives the Ermine as inhabit- 
 ing not only the whole of Europe, and Asia to India, but 
 also asserts its extension into America, remarking, however, 
 its absence from the Kurile and Aleutian Islands. Accord- 
 ing to Wosnessenski's observations, communicated to me 
 
 * Translated from Brandt's article already quoted with reference to Galo 
 luacu8. 
 
OLD WORLD DISTRIBUTION OF THE ERMINE. 
 
 13*5 
 
 personally, and contrary to the opinion of Pallas, Ermines are 
 met with on the Aleutians and Behring Islands, where they 
 are hunting the Mice and Shrew-mice marching after the food- 
 provisions of man. The same author also speaks of their fre- 
 (juent occurrence in Kamtschatka and on the coasts of the sea of 
 Ochotsk. Von Saritschew (Beise,i. p. 92) observed Ermines 
 on the middle course of t\e Indigirka, and von Wrangel 
 (Reise, ii. p. 238) near Werchojansk, in latitude 67°, longitude 
 33°; Gebler (Katun. Gebirge, p. 85) mentions their existence in 
 West Siberia; Eversmann in the governments of Kasan and 
 Orenburg; Lehmanu (Reise, Zool. App. by Brandt, p. 302) 
 names, besides Orenburg, the country of the Bashkirs and 
 Fort Spask; Hohenacker (Bull. Nat. Hist. Moskou, 1837,2, p. 
 137) enumerates them among the Mammals of the couutries of 
 the Caucasus; Nordmann mentions their appearance in Bes- 
 sarabia, Ekaterinoslaw, and Asia Minor (Demidoff, Voy. iii. 
 p. 17); and Ozernay (Bull. Nat. H. Moskou, 1851, p. 274) in the 
 governments of Charkow and Ekaterinoslaw. Kessler calls 
 them frequent inhabitants of all the four governments of the Dis- 
 triutofKiew. Brine ken (Mem. p. 47)and Eichwald(Skizze, 
 p. 237) number them among the animals of Lithuania. Their ap- 
 pearance in Curland is mentioned in the Description of the 
 Province of Curland by v. Derschau and v. Keyserling (p. 
 130), and also by Lichteustein (Bull. Nat. H. Mosc. 1829, p. 
 289). According to a communication from Fischer, Ermines 
 are met wich in Livonia only in certain localities and a very few 
 places (Naturg. v. Li viand, p. 144). Their frequent appearance 
 near St. Petersburg I am able toattest by many years'experience. 
 In Finland, they ate mentioned by Sadelin (Fauna Fenn. p. 10, 
 and the Forteckning iifver Siillskapets p. Fauna Fenn. Sam- 
 lingar, p. 7). Oseretskowski indicates them also on the coast 
 of Lapland. Schrenk (Reise, i. pp. 66, 97) reports them on the 
 Pinega River and in the District of Mesen. From the latter 
 region, a specimen was received by the Academical Museum 
 through the kindness of Mr. Bystrow, inspector of schools (see 
 »uiy report in the Scientific Bull, of the Acad, of Sciences of St. 
 Petersburg, v. x). In the government of Wologda there are 
 said to be collected annually from 5,000 to 10,000 skins (v. B ae r 
 Beitr. vii. p. 251). Sujew (Pallas, Trav. iii. p. 87) numbered 
 them among the inhabitants of the lower Obi, and this was 
 lately confirmed by Ermann (Reise, i. p. 562). The Ural expe- 
 dition brought back with them a male specimen killed on June 
 
 
 i 
 
 no a 
 
 •« 
 
136 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 7, 1847, on the Wischera, in latitude 62^. The summer coat 
 of this individual agreed substantially with that of other 
 Ermines killed at the same season in other regions. The tail 
 of the above mentioned animal shows a white ring before its 
 black end, very likely only an individual peculiarity. The balls 
 of the feet and the joints of the toes were distinctly visible. 
 Von Hoffmann informed me that the Ermines follow the 
 Lemmings to the Arctic Sea. 
 
 The many Ermines killed near St. Petersburg are always 
 brown in summer but white in winter, which, Pallas says, is 
 also the case with those living near the Caspian Sea (Zoogr. i. 
 p. 93). In my memoir on the periodical change of pelage of 
 animals of the Weasel kind (Bull. Sc. CI. Phys. Mat. v. ix. n. 12, 
 Melanges Biolog. i. p. 185), I mentioned the capture of an Er- 
 mine in the brown or summer pelage, in the month of Novem* 
 ber, on the island of Oesel, and doubted then the likelihood of 
 such an occurrence. The following communication, however, 
 from D r . M o r i t z , of Tiflis, respecting Mustela vulgaris^ permits 
 me to believe that many individuals do not change when the 
 winter is mild. The northern limits of the animal's distribu- 
 tion in the Russian possessions are the shores of the Arctic 
 Ocean; the southern limits include the whole region south of 
 the Caucasus; the western, Poland; and the eastern, Kamt- 
 schatka and East Siberia. Concerning the value of the fur, and 
 the yearly proceeds, see v. Baer, Beitr. viii, p. 183. 
 
 The Long^-tailed IVeasel. 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 Patorlns longlcaada. 
 
 ? Hustela longicauda, Bp. Charlesw. Mag. K. H. 1838, 38 (based on long-tailed variety of P. 
 
 enninea from Carlton Honse, iiicA. F. B. A. i. 1829, 47, in text).— Gray, Liat Mamm. 
 
 Br. Mus. 195. 
 TPutorlus longlcauda. Rich. Zool. Beeohey's Voy. 1839, 10*, (in text; same as foregoing). 
 Futorius longicauda, Baird, M. If. A. 1857, 169 (Nebraska, Montana) — Suekley, P. K. R. 
 
 Rep. xii. pt. ii. 1859, pp. 93, 114 (Milk River).— ffaj/d. T.'ins. Am. Philos. Soc. xii. 
 
 1863, 143.— (?) Bogg, Canad. Kat. and Gool. vi. 1861, iil.—CoMg tt Yarrow, Zool. Expl. 
 
 W. 100 Merid. 1875, 591 (Colorado and New Mexico). 
 PutoriUS culbertsoni, Bd. MSS. Mus. Smiths, (labels of nos. 4330, 432.5). 
 HermeUii des Oberen Missouri, Maxim. Verz. N.- A. Sang. 1862, 46, pi. " 8", f. 8 (penis-bone). 
 
 Hab. — Region of the Upper Missouri and its tributaries ; Minnesota, Da- 
 kota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming; also Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, 
 Arizona. North apparently to Carlton House ; west probably to the Pacific. 
 
 Specific characters. — Size of P. erminea ; tail absolutely and relatively 
 longer, with hairs i to |^ the head and body. Below tawny or buffy, with a 
 salmon (not sulphury) tinge abruptly defined against whit^ of cheeks and 
 
 r t u o » t- 
 
DESCRIPTION OF PUTORIUS LONGICAUDA. 
 
 137 
 
 chin. Black on end of tail .almost redncod to the terminal pencil alone, 
 scarcely J the whole length. Color entirely white in winter. Male, total 
 length of head and body, 10.50 ; tail-vertebrae 6.75 ; tail with hairs 8.50. Fe- 
 male, total length of head and body, 8.50 ; tail vertebrte, 5.75 ; tail with 
 hairs, 6.75. 
 
 Description. * 
 
 The size is entirely within the range of that of P. erminea, 
 and there is little to note in this respect, excepting the greater 
 length of the tail ; the general build, however, appears stouter 
 than is usual in P. erminea, the muzzle blunter. The tail is 
 remarkably long — not that it is entirely beyond the maximum of 
 that of erminea, but that when shortest it is about at such 
 maximum, and that its normal average is beyond the average 
 of that of P. erminea. The two animals being of substantially 
 the same size of body, the tail is relatively longer — including 
 the hairs it is three-fourths to four-fifths the length of the body 
 and head. The black on the tail is normally restricted to the 
 minimum — or even beyond this — of ordinary erminea; it occu- 
 pies scarcely anything more than the terminal pencil alone, 
 extending le^^s than half an inch on the vertebrae. The upper 
 parts are much as in erminea, but there is a peculiar olivaceous 
 cast, owing to admixture of some green in the brown — not that 
 any green shows as such, but it gives a particular tone to the 
 parts. Below, and on both sets of paws, the color is a rich and 
 beautiful buffy -yellow mixed with salmon color, quite diflferent 
 from the clear sulphury of P. erminea. This color is abruptly 
 displayed against the pure white of the chin and cheeks. The 
 female is considerably smaller than the male, as usual in this 
 genus, but is not otherwise different. (This particular specimen 
 is much lighter than her mate, but such distinction will not 
 hold.) The following measurements were carefully taken in the 
 flesh:— 
 
 •From a pair in the Cones collection, killed in August, 1874, in North- 
 western Montana. 
 
 cf 
 
 ' w%\ 
 
 m 
 
138 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
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GENERAL ACCOUNT OF PUTORIUS LONGICAUDA. 139 
 
 General account of the species. 
 
 The subject of the present article diflfers notably in the above 
 particulars from the common type of Ermine. It is probably 
 the same as the longicauda of Bonaparte, though it must be 
 observed that we have no assurance of this. It is the longicauda 
 of Baird. In case Bonaparte's animal should prove not the 
 same, the present must be called P. culbertsoni Baird, MSS. 
 
 After dwelling at the length I have upon the variability in 
 the length of tail of P. crminea, and on the extent of the 
 black pencil in that species, it may seem inconsistent to intro- 
 duce such features in a specific diagnosis. But it will be 
 observed that the character of the member is something over 
 and above that shown by P. erminea in any of its interminable 
 variety, and that I use it in combination with another pe- 
 culiarity, the color of the under parts. Taken together, these 
 seem perfectly distinctive ; at any rate, I find the same features 
 preserved throughout a considerable series of specimens, with- 
 out the slightest intergradatiou with P. erminea. The speci- 
 mens are distinguishable at a glance. While 1 make no doubt 
 that this animal is an offshoot from P. erminea, yet the differ- 
 entiation is complete, and no intermediate specimens are 
 known ; while, for that matter, it is doubtless true that all of 
 the species have come from an original stock. This particular 
 oifshoot is a step toward those members of the genus which 
 extend into tropical America. This is evident in the coloration 
 of the belly, very little increased intensity of which would 
 assimilate it to the rusty and orange-brown shades prevailing 
 farther south. 
 
 Besides the types of my description, I have examined a 
 dozen or more additional specimens — those recorded by Baird 
 in his work, and others since received at the Smithsonian; 
 None show any gradation with P. erminea. In No. 4325, from 
 old Port Union, "Nebraska" (now Montana), the tail-vertebrte 
 (the tail has not been skinned) measure 6.50 inches, with the 
 hairs about 8.00. No. 4320, from Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 
 taken in December, 1859, is pure white; the black tip under 
 1.50 long; the vertebra) (unskinned) are about 6.00 ; the speci- 
 men in its winter dress is readily recognized by these features 
 as pertaining to P. longicauda. Another specimen is in winter 
 dress from Fort Clarke. There are several from Utah. A 
 skin, too defective for satisfactory identification, but probably 
 
 m 
 
140 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 I : I 
 
 "*|]:; 
 
 belonging here, is iu the collection from Puget's Bound — a 
 locality which, if substantiated, would considerably extend 
 the known range of the species. It is the individual which 
 formed the basis of P. "nc/tardfsoMt" iu Dr. Buckley's report 
 above cited. 
 
 Since writing the foregoing, I have examined the skull of 
 this species in comparison with that of P. erminea, and I tind 
 remarkable distinctions. Ooordinately with the shorter and 
 broader head, the skull shows differences of shape as well 
 marked as those subsisting between M. marten and foina. An 
 example of P. noveboracensis measures 1.90 by 0.95; a female 
 specimen of longicanda 1.80 by 1.03, the resulting difference 
 in contour boing obvious. The cranial portion proper of P. 
 longicauda is much more expanded and ovate, the width there 
 (0.90) being half the total length, while the same measurement 
 of P. noveboracensis (0.80) is much less — only about half the 
 length of the skull exclusive of the rostral portion. The skull 
 of P. longicanda is notably more constricted behind the orbits. 
 The zygomata are much more obliquely offset from the skull. 
 The anteorbital foramina are narrowly oval and very oblique. 
 There is a remarkable inward obliquity of the last upper 
 ii^olar, different from anything I have seen iu P. ermineus. I 
 have not seen a male skull ; it will be found larger by about a 
 fourth of an inch in length. We may tabulate the cranial 
 characters of the two species as follows : — 
 
 p. erminea. — Zygomatic width of skull one-half its length. Cranial width 
 much less than half the total length. Width of skull at point of greatest 
 constriction half the zygomatic width. Anteorbital foramina large, suboir- 
 cnlar. Set of back upper premolar nearly vertical. 
 
 P. longicanda. — Zygomatic width of skull about three-fifths its length. Cra- 
 nial width half the total length. Width of skull at point of greatest con- 
 striction about two-fifths the zygomatic width. Anteorbital foramina small, 
 very obliquely oval. Set of back upper premolar obliquely inward. 
 
 I think that after all the relationships of this species are 
 closest with P. frenatus, notwithstanding the absence of the 
 facial markings peculiar to the latter. It shares with P. frenatus 
 the rusty-reddish or salmon-colored under parts, well contrast- 
 ing with the clear sulphury-yellow of P. erminea. Moreover, 
 southern examples, such as those from New Mexico, show a 
 decided approach to P. frenattn in darkening of the color of 
 the head. This is sometimes so decided, that were white spots 
 present in these cases, the specimens would unhesitatingly be 
 referred to P. frenatus; and we know that in Central Ameri- 
 
GENERAL ACCOUNT OF PUTORIUS LONOICAUDA. 141 
 
 u\ 
 
 cau and Mexican skins the facial markings of P. froiatus are 
 not seldom extinguished. 
 
 The Long-tailed Stoat is the characteristic form of the genus 
 throughout the region of the Missouri and its tributaries. 
 While I am not assured that it inhabits this country to the 
 exclusion of P. erminea, I may state that I never met with the 
 latter in any of my travels, and that I have not seen specimens 
 from fairly within this region, though some from its confines 
 are before me. It is the Weasel of the Rocliy Mountains too, 
 for a corresponding extent, and, as above indicated, very prob- 
 ably reaches to the Pacific. Mr. Ridgway informs me that he 
 found a specimen, which he satisfactorily identifies from mem- 
 ory of its creamy-yellow under parts, in the Wahsatch Mount- 
 ains, near Salt Lake City, Utah. I have also seen the species 
 in the mountains of Colorado. 
 
 I found the. animal to be quite numerously represented in 
 Northern Montana, on the boundless prairies of the Upper 
 Missouri and Milk River, living in burrows underground along 
 with the Gophers {Spermophilus richardsoni), Badgers, and Kit 
 Foxes. In these treeless domains, it occupies as its home the 
 deserted burrows of the Gophers. I once surprised a family 
 of five or six in such a retreat ; I could hear them spitting 
 angrily below, but did not succeed in my endeavor to dislodge 
 them. This was late in July; the young were well grown at 
 this period. Later in the season, at Chief Mountain Lake, one 
 of the headwaters of the Saskatchewan, on the eastern base 
 of the Rocky Mountains, latitude ■49°, several specimens were 
 secured. Here the species was living on wooded ground; 
 indeed, one of my specimens was caught up a small tree, and 
 killed with a stick. It climbed anfl leaped among the branches 
 with ease and agility, much like a Squirrel. Skins were in de- 
 mand by the men of our party for the manufacture of tobacco- 
 pouches; they made very pretty ones, and many were killed 
 for this purpose. 
 
 Tlie specimen mentioned above from the Wahsatch Mount- 
 ains was found dead by Mr. Ridgway in the nest of a Buteo 
 sicainsoni. This shows that the animal, des,)ite its ferocity 
 and activity, may I'all a victim to the rapacity of the larger 
 Hawks. The individual had its neck torn, and was already 
 partly eaten by the two strong and voracious young Buzzards 
 which occupied the nest. The nest contained also the remains 
 
 'Mi 
 
 f\. 
 
 rv 
 
142 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 U :i 
 
 
 of a Chipmunk, and of a Black -beailoil Grosbeak {Qoniaphea 
 MeJiinoerphnla). 
 
 When irritated, this species diffuses a fu^tid odor quite as 
 strong as that of the Miuk, 
 
 The Bridled l¥eai>iel. 
 
 PiitorinM (Oale) brRiiillensiii frenatoR. 
 
 a, hragilifimfi (Sewast.). 
 
 Mimtrtn brnsnirnsls, Smmst. Mom. Aeail. St. Petorsb. Iv. 1813,3.50, pi. 4.— FTwrh. Syn. 1820, 
 iii.—liunn. Wi\\. Nat. Ges. llalle, ii. 1854, M.—Oorr. Cat. Bonos IJr. Mu». 1863, 94.— 
 GriKj, Ann. Mug. N. H. xiv. 1874, 374. 
 
 Mlistelii (Putorlus) brannieilNls, DOrhlij. Voy. Am«r. M6rid. , pi. 13, f. 3 (skull). 
 
 Mustda (Onlc) br»<«UienNi!«, sohim, Syn. Maniin. i. 1844, 346. 
 
 Mii'^tolu Oicojiale) brusUleiistl!) mir. briisUluna, Oray, P. Z. S. 1865,115 (type ot Neogale); 
 Cut. Ciini. Br. Miw. 1869, 92. 
 
 h. (tquatonalis Coues. 
 
 Mustela aurcnvcntrlH, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864,5.5, pi. 8 (Quito; very young) (not M. OMrirmter 
 
 Hmhis.) Gray, P. Z. S. 1865,115 (Ecuador and New Grenada; adult); Cat. Cam. Br. 
 
 Mn«. i8<'.9, 92. 
 
 Pilli)rlii>) brasUlenHlii var. trquatorlaUH, Cows (merely as a substitute for Gray's preoc- 
 ciipind name). 
 
 1 Musli'la macrura, Tae.z. P. Z. S. 1874, 311, pi. 48 (Central Porn). 
 
 •? Miistela nfllnts, Gray, Ann. Mai?. N. H. xiv. 1874, 375 (New Granada). 
 
 c. frenatus (Llcht.). 
 
 .VllStrln rrcnnta, Licht Dnrstellung . . . Siing. 1827-34, pi. 53 (Mexico).— Attd. cC Bach. 
 
 J. A. N. S. P. viii. pt. ii. 1842,291.— Omi/, Zoiil. Voy. Sulphur, 1844, 31, pi. 9 (head).— 
 
 Tomes, P. Z. S. 1861,287 (Guatemala).— Omy, List M. Br. Mus. 1843, eS.-Oerrai-d, Oat. 
 
 Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 94. 
 MiiHtcIa (Gale) frenata, Wann. Suppl. Scbreb. Siing. ii. 1841, 234. 
 i'UtorillK fri'natUS, Bach. J. A. X. S. P. viii. •iHS.—Awl. (C Bach. Q. J. A. ii. 1851, 71, pi. 60 
 
 (Texas to Monterey and southward). — Bd. M. N. A. 1857, 173, pi. 19, fig. 5rt; Mex. B. 
 
 Surv. ii. pt. ii. 18.59 ; Mammals, 19, pi. 17, flgs. 1 and 2, a-e.—Ooucs, Am. Nat. i. 1867, 352. 
 Mustcla vailthOKenys, Gray, Ann. Mag. N. II. xi. 184.3, 118; Zoiil. Voy. Sulpb. 1844, 31, pi. 9 ; 
 
 {n't. to Pall. Zoog. 92); List M. Br. JIus. 1843,66; P. Z. S. 1865,115; Cat. Cam. Br. 
 
 Mus. 1869, 93 ; Ann. Mag. N. H xiv. 1874, 375.— Got. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 94. 
 
 Pulorius xanlhoeenys, Bd. B. N. A. 1857, 176, pi. 19, f. 3 n (California).— Aetob. P. R. R. Rep. 
 vi. Ib57, 42 (San Francisco). 
 
 Putorius mcxicanus, Berlandier, MSS. ic. ined. 4 (Tamaulipas and Matamoras). 
 *l'oinadrrJa' of the Mexicans. 
 
 ((Jompare Mmtcla javonica Seba, Thes. i. pi. 48, fig. 4 — Jf. leucogcnis Schinz, Syn. i. 344 ; not 
 Japanese.— Cf. Pall. Zoog. li.-A. i. 1811, 92, footnote.) 
 
 H.\n. — Southarn Texas to California. Up the Pacific side to San Francisco, 
 Fort Crook, and probably Astoria, Oregon. South to Qaatemala. Var. 
 (vqttiitorialis, thence to Ecuador. Var. bmailiemis, Brazil. 
 
 Si'ECiFic CHAKACTER8.— Size aud proportions of P. erminea; top of head 
 notably different in color (darker) from the back, and blotched with white ; 
 chin white; other under parts more or less strongly tinged with tawny-yel- 
 low or orangj-brown ; tail tipped with black. No seasonal change of pelage. 
 
GENERAL ACCOUNT OF P. BRA8ILIENSIS FRENATUS. 143 
 
 Genera I account of the 82)ecie8. 
 
 In respects of size and form, tliis species scarcely dittcra from 
 r. crminea. The pelage appears to be coarser, thinner, and 
 more glossy than it usually is in the P. erminea, evidently as a 
 consequence of the more southern habitat of the animal. The 
 palms, soles, and ears are rather more scantily haired. There 
 are no indications that the animal turns white in winter. 
 
 The pattern of coloration is as usual in this genus, with the 
 adilition of the peculiar head-markings, to be presently de- 
 scribed. The upper parts are of a mahogany-brown, as in the 
 Slimmer coat of other Stoats, but ditter in the shadv much as 
 ]tolished mahogany differs from that wood iu the rough, being 
 darker and richer in tint. This color deepens insensibly into 
 blackish on the head. The darkest examples before us, from 
 (tuatemala, are almost chocolate-brown, and quite black on 
 the head. This intensity of coloration is quite coincident with 
 (loorease of latitude ; and the northernmost examples, from 
 California, are much paler — of a lighter and more yellowish- 
 brown than the average of P. erminea. There is a similar par 
 lelism in the color of the under parts. Aside from the chin 
 and throat, which usually remain quite purely white, the under 
 l»art8 range from a tawny-yellow to a rich orange-brown. In 
 running through the series from California to Guatemala, I have 
 seen nothing quite like this in any of the northern Stoats, in 
 which any yellowish of the under parts which may exist is sul- 
 phury; the only approach to it being a salmon shade on P. 
 Umgkauda. In the orange-bellied Guatemalan skins, moreover, 
 the line of demarcation from the white of the throat is quite 
 abrupt; iu others, the transition is by insensible degrees. The 
 light color of the under parts runs down both fore and hind 
 limbs to the feet; but the tops of the feet are indifferently col- 
 ored like the belly or like the back ; at any rate, I find specimens 
 varying in this respect, without finding any clue to a rule which 
 might determine this condition. The tail is like the back all 
 around ; it blackens insensibly at the tip, for a shorter distance 
 than is usual iu northern Stoats ; the defined black only occu- 
 pying, on an average, about an inch of the end in addition to 
 the terminal pencil of hairs, which is about another inch 
 longer. 
 
144 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 Measurements of two apecimena of Putorius bkasiliensis frknatus. 
 
 '•' i^ijii 
 
 M 
 
 a 
 
 Localltj. 
 
 H 
 
 .1- 
 
 From tip of no«e to- TaiUojnd 
 
 Lad St h 
 of— 
 
 "S 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 1" 
 
 
 a 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 > 
 
 i 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 n 
 
 C » 
 
 £^ 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 8382 
 2323 
 
 Matainoras, Mex . . . 
 ■--■'lo 
 
 1.00 
 0.60 
 
 1.75 
 l.SO 
 
 2.25 
 2.20 
 
 n.OO 6.75 
 8. 25 4. 75 
 
 B.00 
 5.30 
 
 1.20 
 1.10 
 
 1.80 
 1.60 
 
 Ale. 
 Ale. 
 
 The facial white markings of this species deserve special 
 cousideranoii. Upon the most cursory examination, one may 
 satisfy himself of their irregular, indeterminate character, and 
 would expect to find them, as they really are, variable to the 
 last degree. They are similar in this respect to the white on 
 the chin and abont the lips and along the belly of the Mink, 
 or on the chest of the Marten, and of a part with the variation 
 above mentioned in the color of the paws of the present spe- 
 cies. They ai>pear to be, in fact, simply an exaggeration and 
 permanent retention of certain white markings that occur in 
 P. erminea (uiiassociated with beginnings or remiiins of the 
 winter dross). In several European examples of P. erminea, 
 I find a little white coronal or two white supraciliary or auricular 
 spots, and a wholly variable extent of white upon the cheeks. 
 The usual pattern in P.frenatus is this : a triangular or quad- 
 rate white frontal spot just between the eyes, and a broad 
 oblique white stripe on each side of the head. In addition, 
 there may or may not be an occipitjil white spot between the 
 ears. The frontal spot is usually isolated from the white 
 stripes, but may fuse with them, completing the " bri<lle". It 
 is sometimes reduced to a mere nasal stripe, with correspond- 
 ing reduction of tlie pre auricular markings. In a specimen 
 from Fort Crook, Cdliforuia, which I refer to this species, 
 there are only a few white hairs on the muzzle, and a slight 
 patch at the base of the ear. But the malar stripe, on the 
 variations of which P. xanthogenys chiefly rests, is still more 
 unstable in character ; for its width and the outline it forms 
 with the black of the cheeks are wholly indeterminate. 
 
 I am inclined to think that this animal has become fairly 
 differentiated from an original stock which comprised P. er- 
 minea, although traces of a former connection may still subsist 
 on the confines of its present habitat. The Fort Crook speci- 
 
CHARACTERS OF P. BRASILIEXSIS FRENATUS. 
 
 145 
 
 men above mentioned imperfectly represents the species. It 
 is, morover, associated in that locality with an animal which 
 turns perfectly white in winter, and is in other respects insep- 
 arable from northern Ermines. Thus, No. 2839. fi-om Fort 
 Crook {Feilmr), is pure white underneath, has the head like 
 the back in color, and both of the usual undressed mahogany- 
 brown ; yet it shows the white frontal spot and has a decided 
 trace of the malar stripe. It is accompanied by No. 3872, pure 
 white all over. Still, the white markings of No. 2839 may be 
 remains of a seasonal change, or merely like the similar ap- 
 pearances that some specimens of the European P. enninea 
 present. I refer these two specimens to P. enninea, but in- 
 clude the other from Fort Crook, No. 3830, in the beginning of 
 the hrasiUensis series. I refer to this species, with some hesita- 
 tion, a very young Stoat from Astoria, Oregon (No. 3520, June 
 19, 1858, J, Wayne). Although the head is not darker than 
 the back, and no head-stripes are apparent, the belly shows 
 strongly the characteristic fawn color of frenatus. 
 
 There remains the discussion of the relationships of the 
 South American forms. Although I have not specimens from 
 Brazil or Ecuador, the sufficient descriptions of authors enable 
 me to speak with confidence respecting them. There is evi- 
 dently but one series of linked forms. We have already seen 
 that frenata begins in Upper California, as xanthogenys, 
 which is merely the northernmost palest form, between which 
 and true frenata (City of Mexico, &c.) there is no diffierence 
 requiring recognition by name. In Guatemala, frenata already 
 assumes the rich coloration that culminates further south in 
 brasiliensis. Gray, indeed, who usually subdivides altogether 
 too much, does not attempt to separate frenata and brasUictms 
 except varietally. P. miiiatorialis (as I call what Gray named 
 il/. aureoventris, a term preoccupied to all intents and purposes 
 by auriventer of Hodgson) was originally described from a 
 very young animal (" length 6 inches, tail 4J" — the adult is after- 
 ward described as length 12, tail 8), without facial markings, 
 but the adult has the auricular blotch, though the frontal spot 
 appears to be extinguished. It is described as very dark'y 
 and richly colored, the under parts and ear-spot " golden-ye.- 
 low "; the coloration of the plate is almost precisely that of 
 Guatemalan specimens before me. But that the facial mark- 
 ings may be completely extinguished, as a matter of individ- 
 ual variation, is shown by a specimen before me from Costa 
 10 M 
 
 1 
 
 i; 
 
 W 
 
 I'd .flirliili 
 
 HI 
 
146 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 n 
 
 Bica. It is very dark and richly colored, with the merest trace 
 of white markings behind one eye — not both. 
 
 I find nothing in the ascribed characters of Mustela macrura 
 Taczanowski forbidding its reference to the Middle American 
 series ; nor is there anything in Dr. Gray's brief and unsatis- 
 factory account of M. affinis incompatible with the characters of 
 the present species in their now ascertained range of variation. 
 
 There is nothing peculiar in the relationships of the various 
 forms as here advanced. It is paralleled in the cases of other 
 Mammals and many Birds, and, in fact, might have been pre- 
 dicated. 
 
 We are in possession of no special information upon the hab- 
 its of the Bridled Weasel, which, however, may be presumed 
 to diflfer little, if at all, from those of its allies. Dr. Newberry 
 represents it as abundant about San Francisco. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 I '>! 
 
 MUSTELIN^E— Continued: The American Ferret. 
 
 The snbgemis Cynomyonax — Subgeneric characters— Putorius {Cynomyonax) 
 Tiigripes, the American or Black-footed Ferret — Synonymy — Specific char- 
 acters — Habitat — General account of the species — Addendum : On the 
 species of the snbgenns Piitorius — P. falidun, the Polecat or Fitch — Syn- 
 onymy — Description — P. fietidua var. furo, the Ferret — Synonymy — Re- 
 marks — Ferret breeding and handling — P. foefidus var. eversmanni, the 
 Siberian Polecat — Synonymy— Remarks — J', sarmaticm, the Spotted Pole- 
 cat — Synonymy and remarks. 
 
 I HAVE been obliged to establish a new subgenus for the 
 reception of the singular Putorius nlgripes of Audubon and 
 Bachman, which curiously combines some features of both Oale 
 and Putorius proper, with others peculiar to itself. As indi- 
 cated by the name of American or Black-footed " Ferret", it is 
 the strict analogue in this country of the European Ferret, or 
 Polecat, with which it agrees so closely in some respects that I 
 was at first inclined to refer it to the subgenus Putorius itself. 
 But further examination has satisfied me that the sum of its 
 peculiarities ranks as high, at least, as that characterizing 
 other admittei^ subgenera of Putorius. I have already concisely 
 contrasted its characters with those of other sections of the 
 genus (p. 99), and shall devote this chapter to further consid- 
 eration of the remarkable animal. 
 
 The Subgenus CYNOMYONAX. (Coues, 1877.) 
 
 Tbe dental formula of this subgenus is the same as that of 
 the genus Putorius at large (pm. ~^y 
 
 The details of the dentition agree most closely with those of 
 subgenus Putorius, though peculiar in one respect. The back 
 lower molar is a mere cylindrical stump, with hemispherical 
 crown, too small and weak to develop the little cusps seen plainly 
 in P.faeiidus and P. vison. The inferior incisors, in the speci- 
 men examined, are so crowded that the middle one on each 
 side sets entirely back of the line of the rest, exactly as in a 
 specimen of P.fcetidus before me. The deutelure of the upj^r 
 jaw might be described in terms identical with those applicable 
 
 147 
 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 \\'IH: 
 
 Hi I 
 if 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 148 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 to P.fcetidu8f though the back molar seems to be rather weak. 
 P./oetidns and C. nigripes both differ from L. rison in the char- 
 acter of the ui)per sectorial tooth, which in vison develops, as 
 elsewhere described, an antero-exterior process, wholly wanting 
 in the other subgenera. 
 
 The skull of Cynomyonax differs notably from that of Oale, 
 and agrees with those of Putorius proper and Lutreola in its 
 size, relative massiveness, and development of ridges and de- 
 pressions. It is nevertheless at once distinguished by the 
 extreme degree of constriction behind the orbits, where the 
 width of the cranium is much less than that of the rostrum. 
 (In L. vison, the constriction is moderate; in P. f<xtidu8, there is 
 scarcely any.) Coincidently with this narrowing of the skull 
 near the middle, the postorbital processes are better developed 
 than they are in either of the two genera last named, and the 
 postmolar production of the palate is extremely narrow. The 
 interpterygoid emargination is comparatively shallow as well 
 as narrow, not nearly reaching half-way to the molars; the 
 palate ends (in the specimen examined — it may not in others) 
 transversely instead of with strongly concave or even acute 
 emargination. The pterygoids, as in Gale, do not develop 
 decided hamular processes (conspicuous in P.foetidus and X. 
 vison). The bullaj auditoriee, as in both Oale and P. fmtidus (they 
 are notably flatter in L. vison), have considerable inflation, with 
 scarcely a tubular prolongation and nick at end. In brief, 
 the skull combines the size, massiveness, and roughness of 
 Putorius proper and Lutreola, with other characters rather of 
 Gale, and some peculiarities of its own. 
 
 In external details, Cynomyonax is similarly interrelated to 
 Oale and Putorius proper, though nearer the former {Lutreola 
 being more specialized in adaptation to aquatic habits than 
 either of the other subgenera). Though of such large size, 
 Cynomyonax retains the attenuate body, long neck, very short 
 legs, slim tail, large orbicular ears, and close-set pelage of a 
 true Stoat. On the other hand, the pattern of coloration, ex- 
 cepting the black-tipped tail, is different, and more like that of 
 the Ferrets in some respects, while it is entirely peculiar in 
 others. 
 
 It is interesting to observe that this single American ana- 
 logue of a special Old World group occurs in the western portion 
 of the country, furnishing another among many instances of 
 the closer relationships of the Western than of the Eastern fauna 
 with that of the other hemisphere. 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE AMERICAN FERRET. 
 
 149 
 
 American or Black-rooted Ferret. 
 
 Piitortas (Cynomyonax) nlyripea. 
 
 Platr VU. 
 
 Putorlus ntsripcs, Awl. A. Bach.* Q. X. A. ii, 1851, -397, pi. 93 (Lower Platt<' niror).— M. 
 M. N. A. 1857, UO (from tht> t'Dri'Koins).— Owi/, V. Z. S. 1865, 110 ; Out. Cam. l?r. Mas. 
 18B9, 88 (its validity quoriod). —Oom«s, Am. Sportsman Nov. 20, 1874 (call for speoi- 
 meuB).— J.me«, Bull. Minu. Acad. 1874, 69 (presumptively attributed to Minnesota) . 
 
 H.\B.— Region of the Platte River, aucl other portious of the central 
 plutoau. Kah been found in Kansas, Nebra.skii, Wyoming, Montana, and 
 Colorado ; north to Milk River, Montana. 
 
 Specific characteks. — Above pale brownish, mixed withafewl)lacki8h- 
 t'.pped hairs, especially on the lower back ; below nearly wh'te; hairs every- 
 \7here white at the roots ; general color-aspect brownish-white ; a broad 
 stripe across forehead, the feet and the end of the tail, black. Length 19 
 inches ; tail-vertebne 4, with hairs 5i ; fore leg 4. Skull 2.G0 long ; rather 
 under 0.50 broad at point of greatest constriction (zygomatic width un- 
 known). 
 
 Oeneral account of the species. 
 
 CJutil verj'^ recently, nothing was known of this remarkable 
 animal beyond what was given by Audubon. Tlie original of 
 his figure, if ever preserved, does not appear to have been ex- 
 amined by other naturalists. Doubt has been cast upon the 
 existence of such an animal,f and the describer has even been 
 
 * Digest of the original description. — Dentition strictly as in Putorius (teeth 
 34). Form elongate ; forehead arched and broad ; muzzle short; ears short, 
 broad at base, triangular, closely furry both sides ; feet covered with hair 
 on both surfaces. Tail narrowly cylindrical. Pelage finer than that of the 
 Mink or Pine Marten, and even shorter (relatively) than that of the Er- 
 mine ; the outer hairs few, short, and coarse. All the pelage white at the 
 roots ; the bases of the longer hairs with a yellowish tinge, their ends broadly 
 reddish-brown ; soft under fur white, with a yellowish tinge, giving the 
 animal on the back a yellowish-brown appearance, in some parts approach- 
 ing to rufous ; on the sides and rump, the color is a little lighter, gradually 
 fading into yellowish-white. Nose, ears, sides of head, throat, under surface 
 of neck, belly, and under surface of tail white ; a shade of brownish on the 
 chest between the fore legs. A broad black patch on the forehead, enclosing 
 the eyes and reaching near the tip of the nose ; legs to near the shoulders 
 and hips brownish-black ; end of tail black for about two inches. 
 
 Type procured by Mr. Alexander Culbertson on the lower waters of the 
 Platte. Stated to inhabit the wooded parts of the country to the Rocky 
 Mountains, and to be perhaps found beyond that range, though not observed 
 by any travellers from Lewis and Clarke to the ptesent day. Habits said to 
 resemble those of the Ferret of Europe. " It feeds on birds, small reptiles 
 and [other] animals, eggs and various insects, and is a bold and cunning foe 
 to the rabbits, bares, grouse and other game of our western regions.' 
 
 t Dr. J. E. Gray, for instance, with characteristic sagacity, queried it 
 amidst a number of purely nominal species he admitted without question. 
 
150 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 ;! 
 
 P 
 
 .dm 
 
 I,; 
 
 saspected of inventiilg it to embellish his work. I have, there- 
 fore, the greater pleasure in bjing able to present a full account 
 of the species. 
 
 The first specimen known after the type was a fragment of a 
 skin which for some years lay unrecognized in the National 
 Museum at Washington. According to my present recollec- 
 tion, the object being not at hand, it consists of a squarish 
 piece of the skin of the lower back, with the tail attached. 
 
 A second specimen (No. 11932) lately reached the same mu- 
 seum, but unfortunately in very defective state of preservation. 
 It was procured from some point on the Platte Eiver, and pre- 
 sented by Mr. J. W. Munyou, or Muuyou. The skull was 
 smashed to pieces. I was only enabled to determine that the 
 animal had thirty-four teeth, and was therefore Putorius, not 
 Muatelttj and that its relationships appeared to be with the 
 European P.fwtidus group.* 
 
 Being so short of the necessary material when I began to 
 study this group, I caused an advertisement of my wants, with 
 a description of the species, to be inserted in several of the 
 sporting newspapers, and extensively copied by papers of the 
 region inhabited by the species. This had the gratifying re- 
 sult that in a short time the required specimens were received 
 at the Smithsonian Institution ; and my thanks are due to 
 several gentlemen who kindly interested themselves in the 
 matter. 
 
 The third specimen (counting the above-mentioned scrap of 
 skin as one) was brought to Washington by Dr. F. V. Hayden, 
 Director of the tJnited States Geological Survey. This one 
 was taken by Dr. Law, in the valley of the Cache La Poudre 
 Eiver, near the northern border of Colorado. It was in better 
 condition than Mr. Munyon's, but still defective, having lost 
 part of the tail and most of the head, which had been shattered 
 by a rifle-ball. The length of this individual was about eighteen 
 inches to the root of the tail. Dr. Hayden informed me that it 
 had been shot at the mouth of a prairie-dog hole, of which it 
 had taken possession, and that its stomach contained remains 
 of one of these quadrupeds. He also spoke to me of another 
 individual, kept for some time in confinement at Greeley, Colo- 
 
 *The whitishness about the mouth and ears of P.foetidus, contrasting with 
 dark parts, gives somewhat the appearance of a stripe across the face, which 
 is perfected in C. nigHpea, in which the face-markings recall those of the 
 Orison, GalictU vitUtta. 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE AMERICAN FERRET. 
 
 151 
 
 rado, which had also been secured in a prairie-dog town ; and 
 represented the species as being not at all rare, though very 
 difficult to obtain, owing to the facilities for its retreat into the 
 safe recesses of the burrows of the Marmots. 
 
 Shortly afterward a fourth specimen came to hand from Fort 
 Wallace, Kansas, where the animal is said to be called the 
 "prairie-dog hunter", from the habits indicated in the preced- 
 ing paragraph. This individual, sent by Mr. L. H. Kerrick, 
 fairly well mounted, was the first I had seen with the head and 
 tail complete and in good preservation. 
 
 Another specimen, from Wyoming or the contiguous portion 
 of Colorado, was sent to Prof. Baird bj' my friend, Oapt. James 
 Gilliss, of the Army, then stationed at Cheyenne Depot, Wyo- 
 ming. This one I think I have not seen. 
 
 Still another specimen, important as extending the known 
 geographical distribution of the species, was very recently re- 
 ceived at the Smithsonian Institution, from Mr. C. Cavileer, of 
 Pembina, Dakota. This was procured on Milk River, Mon- 
 tana. 
 
 I am informed by Prof. Baird that two living specimens were 
 sent from some part of the West to New York, one of which 
 died en route, and was probably thrown away ; of the ultimate 
 disposition of the latter I do not know. 
 
 Mrs. M. A. Maxwell, a well-known naturalist and taxidermist, 
 of Boulder, Colorado, who made a remarkably fine Centennial 
 exhibit of the animals of Colorado at the late Int ational 
 Exposition, at Philadelphia, procured two or three . pecimens 
 in the vicinity of Denver. They were taken on the prairie 
 land in dog-towns. These specimens, very nicely prepared, I 
 had the pleasure of inspecting when Mrs. Maxwell's collection 
 was on exhibition in Washington, during the winter of 1876-77. 
 One of them had been "drowned out" of a prairie-dog hole, 
 and kept for some time in captivity. It became, I am informed, 
 quite tame, though it was furious when first captured. 
 
 The skull from which the foregoing cranial and dental charac- 
 ters were drawn up was sent from Nebraska by the late Mr. W. 
 F. Parker, formerly editor of the "American Sportsman ", in 
 which one of my advertisements was inserted. I do not know 
 whether or not it was accompanied by a skin. It is No. 14530 
 of the National Museum. 
 
 No. 11932 shows the characteristic black facial stripe, black 
 feet, and black end of the tail. The general light brownish- 
 
 mi <n 
 
 
I 
 
 152 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 white color aud character of the pelage are peculiar. The coat 
 is very short aud close, the individual hairs appearing scarcely 
 longer than those of a Stoat ; there is nothing of the length ot 
 pelage of either Mink, Polecat, or Marten. The fur is every- 
 where, even on the darkest part of the back, white at the roots, 
 and on the under parts it is entirely white, excepting a faint 
 brownish discoloration. There is a stronger tinge of pale brown 
 on the back, and a certain dorsal area shows blackish- brown 
 tips of the hairs, not strongly pronounced enough, however, to 
 materially alter the general cast of the parts. The tail has 
 nothing of the bushy character seen in a Mink or Polecat, be- 
 ing cylindrical, close-haired, scarcely enlarged at the terminal 
 brush, and relatively as slender as that of a Stoat. As far as 
 can be judged, this specimen agrees closely with the dimensions 
 assigned by Audubon. 
 
 Dr. Hayden's specimen, in better order, corresponds closely 
 in coloration with that just described: it is dingy whitish all 
 over, with a slight brownish cast on the upper parts, and a 
 dorsal area of sparse dark brown streakiness. All four paws 
 are quite black ; on the fore legs, these black stockings run up 
 to the shoulder all around the limb, except on the outer sur- 
 face, where a pale line extends down from the body. On the 
 hind limbs, the black is more restricted, soon fading into smoky- 
 brown below the knee. A Ine along the soles is whitish. There 
 is a curious blackish stripe through the umbilicus. The feet 
 are remarkable for the great length of the numerous bristles on 
 the toes, projecting far beyond and almost hiding the claws; the 
 palms and soles are densely furry. The specimen equals a very 
 large Mink in size. 
 
 The Kansas specimen affords some additional characters, es- 
 pecially relating to the general shape. The body seems pro- 
 portionally as slender and the neck as long as in an Ermine. 
 The tail- vertebrae are only about five inches long, decidedly less 
 than one-third of the length of the head and body, which is 
 apparently some eighteen or nineteen inches, but is perhaps 
 stretched. The circumference of the body is about seven inches. 
 The slender tail has no enlarged terminal brush. The physi- 
 ognomy and general aspect is rather that of an overgrown Wea- 
 sel than of a Mink or Ferret. The ears are very prominent, 
 perhaps even more so than those of a Stoat, and are not per- 
 fectly orbicular, having an obtuse point at the highest part of 
 the border; they measure, in their present state, 1.10 above 
 
EXTRALIMITAL SPECIES OF PUTORIUS. 
 
 153 
 
 notch, 0.70 above head. The longest whiskers (black) reach 
 to the back of the ear; others grow ou the chiu, the cheeks 
 back of the angle of the mouth, and on the forehead. The 
 brownish-black mask is well contrasted with nearly white sur- 
 roundings, except on the forehead, where the dingy brownish 
 of the upper parts extends to it. The ears are mostly white, 
 with a dark touch at the lower front border. The dingy 'brown- 
 ish of the upper parts is a little stronger than in either of the 
 two other specimens here described. The blackish tip of the 
 tail is about one and a half inches long. 
 
 I made no written memoranda of my examination of Mrs. 
 Maxwell's specimens, but remeuiber that they presented nothing 
 requiring special comment, being fairly illustrative of the char- 
 acters here detailed. 
 
 Audubon's figure is unmistakable, and gives a very fair idea 
 of this interesting animal. As remarked by Prof. Baird, it 
 is singular that so conspicuous a species should have so long 
 eluded the observation of the many explorers who have trav- 
 ersed the region it inhabits, and where, apparently, it is by no 
 means rare. Its retiring habits, and the nature of its resorts, 
 doubtless tend to screen it. In the summer of 1876, 1 conducted 
 a natural history party through the region supposed to be its 
 centre of abundance, where Dr. Hayden's and Captain Gilliss's 
 specimens were secured ; but I failed to obtain a sight of it, 
 though I was in the midst of prairie-dog towns, and continu- 
 ally on the watch for this particular animal. The geographical 
 distribution above assigned will probably require to be consid- 
 erably enlarged. 
 
 ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the species of the extralimital suhyenus PuTORius. 
 
 lu further illustration of the genus Putoriiis, I wish to introduce a notice 
 of the extralimital species of the subgenus Pntorius, which, as already said, 
 includes the Fitches, Ferrets or Polecats.* 
 
 No representatives of this particular group are indigenous to America, but 
 the Ferret is extensively bred, in confinement or semi-domestication, for the 
 purpose of hunting rats, rabbits, &c. 
 
 * The untechnical reader must not confound the proper use of the term 
 " polecat " for the Ferret group, with its frequent application in this coun- 
 try to the Skunks (.l/ejjfti/utte). 
 
154 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTEl.IDiE. 
 
 I 
 
 The Subgenus PUTORIUS. 
 
 For the cliaraoters of Una group Hee anted, p. Qi). The nonpareil note on 
 p. 74 is equally applicable to the synonymy of the following extralimital 
 speoies of the subgenuH. 
 
 1. Butorlum tcBtldu:— Polecat or Fileh. 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 Mustria pulorlUN, L. 8. N. i. 10th od. 1758, 46, no. 5 ; S. N. ii. ITfifl, 67, no. l.—Sehrfb. Sttiig. iii. 
 
 1778, 485, pi. 131.— (/»». 8. N. i. 1788, •il.—liechH. Natiirg. i. 479.— i'aM. ZooR. K -A. i. 1811, 
 
 87.— />mm. Mnmni. i. 1880, 177, no. 271. -F;-. Ow. Mamm. il. Z\.—Flem. Br. An. 1888, 
 
 14.— /en. Br. Vort. 18^5, W.—BHl, Br. Quad. 1837, 15(i, tig.; 2(1 ed. 1874, iOX—SelysL. Fu. 
 
 Bolg. 1843, 9.—niainv. Compt. Kend. xiv. 1843, 210 sHq. pis. —.—achiiu, Syu. 1844, 339.— 
 
 Oieb. Odout. 33 ; Siiuj;. 1855, 779. 
 Tlverra putoriUM, Shaw, Gen. Zoo), i. 1800, 415. 
 FflBtorlUM pulorlUM, Keyi. (f Blag. ^Vcrb. Eur. i. 1840, 08, no. 143.— 7i{a«. Wirb, Doutachl. 1857, 
 
 222, X. l^.—Chatin, Ann. Sci. Kat. 5tb aer. xix. 1874, 98 (anatomioal). 
 MuHtela rtetldn, '•Klein." 
 PutoriUN ftctldUH, Cray, List Mamm. Br. Mns. 1843, 04; P. Z. S. 1865, 109; Cat. Carn. Br. 
 
 Hus. 1869, 87.— Gcrr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1802, 92. 
 PutorlUH verus, Bf.— Brandt, Bern. Wlrb. Nord. Eur. Russl. 26. 
 PutorlUH communlH, " Out>. R. A."— (Gray.) 
 Putorlui) typus "F. Ouv."—(Orav.) 
 PutorlUM VUlKaris, Grif. Cuv. R. A. v. 1827, 120, no. 339 {\.o. p. 131, no. 344).— i'it;. Naturg. 
 
 8auK. i. 1861, 328, f. 68. 
 
 Putois, Buff. niat. Nat vii. , 199, pi. Iii. 
 
 Polecat, Fitch, Fitctaet, Fitchew, Foumart, Fulmart or Fullmart, EnglUh.—Penn. Brit. 
 
 Zool. i. 89, pi. 6. 
 IltiN, Oerman, of. v. Martent, Zoiil. Gart. zi. 1870, 275 (philological). 
 WIcha, Madral, Selj/t-L. I. c. 
 
 Form stout ; oars short and rounded ; tail rather bushy, oylindric-tapering, 
 about one-third the head and body ; fur very long and loose on most parts 
 ofthe body (the well-known "fitch" of commerce), yellowish-brown, over- 
 laid with glossy blackish-brown, the tail, legs, and chest mostly bkickish ; 
 head dark, the ears, a space in front of them, lips and chin, usually white. 
 Varies interminably in proportion of the yellowish and blackish, Length 
 about 16 inches ; tail 5^ ; head 2f ; ears i. The name Polecat is probably 
 a contraction of Polish cat. Foumart, «fec., are merely Foul Mart, in distinc- 
 tion from the Muatelas, or " Sweet " Marts, the odor in this species being much 
 more disgusting. The animal inhabit>s Europe. 
 
 la. Var. tnro.—The Ferret. 
 Mustela furo, L. S. N. i. 1766, 68, no. %.—Schreh. Siiug. ill. 1778, -, pi. 133.— Om. S. N. i. 1788, 
 91.—De*m. Mamm. i. 1820, 178, no. 273.— Jen. Br. Vert. 1835, n.—FUch. Syn. 1839, 219.— 
 Bell, Br. Quad. 1837, 161, &g.—ScUw, Syn. 1844, 340.— Pr. Ouo. Mamm. ii. 22.— Owfr. 
 Odont. 33, pi. 12, f. 8 ; Siiug. 1855, 780. 
 Tlverra Hiro, Shaw, Gen. Zoiil. i. 1800, 418. 
 
 FCBtoriUi faro, Ohatin, Ann. Sci. Nat 5th ser. xlz. 1874, 98 (anatomical). 
 Hu8tela pntorius var., Flem. Br. An. 1838, 14. 
 Putorius TUlgarlB var. furo, Oriff. Cuv. R. A. v. 1837, 130, no. 339 a. 
 PutoriUB fCBtldOS vars. turo, BUbmro, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 110; Cat Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 87. 
 
 Ferret, EnglUh.—Penn. Brit. Zool. i. , 91. 
 
 Furet, Furet Putoire, French.— Buff. Hist. Nat vii , 309, pi. 26. 
 
 Frett, Frettel, Frettehen, GentMn.—Blou. Wirb. Deutsobl. 1857, 325. 
 
 This is the well-known tame Ferret, now only recognized in a state of do- 
 mestication. It is smaller and slenderer than the Fitch, yellowish-white or 
 white, with pink eyes. This is an excellent example of a "variety", prop- 
 erly so called, in distinction from a geographical race. The root of all the 
 
BREEDING AND HANDLING OF FERllETS. 
 
 155 
 
 varions vernacular iiamoa (there are many otherH than thcwe above given) 
 Heeuis to be the Latin fur, a tliief. There may also, aa has been Huggewted, 
 be a relationship with the Latin vivvrra, by which name the present, among 
 other species, seems to have been known to the ancients. 
 
 The rearing of Ferrets seems to be a growing industry in this country, 
 though still not practiced to the extent it is iu Europe. The following 
 iirticle, entitled " Ferret Breeding and Handling", by Mr. F. Mather, apjteared 
 in the "American Sportsmiiii " (newspaper) of November 28, 1874 : — 
 
 "I have had several iiuiuiries of late from readers of the Si'oiitsman con- 
 cerning the breeding, management and hunting of ferrets, together with 
 itivitations to write it up. It appears somewhat singular that no one has 
 done this before, at least I do not remember to have seen anything on the 
 subject in any American paper, and this fact causes me to comply with the 
 request more readily than I should have done had others with more experi- 
 ence volunteered to publish it. 
 
 " Practical details having been asked for, we will consider them as they 
 are in our day, and not stop to trace their origin nor where first used. We 
 have two varieties, the brown or ' fitch-ferret,' and the white one. The 
 latter is probably an albino, as its eyes are pink ; l)nt it breeds true to color 
 every time, possibly a ' sport,' as the ilorists say, that has been perpetuated. 
 The white ones seem to be in most favor for some unknown reason, judging 
 from the inquiries that I have received. I keep both kinds, and have them 
 mixed, and don't see any difference in hunting cpialities, and can only account 
 for the preference on the ground that the white ones are thought to be the 
 prettiest pets. Having no strong local attachments, they require to be con- 
 stantly confined, although instances have been known whore they were at 
 liberty and did not go away ; still, as they are just as good for chickens as 
 for rats and rabbits, it is best not to trust them too far. Two or three ani- 
 mals may be kept in a common shoe-box with slats or wire-cloth fronts, a 
 box for a nest in one corner, and a drawer containing coal-ashe^ or earth in 
 another. This should be emptied often and renewed ; they will make all 
 their muss here and will then keep clean and healthy. A cellar is not a 
 good place for them — too damp and cold ; a yard or wood-shed is better. I 
 have a ferret-yard made for the purpose, built of hemlock boards ; it is six- 
 teen feet long by six wide; the sides are four feet high, the boards running up 
 and down to prevent climbing ; it is also tloored to prevent digging. I have 
 in this at present eighteen ferrets, but could accommodate fifty, as they only 
 foul one corner. A tin spout conveys milk into the feeding-pan, and meat 
 is thrown over. Their nest is a box with a cover ; it is full of straw, and a 
 hole in one side is the door. One-half will be covered this winter to keep 
 the snow off. 
 
 " They will shiver in the summer, and it is not good to keep them in too 
 warm a place if they are expected to hunt in the snow ; but a small box of 
 straw where they can huddle up together and so keep warm is sufficient. I 
 saw three ferrets last summer in a small box that was sheet-ironed inside 
 (the owner thought that they could gnaw like rats), where the poor things 
 had lived for a month in their tilth. It was horrible enough to breed a pes- 
 tilence ; in fact it did breed one for the ferrets. I told the owner so, but he 
 thought not. Mr. Bergh should have seen that ! 
 
 " They will keep very clean if they have a chance, but will drag food into 
 their nests and store it if they have too much at any time. This can be 
 
 «)!' 
 
 % 
 
 B?l * ^^ 
 
 rcit j 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
156 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 \i\ 
 
 i: 
 
 
 |i m 
 
 "ii 
 
 partially KO'^rdod aKuiiiNt, in the ciiho of boiios and lar^e i)iocKH, by miikin^; 
 tho eutrauce an Hiiiall uh iioHNil)lo. Wo feud Nkiiuiiied milk, bcef-lieadH, and 
 othur moats ; Halt muat Ih Haid to produce Ncurvy. Milk fatteus a ferret very 
 rapidly, and tliey are ai)t to jjet too fat> on tliin diet. 
 
 " My monuj;erie is run upon economical principles, and it \n a hard Hpocimon 
 of either animal or vegetable that iIoch not find a consumer. A kin^lisher 
 hovoriiiK over tlio ponds is apt to tumble in ; he is then skinned, and if the 
 lish aio not hungry it goes to the ferrets. A fat woodchuck goes in — there's 
 provision for several days. A hen-hawk " towering in his pride of place" 
 over my young fowl, often finds a lasting repose in the ferret-yard ; while 
 the refuse of fresh (ish is also eagerly devoured. Chicken Iieads often afford 
 an occasional variety. I have a pair of mink who will eat as much in one 
 day as two ferrets would in three ; they will devour the entire carcass of a 
 muskrat in twenty-four hours. 
 
 " In handling a ferret take it with tho hand around the ribs, and if it 
 struggles let its fore legs go through the fingers ; they do not like to bo held 
 below the ribs. Do not handle young ferrets until nearly grown ; do not 
 handle a female about to have a litter. Their period of gestation is about 
 forty-five days I think, — can't speak positively on this point, — it may be a 
 few days more or less ; they usually have a litter of from five to ten in May 
 or June. I have hoard of vhoir having two litters in one season, but it has 
 never occurred with mo. When about to have young, put each female in a 
 box by herself, and don't let the young run with the old male until they can 
 use their teeth to defend themselves. I prefer to say male and female, 
 though some call them dog-ferret ani bitch ; and last winter a man in Buf- 
 falo said, ' In the hold country we calls 'em a 'ob and a gill.' 
 
 " lu bandling wild ferrets put on a pair of leather gloves and pick tbem 
 np, rub their heads and pat them, and in a few days you can take your bare 
 hand. Now a word about 'trained' ferrets. That is all humbug. A fer- 
 ret that is tame and well handled will go into a hole and go to the bottom 
 of it, and come out if it finds nothing; hunting is their nature, and a little 
 fasting stimulates them wonderfully. Those kept for rats are generally 
 worked with dogs ; and although I have often run the rats out of my barn 
 with them, it is especially for rabbit hunting that I keep them. They are 
 of no use for the large white rabbit, but I used to find that the little gray 
 fellow that abounds in the vicinity of Honeoye Falls had a very unsocial 
 way of sitting in his hole under ground and declining to come out and have 
 fun, but since I have used ferrets he has changed his habits. With the 
 sneaking method of netting the rabbit at the mouth of the hole when driven 
 out with a ferret I have no kind of sympathy, but as ' Molly Cotton ' clears 
 the hole with a ten-foot bound after passing a ferret, and keeps going 
 faster if possible, often into a thicket, it is sport to stop her. Some prefer a 
 very small ferret, as they use them without a muzzle and they cannot hold 
 a rabbit as a large one does ; but I prefer a good stout fellow, and if he is 
 disposed to kill a rabbit (their dispositions vary) I muzzle him. A mnzxle 
 is made of a small piece of leather shaped like a letter T, a little wider at 
 the bottom however ; a string is put in each end of the top and one in each 
 lower corner, the leather is put under his chin and the top piece tied 
 aronnd his nose ; the other two strings are tied behind his ears. Some have 
 the lips pierced, and after healing they are tied shut. I have never tried 
 this, nor breaking the teeth, which latter practice is brutal. The ferret can 
 
PUTORIUH F(KTIDU.S, VAli. — P. 8ARMATICUS. 
 
 157 
 
 bo cftrried in a bajj, with drnwu Btrinjj. HtniiiK over tho Bhouldor, or in a 
 tiglitly-buttoiictl coat pocket. Ah tho animal I'lijoys itH Hhort liberty when 
 liuntin^ and, however tame it may be, does not want to go into the ba^ 
 again wlille yon move on ; it is always best to lot it get ton feet or more 
 from the hole before yon attempt to pick it np or it may dodge back and 
 refuse to come out. Tn this case tie a rabbit on a stick and put it down and 
 the ferret will follow out. 
 
 " If the leather muzzle don't work, or gets lost, you can improvise one 
 with u string by making a loop that will not get larger or smaller, and put 
 it over his nose and then tie behind his ears, taking care to have the knot 
 nr.ier his throat and the last tie on top of his head. 
 
 " In England I believe they use small bolls on their rat-ferrets to tell their 
 whereabouts. In conclusion I would say, if you use ferrets for rats don't 
 trust a strange dog with them, and if for rabbits don't stand in front of the 
 
 hole." 
 
 l*". Var. evcrsmaniil.- /SiftcnVin VoU-cat. 
 
 Mustt'ln puloriUNf, LicM. Eversm. Koisc, 23 ; ref. to Pallaa, i. Zook- 89, nnte, but not MuHeln 
 
 eiliinca Pall. i6i(/. p. IK). 
 MiiNlela pulorlus mr. everNmannI, FUcher, Syn. 182!), aio. 
 Mustria evrrsmannl, Lam. Man. Wn, 144, nu. 3'9.-Sfhim, Syn. 1844, 339. 
 PutoriUN evrrsmttniil, dray, P. Z. .S. 1865, 109; Cat. Carn. lit. Mub. 1869, 87. 
 MuslriB pulorlUM, Blyth, "J. A. S. V xi. 281."— (Ornv) 
 Mustelu putorius thlbelanlus, Hodgs. "J. A. S. B. xxili, 1849, 446,"— (flroy.) 
 
 This is the Asiatic Polecat, which appears to have been tirst noted by 
 Pallas, in text of p. 89 of the Zoograpbia, from Siberia. This is to be care- 
 fully distinguished from the Mnniela sibirica of Pallas, p. 90, a very different 
 anitnal, elsewhere noticed in the present work. It is apparently but little if 
 any different from P. J'wtidiis, to which Blasius assigns it without query. Cer- 
 tain cranial differences adduced by Gray may require confirmation. I have 
 seen no speciuions of the supposed species. 
 
 t. Pntorlns sarmatlciiH.— ^putft'd Polecat. 
 .UuMela »tarmatlra, I'nll. Itln. i. 1771. 453 ; Spic. Zool. neO, xiv. 79, pi. 4, f. 1 ; Zoog. R.-A. i. 
 
 ,1831, ed.—Frxl. Syst. Anim. 1777, 460, no. G.—Schreb. Siiug. iii. 1778, 490, pi. 133 (from 
 
 Gnlden8tadt).-Zimm. Geogr^Qeeell. ii. 1780, 305, no. 201.— 0»». 8. N. 1. 1788, 97, no. 15.- 
 
 Turt. S. N. i. 1806, 60.—Deim. Mamm. 1. 1820, 178, no. 204 j Nonv. Diet. xix. 371 ; Ency. 
 
 M6th. pi. 88, f. i.—Fr. Our. Diet. Sci. Nat xxix. 1823, 252, no. 9.— Is. Geoff. Diet. Class, x. 
 
 il2.— Fitch. Syn. 1829, 220.— icM. Man. 1827, 145.-,Sc/ii»»«, Syn. 1844, 3iO.—Oieb. Saug. 
 
 1855, 760. 
 VIverra Narmatlca, Shaw, Gen. Zo81. i. 1800, 430 ("Sarmatla Weesel "). 
 Fffitorlus ^armalicus, Keys. <£ Blas.Wirh. Ear. 1840, 08, no. UH.—Blaii. Wirb. Dents. 1857, 226. 
 Putortus sarmaliCUS, Griff. Cuv. K. A. v. 1827, 121, no. 343.— Gmy, List Mamiu. Br. Mas. 
 
 1843, 64; P. Z. S. 1865, 110; Cat. Carn. Br. Mns. 1869, 88. 
 MUNtrIa perfKUsna, Otild. N. Comm. Petrop. xiv. 1769, 441, pi. 10 (pereniuina is also found). 
 MUHteia pricclncta, BzaczyntH, Hist Nat "ol. 1736, 328. 
 Vormela, Gean. Quad. 1551, 768. 
 
 Pereguzna, Prrewlaska, FrzewiaRka, FarH.'la!«ta, I'all. Itin. I. e. 
 TlKeriltls, Orfleckte litis, German. 
 Harmatler, MHU. Naturs. Suppl. 1776, 33. 
 Peronasra, Bnff. Hist. Nat. xv. 
 Putol8 4e Polognp, Ouv. R. A. i. 148. 
 Marte <k celuture, Lest. I. c 
 
 This remarkably distinct species is black, on the upper parts brown spotted 
 with yellow, the ecrs and a frontal band white. It inhabits Eastern Europe, 
 Poland, and Russia. 
 
 ( s 
 
 :j/ 
 
 H::. 
 
 m 
 
 :,{-i 
 
 ; * 
 
 ii ' 
 
 sU 
 
 If I 
 
r "T- 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 \m 
 
 r-K 
 
 MUSTELIN^E— Continued: The Mink. 
 
 The subgenus Lutreola — Subgererlc characters and remarks — Putorius vison, 
 the American Mink — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — i,«!.8crip- 
 tion of external characters — Measurements — Variation in external char- 
 acters — Variation in the skull — Comparison with the European Mink — 
 Notice of allied Old World species, P. hitrepla and P. aihiricus — General 
 history and habits of tho Mink — " Minkeries". 
 
 WE come now to consider a particular modification of the 
 genus Putorius, in adaptation to an aquatic mode of life. 
 Both the foregoing subdivisions of the genus comprehend ter- 
 restrial and more or less arboreal species ; the present one, Lu- 
 treola, consists of species which are scarcely less aquatic than 
 the Otters themselves; and the consequent modifications, both 
 in cranical and external characters, are decided. 
 
 The Subgenus LUTREOLA. (Wagner.) 
 
 The leading ]>eculiarities of this section have been already 
 pointed out (p. 100), and contrasted with those of Qale, Cynomy 
 onax, and Putorva proper. 
 
 The skull of the Mink bears out the general points of "build" 
 which distinguish Putorius at large from Mustela — such as the 
 short, turgid, truncate rostrum, comparatively shallow inter- 
 pterygoid emargination, position of anteorbital foramen, &c. As 
 might be expected from consideration of the habits of the ani- 
 mal, a resemblance to the cranium of an Otter is better marked 
 in this than in other sections of the genus, the bullae auditoriie, 
 in particular, being notably flattened, and the whole upper out- 
 line of the skull being straightened. In its own genus, the 
 
 ^semblances of the skull are with that of Putorius proper and 
 of Cynomyonax, rather than with that of Qale, In addition to 
 the absolutely much greater size in Lutrtola, the massiveuess 
 of the skull, with the strong tlaring sagittal and lambdoidal 
 crests defining temporal fossjv, contrasts strongly with the 
 smooth condition of the parts in Qale. In L. visoUf there is, in 
 158 
 
CHARACTERS OF SUBGENUS LUTREOLA. 
 
 169 
 
 addition to the comparative flatness of the auditory bullae, some 
 constriction and outward prolongation of the meatus, which is 
 not seen in Gale or Cynomyotiax, and scarcely indicated in Pu- 
 to:iu8 proper. The frontal outline is nearly straight, and but 
 little sloping (much as in Lutra). The pterygoids develop 
 strong hamular processes, also seen in Putorius proper, but 
 which are weak or wanting in Gale. There is much constric- 
 tion of the skull near the middle, and the postorbital processes 
 are well developed. 
 
 The dentelure of Tmtreola is probably the strongest to be 
 found in the genus P.t'orius at large, and there is reason to sup- 
 pose that it reaiches a maximum in the largo North American 
 species of this subgenus. In L. visoHj* the teeth, aside from the 
 lesser number of premolars, are singularly like those of Mustela 
 marten, as a matter of superficial resemblance ; and the supe- 
 riority in size and strength over those of Putorius proper, or of 
 Cynomyonax (not to mention Gale), is very evident on compari- 
 son. In the American, if not in other species of Lutreola, the 
 following points may be specially noted : — 
 
 The back upper molar is of relatively large size, conspicu- 
 ously exceeding that of Putorius foetidus or Cynomyonax nigripes 
 in relative as well as absolute bulk. The inner moiety is much 
 larger than the outer ;t its free border is nearly circular; it is 
 divided from the outer by a strong constriction ; the outer is 
 somewhat trefoil-shaped. The inner moiety presents a raised 
 rim and a central tubercle ; the outer has a corresponding 
 tubercle, but the border is divided into two prominences, mak 
 ing three in all on this half of the tooth. The posterior upper 
 premolar (sectorial tooth) shows certain characters not shared by 
 any American species of the genus at large. There is devel- 
 oped, at the auteroexternal corner of the tooth, a decided pro- 
 cess or spur, only less in size than the ordinary unterointernnl 
 one ; and the projection of this gives to the outer border of the 
 tooth a decidedly concave outline.^ This process, together with 
 the internal one, gives the fore end of the tooth a V-like re- 
 
 *I hftve not been able to examine the teeth of any Old WoiUl species of 
 thiH HnbgonuH. 
 
 t This is not the case either with P. fwtidus or <', niyripes, but is scarcelj' a 
 Nubgoueric chart'.cter, for it is said not to o«cur in the European species of 
 Luiriohi. 
 
 } There is a trace of this process in P./cetiditH and ('. nigripe^i, but it is not 
 sufflciently developed to render the outer border of the tooth concave, nor 
 to make a V-rerntranco at the fore end. 
 
 H 
 
 m 
 
 If 1 5 
 
 t \ 
 
 f i 
 
 M 
 
 A 
 
 
160 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 entrance, into which the antecedent premolar is set. Moreover, 
 the antero-internal process, instead of being a mere heel or spur 
 standing off from the tooth, as in the other subgenera here 
 compared, develops into a strong, conical, acute cusp, some- 
 times with two points. The back lower molar, contrary to what 
 might have been expected, is absolutely not larger than that of 
 P./cetidns,* and therefore smaller relatively to the general de- 
 velopment of the teeth. The anterior lower molar (siectorial 
 tooth) develops on the inner side a slight but unmistakable 
 8ui)plementary tubercle, like that so evident in Mustela, but 
 smaller ; the other species of Putoriua which I have examined 
 have no trace of this lobe, or a mere rudiment. And, in gen- 
 eral, it may be said of the molars and premolars of Lutreola, 
 that their various cusps are better developed than in most, if 
 not all, other sections of Putoriua. 
 
 The details of external form of Lutreola are so fully given 
 beyond in the description of L. vison that they may be here 
 omitted. There is but one species known to inhabit North 
 America, very closely related to the Mink of Europe. The al- 
 leged differences between the two are presented further on, in 
 concluding a discussion of their aflinities. 
 
 The Aiii(;i*icaii Ifliiik. 
 
 PntorlnH (Lutreoln) tIsoii. 
 
 Plate IX. 
 Mustela Vl*on, Urim. Quail. I7.5fi, 24fi, no. 6 (from Canadian specinion, same as described by 
 
 Jlullou and Vennutt). —Schicb. Siiug. ill. 177S, 463, pi. 197 b.—Om. S. N. i. 1788, \H.—Turt. 
 
 S. N. i. 1806, 58.— Our. R. A. i. 1817, 150.— Hart. Fn. Aiuer. 1825, 63.— Leu. Man. 1827, 
 
 US.— Maxim. Roiso, i. 1839, 213.— Bfavnw. OsttJogr. Mustela, pi. 13 (teetb). -Thomps. 
 
 N. n. Vorra. 1853, 31. 
 Mustela (MartCN) vIson, Df»m. Manini. i. 1820, 183.— «ri/f. Cuv. R. A. v. 1827, 124. 
 Muslela (Fulorlus) vtHon, Itich. V. li.A. i. 182<), 48, no. 16. 
 MuHlela (Lutreola) vlson, IIV Supitl. Scbreb. ii. 1841, 341. 
 Lnlra vNon, .Shaw, aeu. Zoai. i. i800, 448 (based on the Viton of Buifon). 
 Putorlus vison, nai)p. Zool. Journ. v. 1830, Wi.-Emmont, Uep. Quad Mass. 1840, 43.— £)« K. 
 
 N. V. Z. i. 1842, 37, pi. 11, f. 1 (animal), pi. 8, f. 3, A, n (skull).— 4ud. d Bach. Q. N. A. i. 
 
 liH9, 2.'i0, pl.as.- JTfnn. Tr. 111. .State Af{ric. Soc. for 185i-4, 1855, 578.— 7Jee»J«y, Gool. 
 
 Cape May, 1857, 137.— Brtuf/. M. N. A. 1857, 177, pi. 37, f. 2, 3 (skulls) —A'ewft. P. R. B. 
 
 Rep. vi. 1857, 42.— Ooop. <f Suckl. N. H. "W. T. 1860, 93, m.-BiUing*, Cauad. Nat. and 
 
 Geol. ii. 185t, 448.— i^»»(t, up. cit. vi. ItiCl, 29.— J/a«im. Verz. Am. Saug. 1865, 52.-- 
 
 Snm. Am. Rop. Mass. Agrio. for 1861, 1802, l.%7, pi. 1, f. 8.— 6i7pin, Tr. N. Scotia Inst. 
 
 ii. 1870, 12, i9.—Am«i, Bull, ilinu. Acad. >fat. Sol. 1874, 69.— Oouc* <£■ Tarrow, ZoiH. 
 
 Kxpl. W. lOOMerid. v. 1875, 60. -^Jfe/i, Bull. U. 8. Geol. Sur. vol. U. no. 4, 1876,320 
 
 (Hkull). 
 Mustela lutreola, F(>r«(. Phil. Trans. Ixii. 1772, TA.—Sah. Frank. Journ. 183.1, 6."i3.—rMcA. 
 
 Syn. Ifait, 221 (partly).- (^ndm. Am. Xat. Hist. i. 1831, 906.— ifnU, Canad. Nat. & 
 
 Geol. vi. 1861, 395. 
 
 * As elsewhere stated, in Cynontj/o-.jr this tooth is siugularly minute. 
 
CHARACTERS OP PUTORIUS VISON. 
 
 161 
 
 PutoriUS Intreolas, ["Cud. "J Allen, Bnll. M. C. Z. i. 1869, 175 (critical^ iL 1870, 109 (Flor- 
 ida).— iliJen, Pr. Boat. Soc. N. H. xill. 1«69, 18.1. 
 Putorlus lutreolus var. vl80n, Allen, Bull. Ens. Inst vi. 1874, 54, 59, 63. 
 Mustela (LulreoU) lutreola var. amerlcana, Sehim, Syo. Mamm. i. 1844, 347. 
 Vifion lutreola, Oray, List Mamm. Br. Mux. 1843, 64 (pitrtly).— Oerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 
 
 1862, 92 (partly). 
 Mustela canadensis, Erxl. Syst An. i. 1777, 455 (mixed with synonymy of another species, 
 
 but clearly referable here from the description, which can only apply to the Mink. 
 
 See i^(i. M. K. A. text on p. 151). 
 MuHtrla ranadoaNis var. vison, Jiodii. Elench. An. i. 17r)4. 86 (after Bulffln). 
 MUHtcIa WlnlnKUH, Barton, Am. Pliil. Tr. vi. li-0(), 70 (nn doHcr. ; St. LouIh, Mo.). 
 MUHtela minx, Turt. S. X. i. 180n, 5H —Ord, Guthr. Geo<;. 2d Am. ed. ii. 1815, 291, 298. 
 MuHifIa lutreorcphala, Harl. Fn. Am<Nr. 1825, 63. 
 
 VlH»n tnlreucepliala, Oran, V. /. .S. tH6.>, 116 ; Car. Cam. Br. Mns. 1869, 94. 
 ; MUMtf la rufa, n. Smith. .Janl. Xat. Lil). xiii. Ih42, \t<.). 
 PutorlUN nlKrescens, And. «£ liach. Q. S. A. iii. KtX !0I, pi. 124 (not in orig. od.).— BaiVd, M. 
 
 N. A. IS.")?, inO.—Oilpin. Tr. X. Scotin Iimt. ii. 1870, 12, «C. 
 Mink, Smith's Yir){inia,1624.-A'n;m, Itin. iii. 22. 
 Mink, I'ommon Mink, Amerlrun Mink, Authors and others. 
 MiUS, Lawson, Carol. 1709, lii.—lirickell, Xat. Hist. Xorth Car. 1737, 118.— Fenn. Arct. Zoiil. 
 
 17K4, 87, no. 35. 
 may, SagardThiodat, Hist. Canad. 1636, 748 (ed. of 1866, iii. 680). 
 Fnuterean, La Hontan, Voy. i. 1703, 81. Also of Freneh Canadian*. 
 VUon, Huff. Hist. An. xiii. 1765, 304, pi. 43 (ba8>>d on specimen in Afus. Aubry, as wene the 
 
 descrs. of Briss. &. Venn.).— Bomare, Diet. iv. 1768, 615.— i>«»n. Hist. Quad. 1781, uo. 
 
 20;>; Arct Zoiil. 1. 1784, 78, no. 89. 
 VLtone , Scataglia, An. Quad. iv. 1775, pi. l.'iS, f. 3 (from Buffon). 
 American vison, Oray, P. Z. S. 1865, 116. 
 lesser Otter, Penn. Hist Quad. 1781, 228.— For«e. Phil. Trans. Ixll. 1773, 371. 
 
 JatkaHh, Heame, Jonrn, , 376. 
 
 MMkwieHliew or AUackashew, Oree Indiant (— '• Jackash"). 
 Muuntaln-brook Mink, A ud. <e Bach. I. «. 
 Little Black Mink, 7i<{.{.c. 
 Mountain Mink of Hunters. 
 
 Ha HIT AT. — North America, at large. North to the Arctic coast, but not 
 abundant north of Fort Knsolution. 
 
 Spkcikic ciiARACTKHR.— Larger and stouter than the Stoats ; ears shorter ; 
 tail uniformly bushy, nearly as in Mustela; feet semipalmate; color dark 
 cheHtnnt-brown; tail, and nsuitlly a dorsal area, blackish ; chin white, the 
 cilgeH of the upper lip rarely also white, the throat, breast, and belly often 
 with irregular white patches. Length 15-18 inches ; tail-vertebnc 6-8. 
 
 Bescrijytion of external characters.* 
 
 This animal, with the essential characters of dentition, &c., 
 of Putorius, differs notably from the typical Stoats and Weasels 
 {(idle) in its larger size and much stouter form, in which re- 
 spects it approaches the true Martens. It shares with these 
 the uniformly enlarged, bushy, and somewhat tapering tail, in- 
 stead of » slenderly terete tail with enlarged busby tip, as in 
 the Stoats. The tail-vertebrre are one-half (more or less) as 
 
 * From numerous specimeus in the Smithsonian Institution from all parts 
 of North America. 
 11 M 
 
 ■•vi 
 
 **j. 
 
 V :!i 
 
162 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 ^1 
 
 m 
 
 Ih! 
 
 long as the head aud body ; the terminal pencil is only as long 
 as the hairs of the tail in general. Unlike the Martens, the 
 Mink has small low ears, smaller than those of the Weasels. 
 The ears are scarcely longer than the adjacent fur, though tbey 
 overtop it a little, as the fur lies flat; they are rounded, and 
 well furred both sides. The general shape of the head — long, 
 low, flat, subtriangular — is as in other Putorii.- The small eye 
 centres over the angle of the month, half-way between the nose 
 and ear. The whiskers are in four or five series, the longest 
 reaching opposite the occiput ; they are stiff and strong ; other 
 bristles giow over and behind tbe eyes, ou the cheeks, and on 
 the middle of the chin ; similar bristles are usually seen upon 
 the wrists and ankles. The extremity of tbe snout is protub- 
 erant and definitely naked. The feet are broad ; the hinder 
 have a slightly oblique set; the fore have ten balls, the hind nine, 
 as in other Putorii (five digital pads at the ends of the digits, 
 five palmar, and four plantar). The palmar and plantar pads 
 are not separated by hairy spaces (except the hindmost outer 
 palmar one), there being only a crease between them. Ordi- 
 narily, the pads are conspicuo isly naked, but in northern and 
 some winter skins they must be searched for amidst the over- 
 growing hair. This is a purely fortuitous circumstance. The 
 palms and soles are always furry around the pads. On the 
 top of the feet, the hairs reach to or rather beyond the ends of 
 the nails. The digits are all webbed at bases for a considerable 
 distance, especially the middle ones. The third and fourth fin- 
 gers are subequal and longest ; the second and fifth not so 
 nearly equal, and both much shorter; the first is quite short. 
 The toes of the hind feet have almost the same relative propor- 
 tions. The pelage consists of a dense, soft, matted under fur, 
 mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs, on all parts of the body 
 and tail. The gloss is greatest on the upper parts; on the tail 
 the bristly hairs predominate. Northern specimens have tbe 
 finest and most glistening pelage, though the long hairs are the 
 stoutest; in southern specimens there is les^ difference be- 
 tween the under and over fur, aud the whole peiage is coarser 
 and harsher. 
 
 In color, the Mink ranges from a light dull yellowish-brown, 
 not very different from that of a Marten, or of some styles of 
 the European P. foetidua, to a rich blackish chocolate-brown. 
 These extremes (whicu will be presently considered) aside, the 
 animal is ordinarily of a rich dark brown, scarcely or not paler 
 
DESCRIPTION OP PUTORIUS VISON. 
 
 163 
 
 below than on the general upper parts ; but a dorsal area is 
 usually the darkest, and the tail is quite bla^kiBh. A strong 
 mark of the species is the white chin ; this is rarely absent, but 
 still its indeterminate character is shown in the fact that its 
 extent and posterior contour are wholly irregular. As generally 
 found, it occupies the whole under jaw about as far back as the 
 angle of the mouth. It is sometimes prolonged as an irregular 
 streak down the throat ; sometimes it is indicated only by a 
 few specks, or it may be altogether absent. This white seldom 
 invades the upper lip; that it sometimes, however, does so is 
 attested by the specimens before me, one of the differences 
 claimed from the European P. lutreola being thus obviously 
 negatived. Besides the white on the chin, there are often, 
 perhaps usually, other white patches on the under parts, par- 
 ticularly on the chest, between the fore legs, and on the lower 
 belly between the hind legs. These markings are wholly inde- 
 terminate in extetit and contour. To recount their vagaries 
 would be futile. In very rare instances, the tail is tipped with 
 white. 
 
 (r 
 
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 mm 
 
 164 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
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EXTERNAL VARIATION IN PUTORIUS VISON. 
 
 165 
 
 Variation in external cliaracters. 
 
 In the extensive series of Minks before me, two extremes of 
 size and color are apparent. One of these, represented by a few 
 skins from Washington Territory and the Upper Missouri, is 
 rather larger than any others I have seen — some IS or 20 inches 
 long, exclusive of the tail. (But the ordinary dark Mink has 
 been found over 20 inches in length.) They are remarkably 
 light-colored, pale dull yellowish-brown all over, the tail but 
 little darker, with the usual white marks on the chin and else- 
 where underneath. Such specimens are noted by Prof. Baird, 
 p. 179, in text. Although by no means to be overlooked in any 
 formal account of the species, the fact that this style shades 
 insensibly into the ordinary state shows that it is merely one 
 phase of individual variation, which need not be recognized 
 by name. The other extreme has been described and figured 
 as Putoriua nigrescens by Audubon and Bachman,* as above. 
 
 *In order to set forth fully tbe characters claimed for this supposed 
 species, the following digest of the original description is given : — 
 
 Smaller than P. viaon; teeth in the under jaw larger than the correspond- 
 ing teeth in the upper jaw; feet less deeply palmated than in P. vison; 
 ears broader and longer ; fur softer and more glossy. Color dark browulsh- 
 black. 
 
 Id form, in dentition, and in the shape of the feet, this species bears a strong 
 resemblance to a stout Weasel ; the head is broad and depressed, and shorter 
 and blunter than that of P. viaon. Ears large, oval, and slightly acute, cov- 
 ered on both surfaces with fur ; legs rather short and stout ; feet small and \ok-> 
 webbed than in P. oUon. The callosities under the toes are more prominent 
 than in that species, and the palms scarcely half as long. Toes covered 
 with short hairs almost concealing the nails, and the hairs between the toes 
 leaving only the tubercles visible. Fur blackish-brown from the roots to 
 the tips; whiskers and ears blackish-brown ; a white chin-patch (not shown 
 in the figures); under surface of body a shade lighter and redder than the 
 back; tail blackish-brown, blackening on tite end. Length of head and 
 body 11 inches; tail-vertebraj tJ, with hairs 7 ; polos "i,"; ; ear ^. 
 
 Mountain Mink of hunters. Prom Pennsylvania, Now York, New Eng- 
 land, and Canada, and supposed to be more northerly than P. rhon. 
 
 "We have had abundant opportunities of comparing many specimens 
 [with P. vison']. We have seen some with their teeth much worn, and 
 females which from the appearance of the teats had evidently suckled their 
 young. They were all of the size and colour of the specimen above described, 
 and we can no longer doubt that the latter is a distinct species from P. rison. 
 The comparison in fact is not recjuired to be made between these s|iecies, 
 
 butbetweenthepresentspeciesandP.Iutreota of Europe We had 
 
 no opportunity of placing this little species by the side of the European. 
 We are iuoliued to believe, however, that distinctive marks will be found 
 
 s;t 
 
 M 1 , < 
 
 U- ^^ 
 
 iUM 
 
 -.« * 
 
166 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 It consists in the combination of small size and dark colors. 
 The specimens representing it are a foot or little more in length, 
 and of a rich blackish chocolate-brown ; the white on the chin 
 and elsewhere is found as usual. It has been claimed that this 
 cannot be merely a young " Mink", on the ground that it has 
 been found breeding. Hunters and trappers practically recog- 
 nize as distinct a " Mountain Mink'' of this character, the dif- 
 ferences which result in the enhanced value of the pelt appealing 
 to them strongly. But, in any event, the specimens before me 
 establish one fact, namely, that it is impossible to draw any 
 dividing line between " P. nigrescens^ and the common Mink. 
 They melt into each other insensibly. The question is nar- 
 rowed to whether the supposed species is a reasonably marked 
 variety, or whether it is merely a fortuitous state under which 
 the Mink may anywhere present itself. The latter is my 
 present view. It is certain that young Minks are darker than 
 the old ones, and that the animal increases in stature for some 
 time after it is "mature", i.e., in possession of reproductive 
 powers. The fact that the small blackish individuals are found 
 breeding is therefore by no means conclusive. Nor is the 
 supposed " nigrescens " characteristic of any particular faunal 
 area. 
 
 In this connection, the remarks of Mr. B. B. Boss in the paper 
 above cited have much practical pertinence, and his opinion, 
 based upon long experience, is entitled to weight. Speaking 
 of the ordinary Mink, he remarks : — "The color of its pelt varies 
 greatly. In winter its shades range from a dark chestnut to a 
 rich brownish black. The tint of all the body is uniform, 
 except that the belly is sensibly lighter, and that there is a 
 series of white blotches, running with greater or smaller breaks 
 from the end of the chin to some distance below the forelegs, 
 and again continued with more regularity from the middle of 
 the belly to the anus. In some skins these markings are of 
 sn ,11 extent, but I have never seen them entirely wanting. 
 There are commonly spots under either one or both of the 
 forelegs,* but not invariably. I have remarked that the color- 
 ation of this animal, as well as of the Otter and Beaver, grows 
 
 in the siuall ruanded feet aad short tarsus of oar present species, in its 
 longer and rather more pointed ears, its shorter head and longer lower 
 incisors, together with a more general resemblance to oar comuion weasel 
 (P. erminea) in sammer dress." 
 
CRANIAL VARIATION IN PUTORIUS VISON. 
 
 167 
 
 lighter an it advances in years, and that the whl.d blotches or 
 spots are of greater size and distinctness in the old than in the 
 young. The fur of a young Mink (uuder^ree years) when 
 killed in season is very handsome: its coIoi^k often an almost 
 pure black. The skin is thin and pliable, aAroaching nearly 
 to the papery consistency of that of the Martin. When aged, 
 the hide is thick and the color more rusty. The summer pelage 
 is short, but tolerably close, and is of a reddish brown color, 
 and the tail, though still possessing black hairs, shews dis- 
 tinctly the under-fur of a decidedly rusty hue. Its feet are 
 rather pointed and not large. Its legs are short but muscular, 
 and its track in the snow is easily distinguished from that of 
 the Martin, whose longer and well-covered paws do not sink so 
 deeply. Indeed, when the snow is at all deep and soft, the 
 Mink makes a regular furrow, similar to that made by an Otter 
 
 under like circumstances, though of course smaller 
 
 I am strongly inclined to the opinion that there is only one 
 species of Mink on this continent, .ind consider it highly prob- 
 able that the P. Nigrescentes of And. & Bach, are merely 
 common Minks under three years of age. I have seen numbers 
 of skins here of exactly the same color, size, and furring as 
 those described under that head in Prof. Baird's work on North 
 American Mammals, which were simply young P. visones. This 
 gentleman also states that the American species of Mink never 
 has the edge of the upper lip white. I have never seen the 
 icliole of that part so colored, but in one specimen now on my 
 table there is a white spot beneath the nostrils." 
 
 To the above account of the variations in pelage must be 
 added another source of change in specimens, namely, the 
 fading by long exposure to the light. Some mounted individ- 
 uals which have been in the Smithsonian museum for about 
 twenty years are now bleached to a dingy white nearly all 
 over. 
 
 The time that the Mink requires to attain full stature is seen 
 from the foregoing. As usual in this genus, the female aver- 
 ages considerably smaller than the male. 
 
 m^n 
 
 if :ij 
 
 Yariation in the skull of the MinJc, 
 
 Having already given the principal characters of the skull 
 in treating of the subgenus lAitreola, it only remains to note 
 the variation presented by the present species. 
 
 ■'^:■ 
 
 '. - -HIS 
 
 
 
168 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDwE. 
 
 I 
 
 Skulls of L. vison ordinarily range from 2.35 x 1.35 to 2.75 
 X 1.05,* but the extreme limits of variation are considerably 
 furtlier apart than these. Mr. J. A. Allen t has tabulated and 
 discussed the variations according to geographical distribution. 
 I present his article in full : — 
 
 " Eighteen skulls from the northern parts of the continent, 
 mainly from Alaska, average 2.6G in length and 1.58 in width, 
 the extremes being, length, 3.02 and 2.30; width, 1.00 and 1.40. 
 Thirteen skulls from the highlands of Northeastern New York 
 average 2.40 in length and 1.34 in width, the extremes being, 
 length, 2,60 and 2.17. Three skulls from Pennsylvania (un- 
 doubtedly males) average 2.49 in length and 1.48 in width. 
 In the northern series, the sex of the skull is given by the 
 collector, whence it appears that the twelve males have an 
 average length of 2.81, and the six females an average length 
 of 2.48, showing a considerable sexual variation in size. Yet 
 the smallest males (2.64 and 2.63) full below the largest female 
 (2.68), if the skulls are all correctly marked. None of the 
 other females, however, exceed 2.55, and only three of the 
 males fall below 2.70. In the New York series, the sex is not 
 indicated; but, judging from the proportion of the small to 
 the large skulls, the sexes are about equally represented in 
 the two series, but in the New York series there is a very 
 gradual decline from the largest to the smallest. The northern 
 series of eighteen is selected from a series of twenty-three ; 
 the New York series of thirteen from a series < f thirty. In 
 each case only very old skulls were chosen, the immature 
 specimens in each case being thrown out in order to have i> 
 fair basis for comparison. The immature and middle-aged 
 specimens greatly predominate in the New York series, owing, 
 doubtless, to the s]>ecies being more closely hunted there than 
 in the more unsettled districts of the far north. 
 
 *' Taking these two series as a basis for a general compari- 
 son, there is indicated a considerable decrease in size from the 
 north southward, amounting to 0.26 in length and 0.24 in 
 width, or about one-tenth of the average size of the New York 
 
 * A akull of the commou Ferret, P. faitidita var. furo, before rae, ia ulmust 
 exactly of the former ditueusionn. Tame Ferrets' skulls I have examined 
 show a carious depression of the cranial portion — evea a concavity of the 
 upper profile, which I have not observed in P. fwtidua. A skull of the latter 
 measures 2.60 X 1.55. 
 
 tliuU. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv. Terr. vol. ii. no. 4, 1876, pp. 327, 328. 
 
COMPARISON WITH PUTORIUS LUTREOLA. 
 
 169 
 
 series. A single specimen, marked < Brookbaven, Miss.', anil 
 another marked 'Tuscaloosa, Ala.', however, have a length 
 respectively of 2.60 and Ii.80, the former equaling the largest 
 New York specimens, and the latter nearly equaling the aver- 
 age size of the males of the northern series, wliile a single 
 male skull from Fort Randall, D. T., 2.90 in length, is the sec- 
 ond in si^o of the whole series; one Fort Yukon spccimea 
 only being larger ! Other specimens from the Upper Missouri 
 region, however, are mu(;h smaller, as are other specimens 
 from Prairie Mer Rouge, La., indicating that the specimens 
 above mentioned are much above the average for their re- 
 spective localities. 
 
 " MeaHitrenients of thirty-sereu Hkulh of FuTORllis viaoN. 
 
 5" 
 
 6530 
 
 8709 
 8797 
 87!I6 
 8707 
 8703 
 8708 
 
 fim 
 
 SMS 
 8708 
 
 es3i 
 
 8704 
 8706 
 8705 
 3284 
 430<l 
 8133 
 4305 
 
 12915 
 3730 
 3824 
 110!) 
 3(ie5 
 30H4 
 382.3 
 382-J 
 3249 
 C243 
 3241 
 S344 
 8250 
 22tl7 
 1847 
 4834 
 4«i5 
 1804 
 
 11315 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Fort Yukon, Alaaka . 
 
 Alaska 
 
 do 
 
 do , 
 
 do , 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Ala.ska (Kadiak) , 
 
 Aluaka 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Nelson River , 
 
 Fort Simpson , 
 
 do... 
 
 do 
 
 Fort Kandall 
 
 Essex County, New York 
 do 
 
 .do. 
 .do. 
 .do 
 .do. 
 -do. 
 
 Saranac Lake, Now York 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 I'ennsvlvauia 
 do 
 
 do 
 
 Tuscaloosa, Ala . .. 
 Brookhaveu, Miss. 
 
 <2S 
 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 9 
 
 ,1 
 
 3.02 
 2.82 
 3. 83 
 2.75 
 2.73 
 3.75 
 3.A8 
 2.64 
 3.63 
 9.68 
 
 55 
 45 
 32 
 30 
 86 
 8.70 
 8.90 
 2.55 
 2.90 
 8.60 
 8.60 
 2.40 
 2.40 
 8.40 
 8. 32 
 2.30 
 8.47 
 8.40 
 a. 35 
 8.80 
 2.40 
 8.17 
 3.50 
 8.50 
 3.47 
 2.80 
 3.00 
 
 1.00 
 1.64 
 1.68 
 1.61 
 1.68 
 1.57 
 1.68 
 1. .'>5 
 1.58 
 1.58 
 1.50 
 1.45 
 1.40 
 1.40 
 1.63 
 1.51 
 1.78 
 1. 46 
 1.61 
 1.48 
 1.38 
 1..32 
 1.38 
 1.31 
 1.32 
 1.23 
 1.37 
 1.30 
 1.31 
 1.18 
 1.48 
 1.311 
 1.48 
 1.48 
 1.48 
 1.61 
 1.50 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Vorv old. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 . . . do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 Old. 
 
 ..do. 
 
 Old. P. ' ntgraicens ' A. 4( B. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 Old. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 . . . do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do. 
 
 ...do." 
 
 Comparison with the European Mink. 
 
 I have only been able to compare my series of American 
 
 Minks with one European specimen, which, being mounted, 
 
 does not permit examination of the teeth. But as we have 
 
 seen that the curious difference in the character of the molar 
 
 
 a 
 
'iu 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 5« 
 
 // 
 
 4is 
 
 tSn 
 
 
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 i ^^ 
 
 f/j 
 
 m 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 £ IS 110 
 
 III 1.8 
 
 U IIIL6 
 
 %■ 
 
 0% 
 
 ^;. 
 
 
 "^14 
 
 ^j*" 
 
 > 
 
 0» 
 
 /A 
 
 
 
•^ 
 
 Is 
 
 l\ 
 
170 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 and last premolar of Mustela martes and M. americana holds 
 good, there is reason to presume that the same difference may 
 constantly obtain in the Minks, as held by Dr. Gray. In this 
 case, very curiously, it is the American animal which has the 
 larger molar, not the European. This could never have been 
 predicated by analogy ; it illustrates the constantly recurring 
 lesson of the danger of this mode of reasoning in zoology, and 
 the necessity of appeal to observed facts in every case. All 
 the many skulls of American Minks examined (about forty) 
 show the massive last molar with an inner moiety very much 
 larger than the outer, as against the opposite which is alleged 
 of the Old World species. A discrepancy in average size of 
 the American and European Minks is obvious ; but the differ- 
 ence is within the range of variation of the former. The white 
 upper lip, the rule in the European species, is the rare excep- 
 tion in the American. As far as external differences go, it 
 would be impossible to separate the two forms specifically ; 
 ■we could only predicate a geographical race upon the average 
 superior stature and generally dark upper lip of the American 
 form. Attending only to these superficial details, Mr. Allen * 
 came to the justifiable conclusion of the specific identity of the 
 two animals ; but had his able and pertinent discussion em- 
 braced consideration of the dental peculiarities, his views would 
 doubtless have been materially modified. I am unable to en- 
 dorse his general statement {loc. cit) respecting the Lutreola 
 group, that "we have here again but one circumpolar and 
 widely dispersed species, with possibly two continental or geo- 
 graphical races which may be more or less easily recognized". 
 For aside from the question of P. vison, t'n P. sibiricus (see 
 foot-note), which Mr. Allen would bring into the same connec- 
 tion, is an entirely different species, to judge from the single 
 excellent specimen before me. In justice to this writer, however, 
 I should not omit to add that since his examination of the skulls 
 he has presented P. vison as a distinct species. 
 
 The comparative diagnosis of P. lutreola and P. vison would 
 be as follows : — 
 
 p. lutreolaA — Back upper molar small, quadrate, transverse, the inner 
 moiety scarcely larger than the outer [fide Qray]. Averaging smaller; 
 upper lip normally white. 
 
 * Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. i. 18(39, pp. 175-177 — an article important as a 
 contribution to the present discussion, and as satisfactorily showing that 
 the external characters supposed to distinguish two species do not hold. 
 
 1 1 introduce short notices of the two Old World species allied to P. v'uon, 
 as farther contributions to the history of the group. 
 
PUTOEIUS LUTREOLA— PUTORIUS SIBIRICUS. 
 
 171 
 
 p. vieon. — Back upper molar large, with great constriction across the mid- 
 dle, making an hourglass-shape, the inner moiety of which is nearly twice 
 as large as the outer [40 specimens seen]. Averaging larger; upper lip 
 normally dark. 
 
 Pntorlns (Lutreola) lutreola.— European Mink. 
 
 Tlverra lutreola, L. Fu. Sueo. 2(1 ed. 1761, 5, no. 13.— Pall. Spio. Zool. xiv. 1781), 46, pi. 21, f. a ; 
 
 Zoog. R.-A. i. 1831, 80, no. 23. 
 Musleln lulrcola, L. 8. N. i. nati, 66, no. 3 (Finland).— ScAr. her, SttiiK. iil. 1778, 462, pi. 12.5.— 
 
 Lepech. Itin. 1. , 176, pi. 12.— Gm. S. N. 1. 1788, 94, n. i.—Turl. S. N. 1. 1806, 5S.—Xils8. 
 
 • Skand. Fn. 11, 152. -icM. Man. 1827, 147.— Fate*, Act. Soo. So. Feun. u. 1847, 583.— G»«6. 
 
 Saug. 1855, 484. 
 Mostela (Lutreola) lutreola, Schim, Syn. Mamm. L 1844, 346. 
 Lutra lutreola, 8haw, G. Z. i. 1800, 443.— Olog. N. Act. Acad. Nat. Cnrios. xiii. 501. 
 Pulorius lutreola, Griff. Cuv. R. A. v. 1827, 122, no. 347.— Brandt, Bern. Wiii). Nord. Eur. 
 
 Russl. 1856, ^.—Anjubault, BuU.Soc. Agric. Sarthp, xiii; Rev. Mag. Zool. 1863, 77 (so© 
 
 Mrehmer, Arch. Vereins Meoklenb. 1863, 291; Taragon, Rev. Zool. xv. 357; Heinzel, 
 
 Verb. Ntrf. Vereins Biiinn. i, 1862, 18). 
 FCBtorlUS lutreola, £^. <££. Wirb. Eur. 1840, 69, no. US.—liUu. Wirb. Dentschl. 1857, 234, no. 5 
 
 (der 'SoTz). —Struck. Arcb. Nat. Mecklenb. xiii. 1859, l:\9.—Krau»e, Poterm. Geog. 
 
 Mittb. 1866, 425. 
 TISOB lutreola, Oray, List Manini. Br. Mns. 1843, 64 (includes both species) ; P. Z. S. 1865, 
 
 117 Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 94.—Oerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mu«. 1862, 92 (includes both 
 
 species).- Jf. Schmidt, Zool. Gart. 1865, 168, flg. 
 Intra minor, Erxl Syst. An. i. 1777, 451, no. 3 (mixed with P. titeon). 
 Mauk, Nurek, Tuhcurl, Ncerza, Norz, Norz, Nnrz, Nurtz, Authors. 
 Klelne FlHChotter, Sumpfotter, Oerm. 
 Korz, Jlf arfe»«, ZooL Gart. xi. 1870, 278 (philological). 
 
 The characters of this species are sufficiently indicated iu the text above. 
 Gerrard gives the caudal vertebrui as 17. 
 
 Patorlns (I^atreola?) slblrlcns.— iSt&erian Mink. 
 
 Mustela Siblrica, Paii. Itin. ii. app. 701 ; Spic. Zool. 1780, xiv. 89, pi. 4, flg. 2; Zoog. R.-A. i. 
 
 1831, 90, pi. 7.— Erxl. Syst 1777, 471,no.ll.— -SteArefr. Sang. iii. 1778, 495, pi. 133 B.— 
 
 Zimm. Geogr. Gescb. ii. 1780, 306, no. 202.— (Jm. S. N. i. 1788, 98, no. Id.—l'urt S. N. i. 
 
 1806, 61.— X>e«n». Mamm. i. 1820, 177, no. 272; Nouv. Diet. xix. 369.— Fr. Cuv. Diet. Sci. 
 
 Nat xxix. 249.— i«. Geoff. Diet. Class, x. 212.— GFra^, List Mumm, Br. Mus. 1843, 66.— 
 
 Oerr. Cat Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 94.—Gieb. Saug. 1855, 781. 
 Tiverra siblrlca, Shaw, Gen. Zo&l. i. 1800, 431 . 
 PutorlUS Hiblrica, Griff. Cuv. R. A. V. 1827, 122, no. 346. 
 Tlson siblrica. Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 117 ; Cat Carn. Br. Mus. 1869, 94. 
 (?) " MiMlela Italsl, Temm. Fn. Jap. 34, pi. 7, f. 2 (nat»i by misprint on plate)."— (Omy.) 
 Fatuls de liberie, Cuv. R. A. i. 148. 
 fhorock, "<$onnt»i'8 Buffon, XXXV. 19." 
 Kulon, Jar(ar«. i 
 
 Kulonnok, Chorok, Suttian. 
 
 (No. 1451, Mus. Smiths., from the Brem«n Museum.) This animal is a Pu- 
 torius (teeth .34), and may come near the Minks, as the toes appear to be ex- 
 tensively semi-palmate and the ears are very short. The general aspect, 
 however, is that of a Ferret or Polecat, P. fwtidua, like which species, and 
 like P. nigripes, it has dark facial markings contrasted with white surround- 
 ings. The tail is long and bnshy, about as it would be in a Marten (Muatela) 
 of the same size. The color is peculiar — a uniform, clear, rich, fulvous or 
 tawny brown ("buff" or "fawn" color), scarcely paler below, the tail 
 
 
172 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 General history and habits of the Mink. 
 
 The history of the American Mink, to which we will confine 
 our attention, begins at an early date, long before Linnaeus con- 
 ferred precision upon zoological writing by establishing the 
 binomial nomenclature. Says Sagard-Th^odat, in 1636, refer- 
 ring to the Hurons : — " lis out vers les Neutres une autre espece 
 d'animaux nommez Otay, ressemblaut ^ un escurieux grand 
 comme un petit lapin, d'un poll tres-noir, & si doux, poly «& 
 beau qu'il semble de la panne. lis font grands cas de ces peaux 
 desquelles ils font des robes & couaertures, oil il y en entre 
 bien une soixantaine qu'ils embellissent part tout lY I'entour, des 
 testes, & des queues de ces animaux qui leur donnent bonne 
 grace, & rendent riches en leur estime." Early in the seven- 
 teenth century we find the animal unmistakably indicated under 
 the name of Mink or Minx.* The derivation of these words — or 
 rather of this terra, for the two are obviously the same — is from 
 the original Swedish maenk^ applied to the P. lutreola of Eu- 
 rope. The term otay had long been in use at that time, and 
 foiitereau was an Early French designation, used, for instance, 
 by La Hontan (1703) for " a sort of small amphibious weasels". 
 Of the meaning of the term vison, generally adopted since 
 Buffon as the specific designation, I have only to remark, on 
 the authority of von Martens, it-* apparent relation with 
 weasel, through veso. The word jaekash, sometimes found, is 
 obviously a rendering by an English tongue of the Cree name, 
 which is given by Richardson as Shakwceshew or Atjackasheic. 
 
 " The Minx ", says Lawson, about the beginning of the last 
 century, " is an animal much like the English Fillemart or 
 
 thronghout the same. Throat aud soles of feet whitish. Forehead, cheeks, 
 region around eyes, and naked nasal pad blackish-brown ; end of si^ut all 
 around (isolating the dark nose-i)ad), edge of upper lip, and chin white. 
 Length apparently about 15 inches; tail-vertebrsB 6 or 7; hairs at the end 
 full 3 inches longer. 
 
 Pallas says his animal is pecnliar to Farther Siberia, from the Yenisei 
 River eastward to the sea, to the 60° parallel, but is not fouud in Kaiu- 
 tschatka nor in the Tschuctschi region. Gray attributes it to the Himalayas, 
 China, Japan, aud Formosa, quoting Temminck, as above. 
 
 " The identity in form with the Euglish minx may possibly be more than 
 fortuitous. Minx was a name of a female puppy, and subsequently signified 
 a pert, wanton girl, doubtless through the same association of id»as tbat 
 caused the vulgar name of a she-dog to beoome a shameful term of reproach 
 for a lewd woman. There is something in the forward, prying, and spite- 
 ful nature of the animal to render niinx applicable. 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MINK. 
 
 Polcat. He is long, slender, and every way shaped like him. 
 His Haunts are chiefly in the Marshes, by the Seaside and Salt- 
 Waters, where he lives on Fish, Fowl, Mice and Insects. . . . 
 These arelikewise found high up in the Rivers, in whose sides they 
 live ; which is known by the abundants of Fresh- Water Muscles 
 Shells (such as you have in England) that lie at the Mouth of 
 their Holes. This is an Enemy to the Tortoise, whose Holes, 
 in the Sand, where they hide their Eggs, the Minx finds out, 
 and scratches up and eats," — with more in the same quaint style. 
 
 Button described " Le vison " in 1705 from a Canadian speci- 
 men in M. Aubry's museum, the same apparently that served 
 as the basis of Brisson's earlier and Pennant's subsequent ac- 
 count. Pennant indeetl has also his Minx or Lesser Otter, but 
 this is simply because ho did not recognize that this was the 
 same as his riison. 
 
 Since these earlier authors, the Mink, a very common animal 
 of this country, has been frequently mentioned by writers, and 
 taken its place in all the systematic works. It has served as 
 the basis of several nominal species, but these have occasioned 
 little if any confusion, the zoological characters of the animaV 
 being well marked. The only question, indeed, is as to its re- 
 lationships with the European P. lutreola. For many years a 
 specific distinctness was seldom doubted, but of late the opin- 
 ion has tended the other way. The Mink has been placed 
 alternately in the genera Mustela and Putorius^ partly owing to 
 a varying acceptation of these names by authors, partly to a 
 misconception of its dental characters. It is a true " Weasel ", 
 with 34 teeth, not a Marten, which has 38. It is of larger size, 
 stouter form, and bushier tail than an average species of Pu- 
 toriuH, approaching in these respects to the Martens, Mnstela. 
 In those points in which it is modified for its eminently aquatic 
 mode of life, namely, the half-webbing of the toes, short ears, 
 and the close-set, bristly, glistening pelage, it makes an ap- 
 proach toward the Otters. In fact, the specific term lutreola, 
 " little otter ", applied to the European form by Linnreus, is 
 highly appropriate. The non-essential modifications which the 
 animal presents have been unnecessarily made by Dr. Gray 
 the basis of a subgenus Vison. 
 
 The peculiar odor which the animals of this genus hare in 
 common attaics in this large and vigorous species a surpassing 
 degree of fetor, though of the same quality. No animal of this 
 countrv, except the Skunk, possesses so powerful, penetrating, 
 
'■J^''' 
 
 174 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 
 i 
 
 '■mm 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 I^^l 
 
 
 'n 
 
 H' 
 
 
 ^H 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1^1 
 
 
 fl 
 
 1 
 
 
 Hl^i 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 and lasting an efauviura. Its strength is fully perceived in 
 taking the animal from a trap, or when the Mink is otherwise 
 irritated. Ordinarily the scent is not emitted to any noticeable 
 degree ; it is under voluntary control, and the fact that the 
 Mink spends most of its time in the water is .another reason 
 why its proximity, even in numbers, is not commonly perceived 
 by smell. Both sexes possess the scent-bags ; they lie in the 
 perinsBum, one on each side of the rectum, and open upuu a 
 papilla on either side of the anus, just within the edge of the 
 external orifice. As usual, the apparatus pertains primarily to 
 the sexual relations, and, in fact, can have no other office of 
 consequence, since the effluvium is not powerful enough to 
 deter i)ursuit on the part of a determined enemy* as is the case 
 with the intolerable emanations of the Skunk. Its service 
 seems to be that of attracting the sexes. It is used with advan- 
 tage, like the castoreum of Beavers, by trappers, to increase 
 the efficacy of their bait. It belongs to the class of musky 
 odors, which, in minute quantities, are not disagreeable to most 
 persons; and, indeed, a moderate amount of mink scent is to 
 me less undesirable than the ineffably rank odor of a hewolf 
 for instance. The former is special and peculiar; the latter 
 seems to convey all that is obscene in the nature of the animal. 
 
 The distribution of the Mink in this country is scarcely 
 limited. In a word, it is found in suitable places throughout 
 North America. Sir John Richardson found it on Mackenzie's 
 River as far north as 66° ; " and there is every reason to believe 
 that it ranges to the mouth of that river, in latitude 69^". 
 Audubon says that he has seen it *'in every State in the Union", 
 and remarks its abundance in the salt marshes of the Southern 
 States. Although he could at that time only speak at second 
 hand of its occurrence in regions west of the Rocky Mountains, 
 I have sufficient evidence in the way of specimens that it is 
 there equally well represented. Its essentially aquatic nature 
 leads it to seek, in general, well-watered sections, and it will 
 never be found far away from water, except it be caught during 
 the journeys it makes from one stream or pool to another. 
 Nevertheless, I have found it in great plenty along the water- 
 courses of some of the driest portions of the interior of the 
 continent, as in Dakota and Montana. 
 
 The very scarcity of water in such regions is one cause of 
 the apparent abundance of certain aquatic animals in spots, as 
 around the pools and along the few streams; they become 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MINK. 
 
 175 
 
 aggregated in a few r)laces rather than generally dispersed over 
 the country, so that their numbers appear greater than they 
 really are. In the region last mentioned, there was scarcely any 
 water, running or stagnant, even if enduring for only a part of 
 the year, the muddy banks of which were not dotted with num- 
 berless tracks of Mink, Muskrats, and Meadow Mice. All 
 around the permanent pools, the entrances to the burrows of 
 the first named were to be found. The holes were noticed more 
 or less nearly at water-level, according to the state of evapora- 
 tion of the water ; they were generally dug in a rather steep 
 part of the bank, and from the entrance of the burrow a " way" 
 led far out into the pool. 
 
 Whilst encamped for a month or more in the autumn of 1873, 
 on Mouse River, in Northern Dakota, a friend with me pro- 
 cured a large number of Minks without difficulty. In addition 
 to our steel traps, we built numerous deadfalls, and were equally 
 successful with both means. The Minks were not at all wary 
 about the traps. Any contrivance by which a small log could 
 be made to fall against another on touching a trigger, the bait 
 being covered so that the animal could only reach it from the 
 desired position, sufficed perfectly well. Such a trap may be 
 built, where there is wood, with a hatchet and pocket-knife in 
 a few minutes. We set them at intervals for several miles 
 along the stream, wherever, judging from the number of tracks, 
 we were most likely to be successful. They were placed as 
 near as convenient to the water's edge, baited with a duck's 
 head or breast, and scented with the Mink's odor. In setting 
 the steel traps, we placed them in the "ways" leading into the 
 burrows, and in very shallow parts of the stream, where a little 
 water rippled over pebbly shingle. It was found best, on the 
 whole, not to bait the trap itself, but to build a little box of flat 
 stones, with a narrow entrance, at which the trap was set, the 
 bait being placed further in. The Mink of this region seemed 
 to me rather smaller and darker than average, and they rarely 
 showed white along the chest or belly. 
 
 The tenacity of life of the Mink is something remarkable. 
 It lives for many hours — in cases I have known for more than a 
 day and night — under the pressure of a heavy log, sufficient to 
 hold it like a vice, and when the middle of the body was pressed 
 perfectly flat. Nay, under one such circumstance which I re- 
 call, the animal showed good fight on approach. When caught 
 by a leg in a steel trap, the Mink usually gnaws and tears the 
 
 •• *' 
 
 'h. 
 
 i' 
 
 
 
176 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 captive member, sometimes lacerating it in a manner painful 
 to witness ; but, singular to say, it bites the part beyond the 
 jaws of the trap. This does not appear to be any intelligent 
 attempt to free itself, but rather an act of the blind fury ex- 
 cited by consciousness of capture. Some have averred that it 
 is an instinctive means of lessening pain, by permitting a flow 
 of blood from the portion of the limb beyond the point of 
 seizure; but this seems to me very problematical. The violence 
 and persistence of the poor tortured animal's endeavors to 
 escape are witnessed in the frequent breaking of its teeth 
 against the iron — this is the rule rather* than the exception. 
 One who has not taken a Mink in a steel trap can scarcely form 
 an idea of the terrible expression the aiiimal'ti face assumes as 
 the captor approaches. It has always struck me as the most 
 nearly diabolical of anything in animal physiognomy. A sullen 
 stare from the crouched, motionless form gives way to a new 
 look of surprise and fear, accomi>anied with the most violent 
 contortions of the body, with renewed champing of the iron, 
 till breathless, with heaving flanks, and open mouth dribbling 
 saliva, the animal settles again, and watches with a look 
 of concentrated hatred, mingled with impotent rage and fright- 
 ful despair. The countenance of the Mink, its broad, low head, 
 short ears, small eyes, piggish snout, and formidable teeth, is 
 always expressive of the lower and more brutal passions, all of 
 which are intensified at such times. As may well be supposed, 
 the creature must not be incautiously dealt with when in such 
 a frame of mind. 
 
 The gun is not often used to procure Mink, not only because 
 of the injury to the pelt which would ensue, but because its 
 use is difiQcult and unsatisfactory. I have never secured one 
 in this way, though I have more than once fired at them swim- 
 ming in the water. If on the lookout, as they usually are, 
 they may dive at the flash, and evade the shot. They immedi- 
 ately disappear likewivse if only wounded ; and even if killed 
 outright, which is not often the case, they sink, and are not 
 likely to be recovered. Shots at a Mink on land but rarely 
 o£fer ; I do not remember to have had but a single one, and 
 then the animal escaped me. 
 
 From what has gone before, the prime characteristic of the 
 Mink in comparison with its congeners may be inferred : I 
 mean its amphibious mode of life. It is to the water what the 
 other Weasels are to the land or the Martens to the trees. It 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MINK. 
 
 177 
 
 he 
 I 
 
 is as essentially aquatic iu its Labits as tbe Otter, Beaver, or 
 Muskrat, and spends perhaps more of its time in the water 
 than it does on land. In adaptation to this mode of life, the 
 pelage has that peculiar glossiness of the longer bristly hairs 
 and felting of the close under fur which best resists the water, 
 much as in the cases of the other animals just mentioned. 
 Were not fashion so notoriously capricious. Mink pelts would 
 maintain a conspicuous place in the fur marts of the world ; 
 certainly few surpass them in richness of color, gloss, and fine- 
 ness. Yet they have been found under some circumstances 
 not to repay cost of transportation, although it should be 
 added, at times the price they fetch shows them to be better 
 appreciated. The darkest colored samples are regarded as the 
 most valuable — such as those coming from the so-cilled Fiito- 
 riu8 nigrescena. As in other cases, the quality of the fur de- 
 pends largely upon season, and other varying circumstances. 
 Nova Scotian pelts have been regarded with particular favor. 
 On this subject, the following extract from Dr. Gilpin's article 
 above quoted is given : — " This fur once valueless has steadily 
 increased in price, till last winter [ISGo] not seldom five dollars 
 was paid for a single skin. Our Indians trap but very little 
 now. The idle boys about the Aillages take many. The 
 farmer, indignant at his slaughtered fowl yard, adds a few 
 more. In every land and every village, there is a social gip- 
 sey who loves sport and hates work ; who fishes, and fowls, 
 and traps, eats his own trout or poached salmon or moose 
 meat, taken out of season, and exchanges his little pile of fur 
 for tea and tobacco at the country store. Many come from 
 this source. Thus a gathering pile collects and dangles at the 
 country store. The owner packs and sends them to the Hali- 
 fax market, where of late years it has become the habit for the 
 fur dealers to tender in writing for them. About six thousand 
 are annually exported from Nova Scotia proper." 
 
 Coincidentally with the aquatic habitat, the food ox the 
 Mink is somewhat modified, in comparison with that of the 
 land species of the genus. It is probably our only species 
 which feeds habitually upon reptiles, fish, molluscs, and crusta- 
 ceans — more particularly upon frogs, fresh-water bivalves, 
 crawfish, and the like. Nevertheless, it is not confined to 
 such diet, but shows its relationships with the terrestrial Wea- 
 sels in a wide range of the same articles of diet as the latter 
 secure. It is said to prey upon Mnskrats — a statement I have 
 12 M 
 
 ik;il;l 
 
 nil! 
 
 mm 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 lii 
 
 Pi 
 
178 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 uo besitatiou in believing, though I cannot personally attest it. 
 A recent >vriter,* in an article vrhich I would quote were it 
 written in a style suited to the present connection, narrates an 
 incident which may be here briefly related, as showing that 
 the Mink is a formidable enemy of the Muskrat, though yield- 
 ing to the latter in weight. Whilst suipe-hunting on a marshy 
 island below the Kickapoo Eapids of the Illinois Kiver, the 
 writer noticed an object, which appeared like a ball some six 
 or eight inches in diameter, rolling toward the water; and 
 soon ascertained that it was a Mink and a Muskrat clinched 
 together, and so completely covered with mud as not to have 
 been at first recognized. At his approach, the Mink released 
 its hold and made its escape ; but the Muskrat was already 
 dying of severe wounds in the head and neck, from which the 
 blood was flowing profusely. The Muskrat had evidently been 
 captured and overcome in fair fight by broad daylight, and the 
 Mink would have devoured its victim had not the hunter inter- 
 fered. It is also destructive to our native rats and mice — the 
 Arricolas, Hesperomys, Sigmodon, and Xeotoma; it is known to 
 capture Rabbits, especially the Lepus 2y(thtstris, its associate in 
 many marshy or swampy tracts ; while its not infrequent vis- 
 its to the poultry-yard have gained for it the hearty ill-will of 
 the farmer. Various marsh inhabiting birds are enumerated 
 in the list of its prey, among them the rails and several 
 smaller species ; and we may presume that it does not spare 
 their eggs. But most birds are removed from its attack ; for the 
 Mink is not a climber, at least to any extent. In respect to poul- 
 try, its destructiveness seems to result rather from the regularly 
 repeated visits of an animal that has located in the vicinity 
 than the wholesale slaughtering sometimes accomplished by the 
 Ermine. According to those who have excellent opportunity of 
 judging, the Mink does not as a rule kill more than it eats. 
 Still, the opposite case has been recorded. Its modes of hunt- 
 ing oflfer nothing peculiar. Like the Weasel and Stoat, it has 
 been known to pursue its prey by scent. 
 
 The Mink often annoys hunters by stealing the game they 
 have shot before they have an opportunity of bagging it. An 
 incident related- by a recent anonymous writer in " Forest and 
 Stream " is in point, and furthermore illustrates the wonderful 
 energy and perseverance sometimes displayed by the Mink in 
 
 *M. A. Howell, jr. ''The trapper not the only enemy of the Muskrat. 
 <Fore8t and Stream of Dec. 21, 1876. ^-- , . ;^ j. ^ . r • v; 
 
HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MINK. 
 
 179 
 
 securing its food. Speaking of a duckshootiag cxcursioQ, 
 during which some of the birds that had been killed were not 
 recovered till next day, the writer goes on to say : — " The tirst 
 spot which claimed attention, was where our *hen mallard' 
 had ' struck hard pan.' Here was a sight ! feathers and blood 
 marked the scene of a terrific struggle for what remained of a 
 duck's life. Here, for at least ten feet in circuit, the snow, 
 grass and twigs, were whipped into a confused mass, here and 
 there besprinkled with blood, and quite as often decorated 
 with feathers ; then there was a trail, leading directly to the 
 river bank, and out upon the ice ; the trail thence proceeded 
 up the bank of the river on the ice for about half a mile, when 
 it disappeared directly in line of a hole in the bank, where we 
 discovered the bird half buried, head foremost, into a hole 
 about one-half the size of the body, frozen stiff. When discov- 
 ered we worked, not without difficulty, at the extrication of the 
 bird. It required all our force to draw it out, when, as it broke 
 from its fastenings, two large minks suddenly appeared, and 
 darted back into their retreat, the last we saw of the varmints 
 after a half hour of close watching. The ground along the 
 shore was rough, covered with heavy grass, brush, drift wood, 
 and many willows. Here the natural obstacles precluded the 
 possibility of such a trip by land, and the little piece of engi- 
 neering practiced by this one mink, in capturing and convey- 
 ing home its prize was truly marvellous. That there was but 
 one mink, the trail bore direct evidence throughout its entire 
 length from the scene of the struggle. As we followed the line, 
 we could easily trace the wide trail of the mallard, as it was 
 dragged bodily along over the fresh snow, and the deep pene- 
 tration of its «laws into the new ice, spoke volumes of the force 
 exerted by that small animal in the completion of so severe 
 an undertaking, and the excessive amount of minic power ex- 
 pended in the completion ot a successful foraging expedition. 
 Here and there throughout the line of trail were frequent halt- 
 ing places, where our mink had stopped for a rest. Every 
 time there appeared numerous tracks around the body of its 
 victim, as though pleased to inspect its trophy before the next 
 heat, and then as the distance shortened, the strokes of its tail 
 at regular intervals of march, marked upon the snow upon either 
 side of the trail the determined intention of the animal to go 
 through with its meat before it was too cold to squeeze into a 
 small space, where the sharp frost would soon fix it perma- 
 
 >; •■' 'i^ 
 
 ml 
 
 m\ 
 
 iMwn 
 
 
 
 '^ -'SI 
 
 h i1 
 
180 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 ueutly. Wlieu drawu out, we fouud that a coui»le of 'square 
 meals' had been made frum the head, neck aud breast, and 
 enough left for several da.ys to come." 
 
 This acconut of the Mink's theft called forth shortly afterward 
 in the same pajjcr the following instance of its stealing fish; the 
 editor, Mr. Charles Uallock, remarking that he had known 
 Minks to carry ofi fish weighing no less than twelve pounds: — 
 "We were spending our vacation in the woods of Maine, fish- 
 ing, and traveling about for a good time in general. One day we 
 came across an old dam made to flood a piece of lowland. As 
 this looked like a good place to fish we stopped, seated our- 
 selves upon theedge of the dam, aud cast in our line. The 
 fish were quite plenty, aud as fast as we caught one we threw 
 it behind us upon the scaifolding. After a dozen or so had 
 been caught, I thought I would light my pipe, pick up the fish 
 and put them in the shade, aud I started to do so. I accom- 
 plished the first object, but upon looking for the fish I could 
 not find a single one. I thought that my c): im must have re- 
 moved them, and was playiug a joke upon me, but on mention- 
 ing it to him he was as much surprised as I was. They could 
 not have fallen through the cracks, nor leaped over the side 
 without our knowing it. Where were they ? That was the 
 question. He returned to fish, and I seated myself upon the 
 bank to digest the subject. Presently he caught another fish 
 and threw it upon the boards. Immediately I saw a Mink run 
 out from a hole near by, snatch the fish and carry it off. This 
 explained the mysterious disappearance of the others." 
 
 The movements of the Mink on land, though sufficiently 
 active, lack something of the extraordinary agility displayed 
 by the more lithe and slender-bodied W^easels, as a consp 
 quence of the build of its body ; while, for the same reason, it 
 does not pursue the smaller animals into their extensive under- 
 ground retreats, nor so habitually prowl about stone heaps 
 and similar recesses. It is altogether a more openly aggres- 
 sive marauder, though not less persistent aud courageous in 
 its attacks. It appears to be more perfectly at home in the 
 water, where it swims with exactly the motions of an Otter, 
 and in fact appears like a small specimen of that kind. It 
 swims with most of the body submerged — perhaps only the 
 end of the nose exposed — and progresseis under water with per- 
 fect ease, remaining long without coming to the surface to 
 breathe. This may be partly the reason of its long survival 
 under the pressure of a deadfall. 
 
" MINIvERIES.'' 
 
 181 
 
 The Mink is not properly a migratory animal. In moat sec- 
 tions it remains permauently where it takes np its abode. In 
 others, however, it may be forced to remove at times, owing to 
 scarcity or failure of its food-supply, such as may ensue from 
 the freezing of the waters in northern parts. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, it may perform extensive journeys overland. Trap- 
 pers have indeed spoken to me of a <" running'' time with the 
 Minks, but I cannot satisfy myself that reference is here had 
 to anything more than periods of sexual activity, when the ani- 
 mals are hnnting mates. I do not think that whatever " migra- 
 tion" may take place is anything more than casual. 
 
 The rutting season begins early — generally in February— and 
 April is for the most part the month of reproduction. Five or 
 six young are ordinarily produced at a birth. Litters have been 
 found in the hollow of a log, as well as in the customary bur- 
 rows. 
 
 The Mink has been frequently tamed, and is said to become, 
 with due care, perfectly gentle and tractable, though liable to 
 sudden fits of anger, when no one is safe from its teeth. With- 
 out showing special affection, it seems fond of being caressed, 
 and may ordinarily be handled with perfect impunity. The 
 following account of the semi-domestication of Minks on an 
 extensive scale will be read with interest, not alone for its 
 novelty, but also because it gives some precise information 
 respecting the reproduction of the species. 
 
 "il//Hte>v'e.s." 
 
 The Mink appears to be the only species ot its genus which 
 has been systematically reared and trained for ratting in this 
 country as the Ferret is in Europe. The relationship of the two 
 animals at once suggests the feasibility of an experiment, which 
 has been tried with complete success, as we learn from an in- 
 teresting article lately published in "Forest and Stream" (Oc- 
 tober 23, 1874 — apparently taken from "Fancier's Journal and 
 Poultry Exchange" of October 15, 1874). I reproduce the pas- 
 sage in substance. 
 
 Mr. H. Eesseque, of Verona, Oneida County, N. Y., has fre- 
 quently exhibited at fairs two tame female Minks, which he 
 hands to the by-standers to be caressed and passed from one 
 to another. The animals were ectly gentle, submitting to 
 be handled, but it was noticed that they kept their eyes on their 
 
 IP 
 
 
 
 4m' i I 
 
182 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 keeper, to wLoiu they would frequently extend their paws like 
 a child wishing to be taken to its parent. Seven years ago, 
 Mr. Resseque came in possession of a live wild Mink, and through 
 her progeny his stock has on some occasions amounted to ninety 
 individuals, besides the numerous specimens disposed of. At 
 the late Albany County iiiir, his " niinkery " was one of the novel 
 features. 
 
 Mr. Resseque's minkery consists of twelve stalls, each twelve 
 feet S(]uare, of stale soil, and surrounded with a fence and some 
 special precautions to prevent the escape of the animals. In 
 'ach stall is placed a dry-goods' box for the home of the female; 
 it has two openings for ingress and egress, opposite each other, 
 besides a door on top to allow of inspection and cleaning. The 
 animals are fed on sound, fresh meat, as they do not relish 
 tainted tiesh. In summer it is given to them daily, but in cold 
 weather a large quantity is thrown in at once and allowed to 
 freeze, the Minks helping themselves at pleasure. In February, 
 their allowance is shortened, to get them into condition for 
 breeding. Mr. Resseque claims that this slight degree of fast- 
 ing makes them more lively and playful, and it is a part of his 
 plan to imitate nature as closely as possible — their supply of 
 food, in the wild state, being restricted at this season. 
 
 In the minkery, the sexes are not allowed to run together ex- 
 cept during the month of March, which is considered the run- 
 ning season in a state of nature. If allowed together for a 
 longer period, the male teases and annoys the female. At this 
 time, the males light desperately, and if not soon separated one 
 always gets the mastery. The females come in heat with great 
 regularity, all being ready for the male within tea days; and the 
 period of excitement lasts about four days. One male serves 
 six females. The females.reproduce when one year old. The 
 duration of gestation scarcely varies twelve hours from six 
 weeks. There is but one litter annually. The litters run from 
 three to ten in number; the young are born blind, and remain 
 so for five weeks. When newly born, they are light-colored, 
 hairless, and about the size and shape of a little finger. By 
 the time the eyes are open, they are covered with a beautiful, 
 coat of glossy hair. The young females develop sooner than 
 the males, attaining their stature in ten months, while the males 
 are npt full-grown until they are a year and a half old. It is 
 noted that in every litter one or the other sex predominates in 
 numbers, there being rarely half of them males and the other 
 
 d< 
 V 
 
"minkeries." 
 
 183 
 
 IiaK females. If taken in haiul when their eyes are first open, 
 they are readily tamed ; they shouhl not subsequently be al- 
 lowed to remain with the mother or iu each others' society. By 
 continual petting and handling, they become like dcnestic rat- 
 ters, and have all the playfulness of the young of the feline 
 tribe. They may be handled, without fear of their sharp teeth, 
 but they prove extremely mischievous, their scent leading them 
 to food not intended for them. Their fondness for bathing will 
 prompt them to enter a teakettle or any open vessel; and when 
 wetted they will roll and dry themselves in a basket of clothes 
 fresh from the laundry, or even upon a lady's dress, occasion- 
 ing much inconvenience. 
 
 Minks are not burrowing auimcals in a state of nature, but 
 freely avail themselves of the holes of Muskrats and other ver- 
 min. They cannot climb a smooth surface, but ascend readily 
 where there is roughness enough for a nail-hold. The grown 
 male will weigh about two i>ouuds ; the female is heavier than 
 she looks, averaging between one and a half and one and three- 
 fourths pounds. These tame Minks make excellent ratters, 
 hunt vigorously, and soon exterminate the troublesome pests. 
 Kats will make oft" on scenting them ; they are so bewildered 
 in flight that they give no battle, but yield at once; and the 
 Mink severs the main vessels of the neck so quickly and skil- 
 fully that an observer would (licarcely imagine the deed had 
 been done. 
 
 When wild Minks are confined with the tame ones, the latter 
 always prove stronger than the former, and come oil' victorious 
 in the contests that ensue. Tuey have been observed to beat 
 off a cat that imprudently invaded the miukery in quest of food. 
 So completely domesticated are the animals that a person may 
 enter the inclosure with impunity, and observe the animals 
 playing about him like kittens. 
 
 Mr. liesseque states that he finds ready sale for his Minks — 
 in fact, that he cannot supply the demand. His prices are $30 
 per pair — $20 for a female, $10 for a male, and $25 for an im- 
 pregnated female. It is to be hoped that this novel branch of 
 industry will be perpetuated and extended. There are plenty 
 of Minks in this country, the services of which are available 
 without difticulty for the purpose of destroying vermin, and in 
 the aggregate their good services would have a very decidedly 
 appreciable result. They have a great advantage over terrier 
 dogs iu being able to enti r any ordinary rat-hole and drive their 
 prey from its hidden resorts. 
 
 IT 
 
 } h 
 
184 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 From the "Forest and Stream" of July 2, 1874, the following 
 article is extracted in further illiistratiou of this branch of 
 industry: — 
 
 "Messrs. Phillips & Woodcock, of Cancadea, New York, 
 commenced two years ago the business of breeding mink for 
 their fur. A correspondent of the Baflfalo Express describes 
 the 'Minkery' in the following terms: — 
 
 "'The "Minkery," designed to accommodate on.e hundred 
 minks for breeding, consists first of an enclosure about forty feet 
 square, made by digging a trench one foot deep, laying a plank at 
 the bottom, and from the outer edge starting the wall, which 
 consists of boards four feet high, with a board to cap the top, 
 projecting upward eight or ten inches to prevent their climbing 
 over. Within this enclosure is a building 14 by 24, supplied by 
 running water, from which the mink catch living fish, that are 
 often furnished, with the greatest delight. 
 
 "'The building is constructed bj* an alley three feet wide 
 around its circumference. Within are two rows of cells four 
 feet deep and two and a half wide, each having a door venti- 
 lated at the top and bottom with wire screens, as is also the front 
 entrance, what the proprietors call the anteroom, four by four 
 feet, which must be fastened within every time the building is 
 entered, to prevent the escape of the imprisoned animals. On 
 entering the main hall, which the minks have access to (when 
 not rearing their young), they present a very playful group. 
 
 "'The person feeding them is often mounted, for their food 
 and their tenacity of hold is so strong that they may be drawn 
 about or lifted without releasing their hold upon the food. The 
 nest of the female is very peculiarly constructed with grass, 
 leaves, or straw, with a lining of her own fur so firmly com- 
 pacted together as to be with difficulty torn in pieces. The 
 aperture leading to the nest is a round opening, just sufficient 
 to admit the dam, and is provided with a deflected curtain, 
 which covers the entrance and effectually secures her against 
 all invasion when she is within. About the middle of March 
 the females are separated from the males until the young are 
 reared. The necessity for this arises from the fact that the 
 males seem inclined to brood the young almost as much as the 
 dam, when both are permitted to remain together. 
 
 "'The expense of feeding these animals is almost nominal, 
 being supplied pretty much entirely from the usual offal of a 
 farm yard, with occasional woodchucks and game in general. 
 
" MINKERIES." 
 
 185 
 
 5 A 
 
 They eat this food with equal avidity after decomposition baa 
 taken place, devouring every particle of flesh, cartilage, and the 
 bones. The flesh and bones entire of the woodclmck are con- 
 sumed often at a single meal. While the expenst of keeping 
 is thus trivial, the profitable yield of the animal is compara- 
 tively immense, it being considered a moderate estimate or 
 claim that the miuk with her increase will equal the avails of a 
 
 cow 
 
 ) n 
 
 We find in Audubon and Bacbman several paragraphs upon 
 the same subject, which will be transcribed : — " The Mink, when 
 taken young, becomes very gentle, and forms a strong attach- 
 ment (?) to those who fondle it in a state of domestication. 
 Kichardson saw one in the possession of a Canadian woman, 
 that passed the day in her pocket, looking out occasionally 
 when its attention was roused by any unusual noise. We had 
 in oar possession a pet of this kind for eighteen months; it 
 regularly made a visit to an adjoining fish-pond both morning 
 and evening, and returned to the house of its own accord, where 
 it continued during the remainder of the day. It waged war 
 against the Norway rats which had their domicile in the dam 
 that formed the fishpond, and it caught the frogs which had 
 taken possession of its banks. We did not perceive that it 
 captured many fish, and it never attacked the poultry. It was 
 on good terms with the dogs and cats, and molested no one 
 unless its tail or foot was accidentally trod upor when it inva- 
 riably revenged itself by snapping at the foot of the offender. 
 It was rather dull at midday, but very active and playful in the 
 morning and evening atid at night. It never emitted its dis- 
 agreeable odour except when it had received a sudden and 
 severe hurt. It was fond of squatting in the chimney corner, 
 and formed a particular attachment to an armchair in our study. 
 
 " The latter end of February or the beginning of March, in 
 the latitude of Albany, N. Y., is the rutting season of the Mink. 
 At this period the ground is usually still covered with snow, 
 but the male is notwithstanding very restless, and his tracks 
 may everywhere be traced, along ponds, among the slabs around 
 sawmills, and along nearly every stream of water, lie seems 
 to keep on foot all day as well as through the whole night. 
 Having for several days in succession observed a number of 
 Minks on the ice hurrying up and down a miilpoud, where we 
 had not observed any during the whole winter, we took a 
 position near a place which we had seeu them pass, in order to 
 
 
186 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 \l 
 
 procure some of them. "We shot six in the course of the morn- 
 ing, anil ascertained that they were all large and old males. As 
 we did not find a single female in a week, whilst we obtained 
 a great number of males, we came to the conclusion that the 
 females, during this period, remain in their burrows. About 
 the latter end of April the young are produced. We saw six 
 young dug from a hole in the bank of a Carolina rice-field ; on 
 another occasion we found five enclosed in a large nest situ.' t. id 
 on a small island in the marshes of Ashley river. In the State 
 of New York, we saw five taken from a hollow log, and we are 
 inclined to set down that as the average number of young the 
 species brings forth at a time." 
 
 •,1 r 
 
\ 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Subfamily MEPHITIN.E : The Skunks. 
 
 General coDsiderationa — Cranial and dental characters — The anal armature — 
 Divieiou of the Bubfaaiily into genera — Note on fossil North American 
 species — The genus Mephitis — Jlvphitia mephitica, the Common Skunk — 
 Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external charac- 
 ters — Description of the skull and teeth — Variation in the skull with 
 special reference to geographical distribution — Anatomy and physiology 
 of the anal glands and properties of the secretion — Geographical distri- 
 bution and habits of the Skunk — History of the species — Addexduji : ou 
 bydroi)hobia from Sk ak-bite, the so-called " rabies mephitica ". 
 
 General considerations. 
 
 A CONCISE diagnosis of this subfamily will be found ou 
 p. 10, where the characters of the group are contrasted 
 with those of the other North American subfamilies. 
 
 The subfamily is confined to America, its nearest Old World 
 representatives being the African Zorillimv. It is a small group, 
 of only two or three genera and perhaps not more than four or 
 live really good species, among the great number of nominal 
 ones indicated by authors. More precise knowledge than we 
 now possess will be : equired to fix the number of species, espe- 
 cially in the genus C nepatus. No more than three species are 
 known to inhabit North America north of Mexico, each one 
 typical of a different genus or subgenus. There is a Mexican 
 species of Mephitis proper, apparently perfectly distinct from M. 
 mephitica. One North American and Mexican species of a sec- 
 ond allied subgenus, Spilogale, and one or several North, Cen- 
 tral, and South American species of the very different genus, 
 Conepatiis, complete the list as far as known. 
 
 In entering upon the Mephitinw, we pass to a group quite 
 
 187 
 
188 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 different from tbe Mustelinm in general external appearance as 
 well as in structural characters. The closest relationships ot 
 the Skunks are with the Badgers (subfamily Melince); the 
 affinities of these two being so well marked that some authors 
 have combined them in the same subfamily. The Skunks and 
 Badgers agree in many points of external conformation; in fact, 
 Conepatua majntrito, one of the Skunks, is almost as much of a 
 Badger, to all outward appearance. They are terrestrial ani- 
 mals, of more or less perfected fossorial habits ; the walk is 
 plantigrade; the fore claws are enlarged, straightened, and 
 well fitted for digging. The general form is very stout; tbe 
 legs are short, and the body consequently low ; the tail is more 
 or less bushy, and the whole pelage is loose. The physiognomy 
 is somewhat hog like, especially in the Badgers and in Conepatus, 
 owing to the production and enlargement of the snout. These 
 animals neither climb trees nor swim in the water; their gait 
 is comparatively slow and lumbering ; their retreats are bur- 
 rows in the ground, dens in rocks or logs, or sometimes the 
 shelter aiforded by out-of-the-way nooks in human habitations. 
 Some of the species hibernate. 
 
 Cranial and dental characters. 
 
 There is also a singular cranial character by which the Skunks 
 and Badgers may be collectively distinguished from any other 
 North American Mustelida;. The conduit of the posterior nares 
 is completely separated into right and left passages by a vertical 
 bony septum, which extends to the hind end of the palate. lu 
 all the other Miistelidw treated in this work, the posterior nares 
 are thrown into one channel by total lack, posteriorly, of any 
 such partition. 
 
 Nevertheless, the structural characters of most weight in 
 classification are abundantly sufficient to mark off Mephithw 
 and Melinw as groups differing from each other as much as most 
 other subfamilies of the Mustelidee do. Reference to the tables 
 of characters already given (pp. 7, 8) will show this. Here I 
 may recall some of the leading peculiarities of the Mephitina'. 
 
 The skull of any Skunk may be known at a glance, on com 
 parison with that of any other Musteline animal, by the depth 
 of the emargination between the pterygoids, which is always 
 much greatei than the distance from the end of this emargina- 
 tion to the molars. The post-molar portion of the bouy palate 
 
CRANIAL CHARACTERS OF MEPHITIS.E. 
 
 189 
 
 in Mephites and Sxnlogale is mj/, or almost so ; that is, the palate 
 ends nearly or exactly opposite the posterior border of tho last 
 molar. lu Conepatu8, the palate reaches a little farther back, 
 but still not nearly halfway to the ends of the pterygoids. In 
 other North American Mustelkkv, the palate usually extends 
 half-way or more to the extremities of the pterygoids. The 
 cranium of the Mephitinw is further peculiar in the periotic 
 region. The auditory bulljB themselves are small, and but 
 moderately inflated at the base, with well-marked constriction 
 of a tubular meatus;* while the parts lying behind the bulhi? 
 are nuusually expanded, presenting a flattish and more or less 
 horizontal large surface, which widely separates the paroctip- 
 itai processes from the bullfe.t In Lutrimv and Enhydrina; the 
 paroccipitals are remote from the buUie, but there is no such 
 inflation of the mastoid region as is witnessed in some of the 
 Mephitinw, as in Spilogale, where the swelling of the mastoid 
 cells results in a convexity of the parts only less than that of 
 the bullfe themselves. The anteorbital foramen is remarkably 
 small, circular, canal-like, and occasionally divided into several 
 smaller openings. The postorbital processes are small or 
 obsolete; the postorbital constriction of the skull is compar- 
 atively slight. The glenoid fossa is shallow, presenting much 
 forward as well as downward, and never locks the condyle of 
 the jaw, as so often happens in Melina: The coronoid process 
 of the mandible is variable in Mephitinw, for while in Me2)hitis 
 and Spiloyale it is erect and conical, as usual in Mustelida', in 
 Conepatus it takes a backward slope, and is obtusely falcate, as 
 in Enhydrince. 
 
 The teeth of Mephitina are also diagnostic in the combina- 
 tion of a large quadrate back upper molar with pm. ^ or ^^^^ (the 
 latter formula peculiar to Conepatus, but not always obtaining, 
 even in that genus)4 
 
 The detailed descriptions of the skull and teeth given beyond 
 under heads of the several genera of Mephitinw render further 
 account unnecessary here. I would, however, advert to the 
 extraordinarily high rate of variability inherent in the crania 
 of these animals. In other groups, genera might very well be 
 
 * In Melina, the iuflatiou of the bulhe is at a maximum for the family. 
 tin Melince, and also in JJut)teUn<r, the paroccipitals are close to, or in con- 
 tact with, the bulla;. 
 tMelin.. with pm. ^-, have a perfectly triangular back upper molar: 
 
 3-3 
 
 Lutrhm, with quadrate back upper molar, have pm, 
 
 4-4 
 
 ■i-V 
 
190 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 established upon diflferences which are here nothing but fortu- 
 itous individual Tariations, or even the progressive changes 
 with age during the life of the same individual. A Skunk's 
 skull is as variable in shape as its pelage is in color. (Oominre 
 riate X with XI, or Plate XIII with XIV, and see what ex- 
 traordinary differences skulls of the same species may show.) 
 The general pattern of coloration, and the colors themselves, 
 are likewise diagnostic of this subfamily, as all the species are 
 1)lack and white. 
 
 The anal armature. 
 
 No general sketch, however cursory, of leading features of 
 this subfamily should fail to note the point which renders the 
 Skunks infamous, makes their very name an opprobrious epi- 
 thet, and almost forbids its use in the ordinary conversation of 
 the polite. The matter is so notorious that comment may be 
 confined to the zoological aspects of the case, including a refu- 
 tation of various absurd notions still current among the vulgar. 
 Special interest attaches to the subject, since it seems probable 
 that there is some occult connection between failure of the sup- 
 ply of the fluid and a state of the system in which the saliva 
 of the animals is capable of inoculating a disease similar to 
 hydrophobia. 
 
 It was supposed for many years that the intolerably oflfensive 
 fluid was the animal's urine, voided by an ordinary act of mic- 
 turition, but with malice prepense. Its wide diffusion was 
 sometimes fancied to be secured by means of the bushy tail, 
 which, charged with the liquid, served as a mop to flirt it 
 around. The obvious diflflculties in the way of anatomical in- 
 vestigation long kept the facts in the case concealed. 
 
 The fluid is the secretion of certain glands situated in the 
 perinceum, on each side of the rectum. So far from being pecu- 
 liar to Skunks, similar glands exist throughout the Mustelida;, 
 and are, in fact, among the characteristic structures of the fam- 
 ily. In the Mephitince, however, they reach the maximum of 
 development, and their secretion acquires qualities which make 
 it the most penetrating, diffusible, and intolerable of animal 
 effluvia. The anatomical structure is fully described beyond ; 
 here I need only advert to some leading features. 
 
 Each gland is a secretory sac enveloped with a muscular tunic, 
 and furnished with a duct to convey the secretion ; the orifice 
 
GENERIC SUBDIVISION OF MEPHITIN.K. 
 
 191 
 
 of this duct is u])Ou a papilla, which is situated on the side oi 
 the anus, just withiu the verge. Contraction of the muscular 
 investment comprepses the sac, and causes the fluid to spirt 
 from the anal pore ; the actiou is precisely that of a syringe 
 with compressible bulb. The Skunk is as cleanly as any 
 other animal, and the peculiar actiou observed at the moment 
 of the discharge prevents the wettiug of the fur. Forcible 
 erection of the tail is accompanied by a tension of the periuanim, 
 and an eversion of the anus, most favorable to forcible, unim- 
 peded, and direct evacuation of the contents of the sac. The 
 operation is wholly under the voluntary control of the animal, 
 and seems to be chiefly resorted to in self-defenc;., although 
 there is reason to suppose that the evacuation must recur at 
 intervals simply to avoid over-distension of a continually secret- 
 mg organ with its own products. Ordinarily, however, the 
 iSkunk is not more odorous than maiiy other animals ; it may 
 even be captured, under some circumstances, without provok- 
 ing an emission ; nor do the horrible possibilities of the stench 
 always render the flesh of the animal uneatable. In contem- 
 plating this singular provision of nature for the protection of 
 an otherwise inoft'ensive and almost defenceless creature, we 
 cannot but admire the simplicity of the means employed. Some 
 little further development of glands common to the MusteUda, 
 and some inscrutable modification of the operations of the 
 secretory follicles, which gives a peculiar character to the fluid 
 elaborated, result in means of self-preservation as singular as 
 it is efficacious, habitual reliance upon which changes the 
 economy of the animal aud impresses its whole nature. 
 
 Division of the subfamily into genera. 
 
 There are two strongly marked generic types of the Mephitina;, 
 one of them susceptible of subdivision into two subgenera. In 
 a former paper,* in which the skulls and teeth of the Mephitinm 
 were described, I allowed three full genera, following Dr. Gill jt 
 but I am now rather inclined to consider Spilogale as only a 
 subgenus. It certainly diff'ers much less from M^hitis proper 
 than Conepatus does, and the degree of differentiation seems to 
 me to accord closely with that subsisting, for example, among 
 the subdivisions of the genus Putorins. 
 
 * Bull. U. S. Geol. & Geogr. Surv. Terr. 8d ser. no. 1, 1875, p. li. , 
 t Arrang. Fam. Mamm. 1872,66. 
 
 ■r^ 
 
192 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 I 
 
 The (livisious of Me})hitin(v are expressed iu tbe foUowiug 
 diagnoses: — 
 
 A. Teetb 34; ptii. ^^^. Dorsa! ontline of skull not in one coutiuuons 
 
 curve. End of muzzle truncate vertically, or with little obliquity. 
 Palate euding opposite Inst molar (more or less exactly). (Periotic 
 region varyinfj with the subgenera.) Corouoid process of Jaw coni- 
 caf, erect, its fore aud hind borders converging to a vertical apex in 
 advance of condyle. Angle of mandible not exflected. Snout not 
 notably produced nor depressed. Nostrils lateral. Tail very long 
 and very bushy. Soles comparatively narrow, hairy at least in part. 
 North, Middle, but probably not South Americau. Gtxtta Mephitis.* 
 
 a. Skull not depressed, the dorsal outline irregularly convex, highest 
 
 over the orbits. Zygomata moderately arched upward, highest be- 
 hind. Postorbital processes usually obsolete. Mastoid processes 
 tlaring strongly outward, much beyond orifice of meatus. Periotic 
 region not particularly indated. Size large. Colors massed in large 
 areas Snhg. Mephitin. 
 
 b. Skull depressed, the dorsal outline approaching straightuess, particu- 
 
 larly over the orbits. Zygomata strongly arched upward, highest in 
 the middle. Postorbital processes well developed. Mastoid pro- 
 cesses slight, scarcely produced beyond orifice of meatus. Periotic 
 region peculiarly intlated by development of mastoid sinuses, the 
 under surface swolleu, and giving a quasi appearance of a second 
 bulla anditoria behind the real one Suhg. SpilogaleA 
 
 B. Teeth normally 32; pm. |7 3 > sometimes, however, ~y, from presence of an 
 
 additional minute premolar,t corresponding to the anterior one of Mc 
 phitia. Dorsal outline of skull one contiDuons curve, more or less 
 regular, from occipital protuberance to ends of premaxillaries, owing 
 to the great obliquity of truncation of the end of the rostrum, which 
 brings the profile of nasal orifice into line with that of the forehead ; 
 skull highest in parietiil region. Palate produced decidedly past the 
 last molars, yet not half-way to ends of pterygoids. Periotic region 
 much as in Meplniia proper, but the mastoids rather as in Spilogale, 
 projecting more downward than outward. Postorbital processes 
 usually obsolete. Zygomata slightly arched upward. Coronoid pro- 
 cess of jaw sloping backward, obtusely falcate, with convex anterior 
 and concave posterior margin, the apex nearly overtopping condyle. 
 Angle of the mandible strongly exflected. Of large size, extremely 
 stout form, and somewhat Badger-like appearance. Snout strongly 
 produced, depressed. Nostrils inferior. Tail short and little busby 
 (for this subfamily). Soles very broad, entirely naked. Coloration 
 massed in large areas. South, Middle, and (scarcely) North Ameri- 
 can Genus CoNEPATUS.iJ 
 
 ' Etym. — Lat. mephitis, a foul or noxious exhalation. 
 
 t Etym. — Greek am}.og, a spot; }n?.r), a kind of Weasel. 
 
 t The anterior lower premolar is said to be sometimes wanting. 
 
 $ A barbarous word, like many other of J. £. Gray's genera, derived from 
 Gonepatl or Conepate, the name of the animal in the vernacular (probably 
 Mexican) of countries it inhabits. 
 
MEPIIITES PKONTATA (fOSSIL.) 193 
 
 Note on fossil North Anierioan species of Mephitis. 
 
 Mephitla fronlnta, Ootiet. 
 
 MephiliN frontata, aoue», Bull. n. S. Gool. aud Gcog. Snrv. Terr. 2d ser. uo. 1, lelTS, 
 7, with woodcut. 
 
 From the bone-caves of Pennsylvania. Post-pliocene. 
 
 Si'KCiKic CHARACTKH8. — SkuU extreinoly high in the middle ; the profile of 
 the npper outline very rapidly descending in a nearly straight line from this 
 point to the occiput and uiuzzlo. Greatest depth of skull without jaw little 
 1<!8H than half its length. Zygoma highly arched; the bone in frout com- 
 pressed vertically instead of laterally. 
 
 This species is founded on a skull, No. 2332 of the Smith- 
 sonian Museum, obtained by Prof. Baird in the bone-caves of 
 Pennsylvania. The animal was a true Mephitis, closely related 
 to M. mephitica, if reallj' different. Though the frontal region is 
 always tumid in Mephitis, there is seen in the recent species 
 nothing like the protuberance and angulation of the vertex of 
 M. frontata. The prominence is also decidedly more posterior ; it 
 is something over and above the general tumidity of the inter- 
 orbital region of recent Mephitis; the shape is rather as in GulOf 
 but even the profile of the latter is here exaggerated. The 
 prominence appears to be mainly due to enlargement of the 
 frontal sinuses, as may be seen in this specimen, in which the 
 outer tablet of the skull is abraded in places, exposing the 
 interior. With this general elevation is associated a notably 
 higher arch of the zygoma, and the malar is slenderer than in 
 recent species at its anterior portion, where it is curiously nar- 
 rowed vertically instead of being laminar throughout. None 
 of these characters obtain in any of the numerous recent skulls 
 examined, notwithstanding the great variability of the latter. 
 The animal was of the size of the common species. The skull 
 in general bulk is intermediate between various specimens of 
 that of M. mephitica. 
 
 Mr. J. A. Allen* takes exception to the specific validity of 
 the species in the following terms : — 
 
 " Dr. Coues has ventured to describe a * new 
 
 species ' {M. frontata), based on a fossil skull from one cf the 
 bone-caves of Pennsylvania, as it seems to me, unadvisedly. 
 The specimen, though that of a very aged individual, is scarcely 
 larger [....] than the average of specimens from the 
 Eastern States, its chief difference from the average skull con- 
 
 * Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr. vol. ii, no. 4, 1W6, p. 333. 
 13 m 
 
 
194 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 .sintiii^ ill an abnormal tumidity of the frontal region, arii^ing 
 evidently from disease. It is a feature by no means confined 
 to the present example, but is merely an extreme enlargement 
 of the sinuses of the frontal region often seen in specimens of 
 the existing animal, evidently resulting from disease. In No. 
 917 (Albany, N. Y.), No. 8099 (Fort Cobb, Ind. T.), No. 1878 
 (Calcasieu Pass, La.), and No. 1G20 (Indianola, Tex.), the same 
 tendency is strongly marked, which, in some of these speci- 
 mens, had they attained equal age, must have resulted in a 
 malformation nearly or quite as great as is seen in the fossil 
 skull in question. 
 
 ^' In this connection, I may add that a pretty careful exam- 
 ination of the fossil remains of Carnrvora, collected by Profes- 
 sor Baird many years since from the bone-caves of Pennsylva- 
 nia (of which thiH fossil skull of the 3kunk forms a part), has 
 failed to show any of them to be specifically different from the 
 species now or recently living in the same region. Many of 
 them are remains of individuals of large size, but not exceed- 
 ing the dimensions of the specimens of the recent animal from 
 the same or contiguous regions. These remains include, among 
 others, the following species : — Lynx rufus, Urocyon virginiamts, 
 Mustela pennanti, Mustela amerieana, Putorius viaon, Lutra cana- 
 dtmis, Mephitis mephitica (other specimens than the ^frontata^ 
 skull), Procyon lotor, Ursm amcricanus, etc." 
 
 Granting that the probabilities are against the validity of 
 the species, it may be observed that the disease theory is not 
 proven, and that no recent specimens of Mephitis have been 
 found to match this one. 
 
 This species, so far as I am aware, is the only fossil Skunk 
 described as such ; but compare antect, p. 18, on the question 
 of " Oalera " perdieida. 
 
 The Genus MEPHITIS. (CuviER.) 
 
 X Viverra «p., of some early aathors. 
 
 < Mephitis, Cuvier, "Lemons 4'Anat. i. 1800" (coextensive with the subfamily), and of 
 
 aathors (generally.— Batrd, M. N. A. 1857, 191. 
 < ChiBChil, Lets. Konv. Tab. K. An. 1843. 
 
 > Spilogalf , Gray, Proo. Zoiil. ttoc. 1865, 150. (Type, 8. interrupta = M. putoriui.) 
 
 > Mephitis, CHll, Arrang. Fani. Mamin. 1872, 66 (restricted to snbg. Mephitis as char- 
 
 acterized in this paper) .—Cowe4, Ball. IT. S. (}eol. Snnr. 3d ser. i. 1875 (same n- 
 striotion). 
 
 For characters, see a preceding page (p. 192). ' 
 The several North American species of Mephitis proper (as 
 restricted to exclude 8pilogale) indicated by authors are re- 
 
 ChliiKa, , 
 
SYNONYMY OP MEPHITIS MEPIIITICA. 
 
 195 
 
 (Incible to one, possibly divisible into two or three geograph- 
 ical races. There is a second Mexican species, apparently 
 valid, which will be brought into the present connection to 
 complete a review of the genus. A fossil species is also de- 
 scribed in the foregoing pages. Mephitis proper and SpHoijalc 
 are both conAned, as far as known, to North and Middle 
 America, Conepatus being the only South American type of 
 McphitinWy but also extending through Middle America to the 
 Mexican border of the United States. 
 
 The Hoiiinioii Skunk. 
 
 Mephitis niopliitlcu. 
 
 Plateh X, XI. 
 (a. mephitica.) 
 
 VIrcrra mephitica, Shaio, Mug. Lovor. 1793, 173, no. 4, pi. 6; Gen. Zo<il. i. IROO, 390, pi. 94, mid- 
 dle fi;:. 
 
 McphUh aephlllca, Bd. M. N. A. 1857, 195.— <7ooi>. rf Suckl N. II. W.T. 1860,94.— //a j/rf. 
 Trans. Am. Pbiloa. Soo. xii. Icl63, IVi.—SamwU, Ninth Ann. Rep. MasB. Agrio. for letll, 
 18C3, IGl.— Oerr.Cat. Bunea Br. Mua. 1863, 97.— A {!«}», Bui I. M.C. Z. i. 1^9, 178; il, 1871, 169 
 (critical).— Alien, Pr.Bost. Soo. xlii. 1869, 183.— Oiipin, Proc. and Tr. N. Scotia Inat. ii. 1870, 
 
 60.— fiftee. U. S. Oeol. Surv. Terr, for 1870, 1871, 481 Parker, Am. Nat. v. 1871, 246 (anal. 
 
 of aual glands, tLC.).—AUtn, Bnl!. Ess. Inst. vi. 1874, 46, 54, 59, 63.— AU«n, Proc. Boat. Soc . 
 xvii. 1874, p. 38.— AmM, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat Sci. 1674, 69.— Oot<«»,Bull.U.S. Oeol. and 
 GooRP. Surv. Terr. 2d ser. no. 1, 1875, 8 (skull and teeth).— Oou«8 <£ Yarrow, Zool. Ezpl. 
 W. 100 Merid. v. 1875, 63.-.AHen, Bull. U. a Geol. Snrv. vol. ii. na 4, 1876, 332 (akall). 
 
 Mephitis Chlnga, Tied. Zool. 1. I8O8, 363 (partly).— £toA(. Darstell. Siiuj;. 1837-34, pi. 45, f. 1 ; 
 Abh. Akad.Wiss. Berl. for 1836, 1838,280.— J/oorim. Reise N. A. i. 1833, 250; Arch. f. 
 
 Naturg. 1861,— ; Verz. N. A. Sang. 1863, i'i.— Wagn. Snppl. Sohreb. ii. 1841, 198 Sehim, 
 
 Syn. i. 1844, 333, no. 13.— Aud. rf Baeh. Q. N. A. 1. 1849, 317, pi. 43.— OiebeJ, SSug. 1855, 766.— 
 Fitiinger, Naturg. Sttag. i. 1861, 315, f. 63. 
 
 Mephitis amerlcana var. K, De»m. Mamm.i. 1820, 186 ("Mugtela", laptu. Includes all the 
 American Slcunks, vara. A — R) ; Nout. Diet xzl. 515 (var. 7). — •/. iSTab. App. Frankl. 
 Jonrn. 1823, 653.— ITarl. Fn. Am. 182.i, 70.— Gri/. An. Kingd. v. 1827, 127, no. 358 (partly). 
 Lets. Man. 1827, 151, no. iW.—Qodm. Am. Nat Hist. i. 1831, 313, pi. - f. l.—Doughty'g (Jab. 
 N. H. ii. 1832, 193, pi. 17. —Rich. Zoiil. Beechey 'a Voy. 1839, 4.— Emmons, Rep. Quad. Mass. 
 1840, 49.— Z)e£^ay,N.T. Znol.i. 1842, 29, pi. 12, f. l.— Wyman, Pr. Boat. Soc. 1844, 110 
 (anat.).— TTarren, Pr.Bost Soo. Hi. 1849, 175(anat).— ITiojnp*. N. H. Vermont, 1853,33.— 
 WoodL Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 4i.—Kenn. Tr. Illinois Agric. Soc. for 1853-4, 1855, 578.—Beeg- 
 ley, Geol. Cape May, 1857, l37.—BiUing$, Canad. Nat and Geol. i. 1857, 360.— 2aU, 
 Canad. Nat. and G«oL vi 1861, 396. 
 
 Mephitis amerieana var. hudsonlca, Rich. F. B.-A. i. 1829, 55, no. 19. 
 
 Chincha amerlcana, 2^«. Nonv. Tabl. R. A. 1842, 67. " 
 
 Mephitis chllicl:e« Piseh. Syn. 1829, 160 (includes other species ; quotes Tiedemann primarily). 
 
 Mephitis Tarlans var. chinga, Oray, P. Z. S. 1865, 148 ; Cat Cam. Br. Mas. 1869, — . 
 
 t'hinche, Shaw, I. c—Qeoff. <£ Ouv. " Hist Mamm. ii. 1819, — , pi. —(Louisiana)." 
 
 .Mephltic Weesel, Shaw, Mas. Lever. 
 
 Ouinesque, Sag.-thiod. Hist Canad. 1636, 748 (ed. of 1866, ill. 680). 
 
 Enfan du Diabie, CAarlev. N. France, V, 1744, 196. ' ''' 
 
 Polecat, JTolm, Yoy. ,452. 
 
 Siinnli, Font. PhiL Trans. Ixil. 1773, 374.— Penn. Arct Zool. 1. 1784, 85, no. 33.— flear. ^owm. 
 , 377. 
 
 Chinga, <ScA<n2, 1. & * 
 
 
 tft f 
 
 >j 
 
 .- 
 
 
 
196 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Mourctie d'AitiCrlqiic, Le»». ftc. &c. 
 l<'l!«kKlla, Swedish. > 
 
 Itfte puiinf*', French, 
 >4(iiikthter, Oermaiu 
 
 (Ii. mesonielns.) 
 
 Mcphi(lf)ine8ompiai4,/>tc/iM)nr8t. KSHug. 1827-34, pi. 55, f.2; Abh.Ak.Wiss. Bcrl. for 18.')6,183S, 
 277.— .Vrt«m. Keise, i. 1S39, 240; Arch. NaturK. xxvii. 1861, 218 j Verz. N. A. Siing. 1862, 
 ■iC,.—iichi>u,Syn. i. 1844, 32*2, uo. li.— St. Hil. Zool.Voy. V6nu», i. 1855, 133, pi. —.—Bd. M. 
 >'. \. 1857, laa (alter Licht.). 
 
 Mephitis mesomoles, Oerr. Cat. Bones Hr. Mu». If'fi2, 97. 
 
 Mephili»orri<lentallS,£(I. M. N. A. 1857, \U.—Nowb. V. R. U. Rep. vl. 1857, 44.— Coop. <« Suck. 
 K.n.AV.T. 1860, 116. 
 
 Mepliltis meplillica imr. orcldcntails, Mernam, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr, for 1872, 1873, 662. 
 
 Mepliitis varians txcr. a, Oray, P. Z. S, 18(>5, 148 ; Cat. Carn. lir. Miia. 1869, — . 
 
 (e. varians.) 
 
 Mepliltis varlans. Gray, Mag. N. II. i. 837, SSI.— Oray, List Maram. Br. Mas. 1843, 6S.—Bd. M. 
 
 N. A. IMV, 193; Mox. B. Surv. ii. pt. ii, 18.'>9, Maiiiiii. VJ.—Gen: Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 1862, 
 
 97.-<}roj/, P. Z. S. 186!), 148 ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mns. 1869, — . 
 Mcphilis mnrroiira, Aud. a Jtach. q. K. A. ill. 1853, 11, pi. 102.— Woodh. Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 44. 
 
 (But not of Liolitoustbin.) 
 
 Hab. — Eutiro temperate North America. North to Hiidsou'a Bay and Great 
 Slave Lake. South into Mexico (Matamoras, Monterey). 
 
 Spkcikic ciiAKACTKits. — Black or blackish ; a frontal streak, nuchal spot, 
 and two dorsal stripes white; tail black, more or less mixed with white or 
 white-tipped. Tail with hairs not as long as head and body ; the vertebnu 
 about iialf this dimension. Length from nose to root of tail over one loot ; 
 8ules about 2lt inches. 
 
 Description of external characters.* 
 
 The Skunk is a stoutly built animal, with a small head, low 
 ears, and short limbs, the trunk thick-set and especially large 
 behind, the back naturally arched as well as broad ; tail long 
 and very bushy. The head is pointedly couoidal, with a con- 
 vex frontal profile and sloping occiput ; there is little of tiie 
 breadth and depression characteristic of the Weasels, the 
 regular conoid being nearly expressed. The eye is small, and 
 nearer the nose than ear. The nasal pad is of considerable size, 
 and protuberant, definitely naked for a closely circumscribed 
 area, the outline nearly circular; the face of the muffle is bevelled 
 a little obliquely downward aud backward; the nostrils are 
 chiefly lateial, but their anterior extremity is visible from the 
 front. The ears are low, though the piuua is decidedly better 
 developed than in Conepatus ; the general set of the conch is 
 rather bfickward than upward, as its anterior extremity is 
 inserted little below the highest point of the brim ; the contour 
 
 * From a large series of specimens in the Smithsonian Institution from 
 various portions of North America. 
 
"'u 
 
 EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OP MEPHITIS MEPHITICA. 197 
 
 of the free edge is nearly orbicnlar, with, however, a slight 
 obtuse angulation. The feet are not so broad and flat as in 
 Conepatus, yet they show large plantar and palmar surfaces. 
 These are usually naked, except for a varying distance behind ; 
 the soles, in particular, being generally hairy for about a third 
 way from the heel. The palms present behind, just in advance 
 of the wrist, a padded prominence, more or loss completely 
 divided lengthwise; in advance of this is a crosswise depres- 
 sion ; at the bases of the digits is a cresocptic padded area, 
 divided more or less evidently in different specimens into three 
 or four smaller pjnls. This divisiou is sometimes very evident, 
 the lines of impression being deep and sharp ; in other cases, 
 little more than a general horseshoe-shaped padded area is 
 recognizable. There is u) constancy about this ; and the differ- 
 ence which has been claimed between Mephitis and SinloQah 
 cannot be satisfactorily substantiated. The digits are short — 
 in fact, they are exceeded in length by the longer ones of the 
 claws they bear. Of these, the third and fourth are sube<iual 
 and longest, the second is little shorter, the lifth reaches hardly 
 half-way along the fourth, and the first scarcely attains the 
 base of the second. The middle three claws are very long, 
 strong, compressed, little curved, acute and fossorial in cliar- 
 acter; the lateral ones are shorter, stouter for their length, and 
 more curved. The claws of the hind feet are quite different, 
 being all short, stout, and obtuse, and covered with hairs ; the 
 middle three are approximatetly equal in length, the fifth is 
 much shorter, and the drst falls short of the base of the second. 
 The naked part of the sole presents a general broad flat area 
 behind, succeeded by an irregular depression, and this by the 
 padding at the bases of the toes, which is imperfectly divided 
 into three. The terminal balls of the toes almost immediately 
 succeed, these digits being very short and extensively connected 
 together. 
 
 The tail of the Skunk is remarkably bushy, with long harsh 
 coarse hairs, almost like a kind of tow. Tlie hairs are loose 
 and flaccid, their '*set" depending in a great measure upon the 
 inov^ements or position of the member. In the bushiest-tailed 
 examples, the hairs fall loosely all around when the tail is ele- 
 vated, like the plumes of a pompdn,as well represented in Audu- 
 bon's plate of his so-called ^^maorvra^'' {neo Licht). lu other 
 cases, the set of the hairs is more stable. No distichous arrange- 
 ment is recognizable. There is no fine under fur on the tail. 
 
 
 '' 
 
 iili 
 
 hi 
 
 
 

 198 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 1 1 
 1 1 
 
 The haira of the tail which are entirely white (all are usually 
 white basally) are somewhat diflferent in texture from the rest, 
 being even coarser and looser. They appear at the end of the 
 tail in a white tuft that seems to have little connection with the 
 general pelage, and may be early deciduous; or, more curiously, 
 they grow irregularly in various places along the tail, in some- 
 what isolated fascicles. These singular little bundles are also 
 likely to exceed the rest in length, measuring sometimes seven 
 or eight inches in length. Even without taking these into 
 consideration, the bushiness of the tail is sometimes so great 
 that the width when the hairs are extended sideways rather 
 exceeds the total length. The strictly terminal hairs of the 
 tail are ordinarily not so lo;ig as soine of those along the sides. 
 Notwithstanding the endless diversity in the extent and de- 
 tails of the white marking, a certain pattern may be indicated 
 as one of reasonable constancy. This is essentially a sharp, 
 narrow, frontal stripe, and a broad nuchal area, from which 
 last proceed obliquely backward a pair of stripes toward or to 
 the tail, continued or not upon this member, and whiteness, to 
 a greater or less extent, of nearly all the hairs of the tail at 
 base, even when this member is blackest and least bushy. I 
 have not found the frontal stripe either wholly wanting {Cone- 
 pattts) or enlarged into a 8i>ot {Spilogale); but it varies from a 
 mere trace to a long streak continuous with the nuchal area, 
 and, doubt'ess, sometimes fails altogether. This last is usually 
 a large spot, beginning squarely and broadly on the occiput in 
 a line between the ears. From the back of it, the two oblique 
 stripes may immediately diverge, forming a V, or it may con- 
 tinue for a considerable distance as a single median stripe be- 
 fore forking into two. The nuchal spot may be again entirely 
 disconnected with the dorsal stripes (rare), or may be broken 
 up into a pair of spots ; i. e., the dorsal stripe extended sepa- 
 rately on to the nape. The dorsal stripes may extend scarcely 
 any distance beyond the nape; i. e., may be represented by 
 only a slight prolongation of a pair of nuchal spots. They may 
 start over the shoulders independently of the white nuchal 
 area. Ordinarily, they reach, widely divergent, more than half- 
 way along the back ; again, they are more nearly parallel, and 
 reach to the tail. They may curve toward each other over the 
 flanks, and even meet there, then completely enclosing an oval 
 vertebral area ; or may be interrupted to resume again. They 
 may extend along either side of the tail, in such cases ordina- 
 rily being broken into the curious isolated fascicles of white 
 
EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF MEPHITIS MEPHITICA. 199 
 
 bairs already described, but beiug sometimes continuous, when 
 the tail is mostly white. In the blackest tails seen, there is 
 always more or less white on the bases of the hairs. 
 
 Tlie foregoing may indicate the genera! range of variation 
 in color. Reference to Audubon's figures of this species and 
 his supposed "wa^nfra" will give a fair idea of two conditions 
 very nearly extreme. I have never seen an entirely black 
 Skunk, but in some specimens before me the white is reduced 
 to such mere traces that I have no doubt it may occasionally 
 disappear, as i« stated by some. One young specimen has the 
 entire upper half of the body pure white, as in the strongest 
 cases of Gonepatiis, except a slight emargination from behind, 
 just at the root of the tail. Fully aware, as I am, of the end- 
 less variability, even in individuals belonging to the same 
 litter, I am satisfied that there is nevertheless .^ tendency, 
 generally well expressed, to increase of white, in a measure 
 according to certain geographical areas. An average in this 
 respect is the rule in the Eastern and Middle States, where we 
 have a fair frontal stripe and nuchal area sending out obliquely 
 stripes which do not reach the tail, this being black, only white 
 Jit the end or among the roots of the hairs. In Florida and the 
 South Atlantic and Gulf States generally, the white is at a 
 niinimum,frontalstripea mere trace,nuchal spot small or broken 
 in two, and the stripes almost wanting. Throughout the West, 
 and in British America even as far east as Hudson's Bay, pro- 
 longation of the lateral stripes to the tail, or on this member to its 
 end, is the rule; and the stripes do not usually at once diverge 
 from the nuchal spot, but more gradually separate from a single 
 vertebral stripe, into which tlie nuchal spot is prolonged. As- 
 sociated with such a condition of the white, we find, almost 
 invariably, in the western forms, a much bushier tail, its width 
 across equalling or even exceeding its total length. Such cases 
 as these, in their minor diversities, have furnished the meso- 
 melaa of Lichtensteiu, varians of Gray, occulentalia of Baird, 
 and ^^maeroura^^ of Audubon. The figure ot the last named 
 represents an extreme of white, with length and bushiness of 
 tail, and might readily be mistaken, as it was, for the altogether 
 different M. maorura of Lichtensteiu. 
 
 Independently of the size of the tail, we may observe a gen- 
 eral decrease in stature with latitude. Floridau specimens are 
 notably smaller than those from New England, some, appar- 
 ently full-grown, being little larger than Spilogale at its maxi- 
 mum, about thirteen or fourteen inches long. 
 
 iLi 
 
 
 
 1 • .•■.-.? 
 
200 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Descrijition of the skull and teeth. {See PUitea X, XI.) 
 
 The cranium of no tnal with which I am acquainted 
 varies more than that the Skunk, and few exhibit such re- 
 markable differences, i.alependently of age and sex. Some 
 specimens are more than a fourth larger than others, and 
 twice as heavy; and there is a corresponding range of varia- 
 tion in contour. Compared with an ordinary ratio of osteo- 
 logical variability, the discrepancies are almost on a par with 
 those exhibited by the coloration of the animal when set over 
 against the more constant markings of most animals. In the 
 eries of twenty or thirty skulls examined, I find that the 
 western ones, and especially those from the Pacific coast, 
 representing occidentalis of Baird, are, as a rule, larger and 
 heavier than others, more widened and flattened behind, with 
 stronger and more flaring sagittal and especially occipital 
 crests. But these extremes shade insensibly into an ordinary 
 pattern, and I. can draw no dividing line. Tables of meas- 
 urements would show^ these variations, though they would 
 scarcely render that realizing sense of the discrepancies that 
 is gained by laying the two extremes side by side. An average 
 cranium. No. 381G, from New York, is selected for doscripiion, 
 in the course of which the variations of the whole senes w;d 
 be brought under review. 
 
 The greatest zygomatic width is to the length as I to 1.55, 
 or slightly less than two-thirds such length. A similar pro- 
 portion is generally preserved. Viewed from above, the cra- 
 nium presents a short, tumid, rostral portion, higli at the nose, 
 tapering ou sither side, but with a protuberance indicating the 
 course of the canine tooth in the bone, subtruncate in front, 
 with large subcircular nasal aperture, in this view much fore- 
 shortened. The rostrum is about a third of the whole length, 
 if measured from extreme front to anterior root of zygoma ; 
 the zygoma, and then the rest of the skull, being respectively 
 another third. In other skulls, the rostrum is shorter than 
 this, and less vaulted. The general convexity of the rostrum 
 continues on to the forehead in the broad, smooth, interorbital 
 space. Supraorbital processes are very slight, being only indi- 
 cated in a little bulging at the front, where the anterior forks 
 of the sagittal crest come to the brim of the orbit. There is 
 thus scarcely any definition of the orbit from the general tem- 
 poral fossa. The point of greatest constriction of the skull is 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OF MEPHITIS MEFHITICA. 
 
 201 
 
 considerably behind the supraorbital process, just about half- 
 way from end of rostrum to occiput, and opposite the apex of 
 the mandibular coronoid, when the jaw is closed. It is a 
 gradual pinching- together of the sides of the cranium for some 
 distance, rather than an abrupt constriction at a particular 
 point. It is sometimes unsym metrical, one side being more 
 emarginate than the other; is sometimes scarcely narrower 
 than the interorbital space, sometimes about three-fourths as 
 'Tiuch. Back of this point, the skull widens rapidly to the 
 hinder root of the zygoma and mastoid ; the latter being the 
 broadest point of the skull proper, separated from the former 
 by an emargination, in which lies the opening of the meatus 
 auditorius, not visible from above. From each mastoid, the 
 skull narrows in an approximately straight line backward and 
 upward for a distance, and then ends with a straight-across 
 contour, more or less emarginate on the median line. This 
 whole posterior boundary, representing the lambdoidal crest, 
 is extremely variable, not only according to age, but fortui- 
 tously. In some skulls — those with the broadest back part and 
 most flaring occipital crest — there is a deep emargination m 
 the middle line of the skull, boldly salient angles on either 
 side of this, and a concave outline thence to the mastoid. 
 This occipital flange hides all the parts beneath it. For the 
 rest, the top of the skull shows a sagittal crest (only in very 
 young skulls a raised tablet), well marked in all but young ex- 
 amples, forking anteriorly (at or a little in advance of the point 
 of greatest constriction) to send a curved leg outward to either 
 supraorbital process. Aside from this crest and the occipital 
 one, the general cranial surface is vaulted. The zygomatic 
 arches, viewed above, show the point of widest divergence near 
 their posterior roots, whence they gradually and regularly con- 
 verge forward with slight curve. 
 
 Viewed in profile, the skull shows its highest point at the 
 interorbital space, whence it^^ slopes gradually with a general 
 slight convexity to the ^juzzle and occipital protuberance. 
 This highest point is generally a little, sometimes decidedly, in 
 advance of the middle of the skull. The frontal profile may 
 acquire a slight concavity, and the opposite one may be 
 slightly sinuous, owing to irregularity of the sagittal crest. 
 The muzzle is cut squarely off, with an obliquity of perhaps 30 
 degrees from the perpendicular. The zygoma shows but a 
 slight upward arch, and no bevelling or special curve to define 
 
 if' 
 
202 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 the portion of the orbit which it represents. It is laminar, 
 narrowing midway, stoutest near posterior root. The ante- 
 orbital foramen* is a short perforation of a, thin upper plate of 
 its anterior root; behind, the glenoid fossa presents rather for- 
 ward than downward. The prominent orifice of the meatus 
 presents laterally between the root of the zygoma and the 
 mastoid, which latter is a protuberant but bluut process imme- 
 diately behind the meatus. Behind this, there is an emargi- 
 nation, terminated by the prominent downward-projecting par- 
 occipital; back of this, the semicircular outline, foreshortened, 
 of the occipital condyle appears. 
 
 The back of the skull is a subtriangular face, flat and 
 perpendicular in general superficies, bounded above by the 
 overhanging sagittal crest; either lateral corner being the 
 prominent paroccipital, between which appear the faces of the 
 oblique condyles, the upper border of the foramen being trans- 
 verse with a slight curve. 
 
 The skull from below shows a broad, flat, palatal surface for 
 about two-fifths of its total length. The palate ends about 
 opposite, or a little back of, the posterior molars. This terminal 
 shelf, representing the emargination between the pterygoids, is 
 always broad and quite transverse ; but the edge varies greatly 
 in detail. It is commonly transverse, with a small median, 
 backwardly-projecting point, producing a double emargination. 
 It may be simply a broad curve, or it may present a median 
 nick. The latter case is oftenest observed in specimens from 
 the West, and constituted a chief character upon which M. 
 occidentalis rested ; but, with a larger series than Prof. Baird 
 examined, it is shown to be wholly fortuitous. The general 
 shape of the palate is triangular; including the teeth, its great- 
 est width behind is about as much as its length; anteriorly, 
 it presents broad but short incisive foramina, scarcely reaching 
 opposite the molars. The depth of the pterygoid emargina- 
 tion is considerably less than the length of the palate. The 
 pterygoids are simply laminar, with strongly hamulate ends. 
 They are usually parallel, but sometimes converge a little poste- 
 riorly, making the inclosed space club-shaped. The general sur- 
 face of the base of the skull behind is quite flat, owing to slight 
 
 *A8 a carious but not very iufrequent anomaly, this foramen is aome- 
 times divided into several separate canals, through which branches of the 
 faciiil nerve pass out apart fiom each other, 
 thins in Conepatus. 
 
 I have observed the same 
 
1 
 
 SKULL AND TEETH OF MEPHITIS MEPHITICA. 
 
 203 
 
 inflatiou of the bullae. These are decidedly convex only at one 
 place, interiorly, elsewhere flat, and outwardly produced to 
 foi'n a tubular meatus. Traces of separation from surrounding 
 parts long persist, at least in front. About the buUre are seen 
 the following foramina: one iu advance, just inside the glenoid 
 fossa ; two at the anterior extremity of the bulla ; three along 
 its inner border; one more exterior, near the mastoid; one far 
 posterior, in the occipital. The basi-sphenoid suture, early 
 obliterated, is straightly transverse in advance of the middle 
 of the bullae. The general basilar area is flat, narrowing for- 
 ward, unmarked, or with merely a slight median ridge. The 
 border of the foramen magnum represents a deep emargination 
 of the posterior border of this area, with the condylar protuber- 
 ance on either side. 
 
 All the bones of the skull finally coossify, excepting, of course, 
 the mandible, and most are joined at a comparatively early age. 
 The periotic and internasal sutures persist the longest; the 
 latter after the nasals are consolidated with the maxillaries, and 
 the former after the basi-spheno-occipital suture is obliterated. 
 When found separate, the nasals are seen to be regularly con- 
 cave along their exterior border, truncate anteriorly, with a 
 produced anterolateral corner, and received by a pointed pro- 
 cess in a recess of the frontal. The intermaxillary bone forms 
 less thai) half of the general naso-maxillary suture. The max- 
 illary ei cCnds within a short distance of the supraorbital pro- 
 tuberance. The malar is rather small, and fuses early with the 
 rest of the zygomatic arch. The occipital bone is rather late to 
 coossify; the supraoccipital is then seen to represent most of 
 the lambdoidal crest, reaching, on either hand, from the median 
 line half-way to the mastoid process ; thence crossing this crest 
 to the paroccipital, whence the suture runs on the floor of the 
 skull along the border of the periotic by the foramen lacerum 
 posterius to the basi-sphenoid ; thence straight across the me- 
 dian line. 
 
 The lower jaw in MepMtince is never locked, as far as known, 
 in the glenoid by the clasping of the condyle in the embrace of 
 the fossa, as is the rule, in adult life, in Melea and in Taoei- 
 dea, and as sometimes occurs in the Otters {Lutrin(B). The 
 ramus of the mandible is stout and nearly straight along the 
 tooth-bearing portion ; the symphysis is thick, short, abruptly 
 ascending obliquely forward. Between the ramus proper and 
 the angle of the jaw, the lower border is decidedly emarginatet 
 
 ;! '«;; 
 
 
204 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 and the angle itself is scarcely or not at all exflected (cf. Cone- 
 patus). The angle itself is obtuse, and there is a decided neck 
 in the oatline thence to the condyle. The condyle is horizontal, 
 transverse, very narrow, and acute internally; on the onter 
 half, its articular surface looks upward ; on the inner half, 
 backward. The coronoid process rises straight and high, nearly 
 uniformly tapering to the apex, a perpendicular from which 
 falls decidedly in advance of the condyle (cf. Conepattis). The 
 general muscular impression on its outer face is well marked. 
 It is pointed below, and reaches forward on the ramus to a point 
 underneath the last lower molar (cf. Conepatus).. 
 
 As remarked under the head of Gonejyatus, the dental formula 
 of the genera of Mephitince does not, in point of fact, differ. 
 The difference is nil as betweeii Mephitis and Spilogale, while in 
 Conepatus a supposed lesser number of teeth is only true in the 
 very small size of the abortive, deciduous, or, at any rate, not 
 functionally developed anterior upper premolar. In Mephitis, 
 also, the tooth may be very small, or even abortive, on one or 
 both sides of the jaw : it is, however, normally present and 
 readily recognizable. 
 
 Selecting an average skull, of middle age, with fully devel- 
 oped, yet little-worn, dentition (for in very old skulls the teeth 
 are so ground down as not to furnish fair characters), we ob- 
 serve the following points : — 
 
 The back upper molar is the largest of the grinders, about as 
 long as broad, quadrate, with rounded inner corners, and en- 
 tirely tuberculous. It is completely divided across lengthwise 
 by a sulcus, on the outer side of which is a narrow portion, much 
 higher than the broad inner portion, and separated from it not 
 only by the groove across the face of the tooth, but by a nick 
 in the hinder border. This elevated outer moiety is oblique on 
 its face from the general level of the dentition ; it runs to a 
 point at its fore and hind ends, and has a central, slightly exca- 
 vated field, with irregular-raised boundai:y. The flatter inner 
 moiety of the tooth is chiefly occupied by a large antero-internal 
 tubercle, separated by a curved sulcus from a posterior raised 
 margin. The next tooth — back premolar — differs altogether 
 from the same flesh-tooth in the Mustelince. It is relatively 
 smaller, and has not a prominent isolated antero-internal fang. 
 On the contrary, it is triangular in general outline, the inner 
 corner of the triangle representing the fang of the Mustelince 
 just named; this is cuspidate, but this whole inner moiety is 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OF MEPHITIS MEPHITICA. 
 
 205 
 
 low and " tuberculous " in comparison jvith the elevated and 
 truly sectorial character of the rest of the tooth ; for, viewed in 
 l)roflle from the outside, the tooth seems wholly sectorial, with 
 two cusps, an anterior, produced, acute one, and a posterior, 
 shorter and obtuse, separated from the other by an acute re- 
 entrance. Taken together, these two external cusps make the 
 trenchant edge of the tooth. The next premolar is immediately 
 and very markedly reduced in size ; it is a small, simple, two- 
 rooted, conical, acute cusp; with a slight posterior **heeP and 
 well-marked cinguhira on the inner side. The next — anterior — 
 premolar is exactly like the foregoing,, but very much smaller 
 still, and single-rooted ; it sometimes aborts. In very old skulls, 
 the foregoing descriptions can hardly be verified. The back 
 molar wears down to a perfectly smooth face, with raised inner 
 and outer borders; the flesh-tooth loses its edge and inner cusp, 
 and becomes almost tuberculous throughout; the other pre- 
 molars become mere stumps. The canines ofifer no points for 
 remark. Of the upper incisors, the lateral pair is much larger 
 than the rest, though not longer. I fail to appreciate any tan- 
 gible difference in this respect between Conepatus and Mephitis. 
 The tips of the teeth all fall in the same line; they are even and 
 regular; the ends are obscurely lobate. These teeth start from 
 the sockets quite obliquely, but soon turn perpendicularly down- 
 ward, with an appreciable elbow. 
 
 In the lower jaw, the back molar, as usual, is small, simple, 
 circular, single-rooted, with a central depression and irregu- 
 larly raised margin. The next molar is much the largest of the 
 series, and very notably different from the same tooth in Miis- 
 telince. It is fairly sectorial throughout; for the back portion, 
 though lower than the rest, is decidedly of the same character 
 as the other part. This tooth consists of five cusps : a posterior 
 pair, side by side, inner and outer, of equal size and similar 
 shape; a middle pair, side by side, the outer of which is larger 
 and sharper than the inner ; and a single anterior cusp. The 
 latter forms, with the exterior middle cusp, the main trenchant 
 edge of the tooth. The interior middle cusp is a higher devel- 
 opment of the "heel", more or less prominent on the inner face 
 of the main cusp of the Musteline tooth. The posterior pair of 
 cusps is the low tuberculous part of the tooth in MmtelincB. 
 The first premolar from behind is a simple conical cusp, two- 
 rooted, with evident heels, both before and behind, and a well- 
 marked cingulum. The next tooth is similar, but smaller, with 
 
 ■ -f : 
 
206 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 less of a girdle, and scarcely an anterior heel. The anterior pre- 
 molar is like the last, but smaller still, and single-rooted. I 
 have not seen its abortion. In very old skulls, the two molars 
 become ground almost perfectly flat, and the premolars become 
 stubby cones. The lower canines are shorter, relatively stouter, 
 and more curved than the upper ones ; there is usually quite 
 an elbow at the point of greatest curve. The inferior incisors 
 are more nearly of a size than is usual in Mu8telina\ and more 
 regular, i. «., none are crowded out of the general plane ; but 
 this is a matter of degree only. The outer pair is larger than 
 the rest ; viewed from the front, they widen from base to tip, 
 and the apex is emarginate. The next pair sets a little back 
 from the general plane ; for, though their faces are generally 
 quite flush with the others, yet their greater thickness causes 
 them to protrude behind. All the under incisors are approxi- 
 mately of one length. The cutting edge of the outer pair is 
 oblique; of the others, horizontal. The cutting edge of the 
 outer pair is nicked, as already said, and the front faces of the 
 rest are marked by a sulcus ending in a slight bilobation of their 
 cutting edges. 
 
 Variation in the skull with siiecial reference to geographical distri- 
 bution. 
 
 Having already called attention to this matter in a general 
 way, I cannot do better than continue the subject with Mr. J. 
 A. Allen's tables of measurements and critical comment, which 
 set forth the subject in more precise detail:* — 
 
 " The twenty-nine skulls of this species of which measure- 
 ments are given below show a wide range of variation in size, 
 and a decided decrease southward. The localities embrace such 
 distant points as California and the Atlantic seaboard on the 
 one hand, and Maine and Texas on the other ; but, with one or 
 two exceptions, the specimens from any single locality are un- 
 satisfactorily few. The specimens range in length from 2.60 to 
 3.50, and in width from 1.60 to 2.25 ! Yet there is not a speci- 
 men included in the series that is not so old as to have all the 
 cranial sutures obliterated. A portion of the difference is doubt- 
 less sexual, but the specimens, unfortunately, have not the sex 
 indicated. Ten of the specimens may be considered as western, 
 coming mainly from Utah and California ; ten others are from 
 
 • Ball. U. S. Geol. and Gteog. Sarv. Terr. vol. ii. no. 4, 1876, pp. 332-334. 
 
CRANIAL VARIATION IN MEPHITIS MEPHITICA. 
 
 207 
 
 Maine mid Massachusetts, and one from Northeastern New 
 York ; three are from Pennsylvania ; and of the remaining five, 
 four are from Texas, and one from Louisiana. The western 
 series of ten average 3.10 in length and 1.95 in width, ranging 
 in length from 2.85 to 3.50 and in width from 1.70 to 2.25. The 
 New England series of ten average 2.88 in length and 1.72 in 
 width, ranging in length from 2.70 to 3.25 and in width from 
 1.53 to 1.85. The single New York specimen scarcely varies 
 from the average of the New England series, while the Penn- 
 sylvania specimens fall a little below. The five southern speci- 
 mens average 2.73 in length, or a little below the New England 
 series, ranging in length from 2.G0 to 2.90.* 
 
 " It thus appears that the western specimens are decidedly 
 the largest of all, and that the northern are somewhat larger 
 than the southern, the specimens compared being of correspond- 
 ing ages, though of unknown sex, but doubtless comparable in 
 this respect also. 
 
 *'The difference in size amounts to above one-fourth the size 
 of the largest specimen and above one- third the size of the 
 smallest. Between the western and southern series, the aver- 
 age difference amounts to one-third of the average size of the 
 larger series! The western series includes the so-called Me- 
 pliitia occidentalis of Baird, based on California specimens, and 
 whose chief difference is merely that of larger size ; yet the 
 four specimens from Ogden, Utah (GoU.Mus. Oomp. Zool.), con- 
 siderably excelled in size the three from California. The south- 
 ern series represents the so-called M. variana of Gray and Baird. 
 
 "The unsatisfactory character of the several species of North 
 American Skunks of the mephitica group, and the wide range 
 of color-variation among individuals from the same locality, I 
 have previously had occasion to notice, t and a re-examination 
 of the subject confirms the conclusions then announced, which, 
 I am happy to find, have recently received the support of Dr. 
 Coues, who has lately made a study of this group.j; As Dr. 
 Coues has remarked, and as the subjoined measurements show, 
 few species of animals vary so much in size and in cranial char- 
 acters as the present, independently even of sex and age. iSome 
 
 * " The range in vridth ia not fairly indicated, owing to two of the smaller 
 
 specimena being imperfect." 
 t " See Bull. Mua. Comp. Zotil. vol. i. pp. 178-181, Oct. 1869." 
 t " Bull. U. S. Greol. and Geog. Sarv. of the Territories, vol. i. no. 1, pp. 7-15, 
 
 1875." 
 
 
 
 iuti' 
 
 '• ,11 
 
 f'" 
 
208 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.T!. 
 
 Pi 
 
 lili 
 
 specimens are not only more than one-fourth larger than others, 
 but Hhere is a corresponding range of variation in contour. 
 Compared with an ordinary ratio of osteological variability,' 
 says Dr. Coues, *the discrepancies are almost on a par with 
 those exhibited by the coloration of the animal when set over 
 against the more constant markings of most animals.' 
 
 " Meaaitremenfa of twenty-nine skulls o/Mki'IIITIS MEriiiTiCA. 
 
 II 
 
 55 
 
 Locality. 
 
 1 
 
 3.30 
 3.08 
 3.93 
 3.85 
 3.13 
 3.50 
 
 a 10 
 
 3.98 
 3,15 
 3.96 
 3.35 
 3.00 
 2.87 
 2.85 
 3.00 
 3.70 
 3.87 
 3.70 
 3.75 
 3.73 
 3.88 
 3.90 
 2.87 
 3.60 
 3.80 
 2.60 
 2.68 
 3.90 
 2.68 
 
 1 
 
 3.07 
 3.04 
 1.70 
 
 i.'87' 
 3.35 
 1.90 
 1.85 
 3. 0,5 
 1.78 
 
 i.'ss' 
 
 1.75 
 1.73 
 1.75 
 1.70 
 1.78 
 1.53 
 
 i."76' 
 
 1.78 
 
 i.'es' 
 
 1.78 
 
 i.'eo' 
 
 1.90 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 3617 
 
 Petalama, Ual 
 
 
 
 3371 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 3434 
 
 Port Townsend, Oreg 
 
 
 
 4105 
 
 Fort Crook, Cal 
 
 
 
 417 
 
 Ogden, Ut.il 
 
 
 
 419 
 
 
 
 Very old. 
 
 416 
 
 do 
 
 
 418 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 10008 
 
 Wyominit Territory 
 
 
 . 
 
 3327 
 
 Fort Laramie 
 
 
 
 575 
 
 Upton, Me 
 
 
 Very old. 
 
 580 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 577 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 574 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 583 
 
 Norway, Mo 
 
 
 
 578 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 569 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 567 
 
 MnflBAohn <etta 
 
 
 
 568 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 576 
 
 do 
 
 
 
 3816 
 
 Bsiiex Ootintv. New York 
 
 
 
 3233 
 
 fione-oavea. PeniiAvlvAniA ........ 
 
 
 Fossil i M. frnntata Coues. 
 Imperfect. 
 
 610 
 
 Carliale.Pa 
 
 
 4e33 
 
 Chefiter Conntv. PeiiiiBvlT'Aiiift 
 
 
 1630 
 
 Indiunolft. Tex 
 
 
 
 1004 
 
 Eagle Pass, Tex 
 
 
 Imperfect. 
 
 1113 
 
 do 
 
 
 1395 
 
 Mfttamoran. Tex 
 
 
 
 1878 
 
 Calouieu, La 
 
 
 Imperfect." 
 
 
 
 
 Anatomy and physiology of the anal glands and properties of 
 
 the secretion. 
 
 The almost insuperable repugnance which the Skunk natur- 
 ally excites has always been an obstacle to the investigation of 
 its peculiar defensive organs. Until quite recently, when M. 
 Ghatin minutely examined the anal glands of Conepatus mapu- 
 rito, no adequate account of any species had been rendered, 
 though these parts in M. mephitioa had long since been briefly 
 noticed. The first, and for a long time the only accurate, record, 
 was that given by Dr. Jefltries Wyman in the first volume of the 
 Boston Natural History Society's Proceedings (1844, p. 110). 
 This indicated, though briefly, the general structure of the 
 parts which obtains throughout the family, as far as known. 
 
THE ANAL GLANDS OF THE SKUNK. 
 
 209 
 
 The organ is a true aaal glaad, without cauuectiou with tUo 
 geuito-uriuary system, nor yet of a special character ; being 
 upon the same plan as other anal glanO \ throughout Muntelida; 
 though more muscular, with more capacious reservoir, and 
 more abundant secretion. It consists of a strong central cap- 
 sule, enveloped in muscular tissue, and by the same connected 
 with a bone of the region, the reservoir of a tluid secreted by 
 several small glandular bodies by which it is surrounded, and 
 which is voided by voluutary]muscular effort through an ori- 
 fice on top of a nipple-like eminence, situated on each side of 
 the anus, just within its verge, partially concealed when not 
 in use by a fold of integument. The organ is paired with a 
 fellow on the opposite side. Dr. Wyman's original remarks 
 may be here transcribed : — " The anal pouches ", he writes, 
 "consist of two glandular sacs of an oval shape, about three- 
 quarters of an inch in diameter, covered with a muscular en- 
 velope, and opening into the rectum, quite near to the anus, 
 by two papillic. These last, when not protruded, are sur- 
 rounded by a fold of mucous membrane, and very nearly con- 
 cealed by it. The fluid is ejected by the contractions of the 
 muscular covering. A small band passes from each sac to the 
 ischium, which rotates these bodies on themselves, and serves 
 to bring their orifices to the anus. The fluid is a peculiar 
 secretion like that of the Civet, and not the urine, as is com- 
 monly thought. The common opinion, that the animal scatters 
 it with its tail is erroneous. The fluid is limited in quantity ; 
 and, having been discharged, the animal is harmless until the 
 sacs are again filled by gradual secretion." 
 
 This account was shortly supplemented in the same publica- 
 tion (vol. iii. p. 175) by a notice from Dr. J. M. Warren, which 
 adds further particulars, though not strictly of an anatomical 
 character. The passages are transcribed as part of the history 
 of the species :*— 
 
 "Dr. J. M. Warren exhibited, preserved in alcohol, the 
 glands which secrete the acrid fluid which furnishes a means 
 of defence to the American Skunk, Mephitis Americana. 
 These glands are situated on either side of the intestine, at 
 the root of the tail, just within the anus, and are about an 
 inch in diameter. When the animal is pursued, the lower part 
 of the intestine is prolapsed through the anus, the tail is ele- 
 vated over the back, and by the contraction of the muscles of 
 the anus the acrid fluid is ejected in two streams to the dis- 
 tance of six or eight feet. 
 ;4m 
 
 
 1: 
 
 i; 
 
 
 n 
 
 I- III <l 
 
210 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 I 
 
 
 f 
 
 !■- 
 
 I 
 
 "Dr. Warren also exhibited to the Society a living specimen 
 of Mephitis Americana, which had been deprived of its power 
 oi' annoyance by a snrgical operation. The animal was first 
 made partially insensible by enclosing him in a barrel in which 
 was placed some chloric ether. As he became stupefied, a 
 sponge containing the ansesthetic agent was placed over the 
 nostrils and kept there until entire insensibility was produced. 
 Dr. Warren then cut down, on the outside of the intestine, 
 upon the ducts Oi' the glands and divided them, suffering the 
 glands to remain in situ. The animal recovered, being en- 
 tirely deprived of his means of annoyance by the adhesive 
 inflammation following the operation." 
 
 Here the matter rested (so far as I am acquainted with the 
 record) until 1871, when Dr. J. S. Parker published an account 
 of a dissection in the American Naturalist, as above quoted. 
 Besides being not quite accurate in effect, though the observer 
 really recognized the condition of the parts, the account is too 
 diffuse to justify transcription as a whole ; yet it is particularly 
 noteworthy as giving the first and probably the only account 
 to date of the physical properties of the fluid itself : — " .... 
 I dipped the point of my scalpel in the yellow fluid, put the 
 tenth or twentieth of a drop of it on a glass, covered it with 
 another strip of glass, and i»laced it under a power of forty 
 diameters in my microscope. The appearance was peculiar. 
 It looked like molten gold, or like quicksilver of the finest 
 golden color. Pressure on the strips of glass made it flow like 
 globules of melted gold. By a power of sixty diameters the 
 same color still appeared, bat seemed as if it would by a higher 
 jiower resolve itself into globules, with some peculiar mark 
 iugs To the eye, the peculiar and odoriferous secre- 
 tion of this animal is of a pale bright or glistening yellow, with 
 specks floating in it. By the microscope it looks like a clear 
 fluid, as water with masses of gold in it, and the specks like 
 bubbles of air, covered with gold, or rather bags of air in 
 golden sacks. The air I take to be the gas nascent from the 
 golden fluid. Had I known that my interest in the dissection 
 would have rendered me so forgetful of the pungent surround- 
 ings, I would have had chemical reagents to test the substance 
 so easily obtainable. 
 
 "Another thing was a matter of interest. If I correctly made 
 out the capsule of fluid, the commonly called < glands ' are the 
 muscular tunic enveloping and capable of eomprtssing the 
 
THE SCENT OF THE SKUNK. 
 
 211 
 
 :-V|- 
 
 reservoir, and tbeir sole use is to eject the li<|uid. The teat- 
 like projections have one large oritico for a distant jet of the 
 substance, and also a strainer, with numerous holes — like the 
 holes in the cones in the human kidney — for a near but diffu- 
 sive jetting of the matter [?]. The substance is secreted by 
 small glands, dark in color, and of small calibre, connected 
 with the capsule by narrow ducts." 
 
 We gather from these accounts that, as already intimated, the 
 secretory apparatus of this species is essentially the same as that 
 of Conepatus, described at length by 31. Chatin. It is, of course, 
 no longer necessary to refute the vulgar notions once prevalent, 
 that the secretion was that of the kidneys, whisked about by 
 the bushy tail. There remains little to be said on this subject. 
 The fluid is aHogether peculiar and indescribable in odor, pun- 
 gent, penetrating, and persistent to a degree, perhaps, without 
 parallel, outside this subfamily, in the animal kingdom, though 
 probably not more subtilely diffusive than some other analogous 
 emanations. It has been called "garlicky", but this is a mild 
 term. The distance to which the substance, in liquid form, can 
 be ejected, is, in the nature of the case, ditlicult to ascertain 
 with precision, and doubtless varies with the vigor of the ani- 
 mal and amount of accumulation in the reservoir. Hut there 
 is no doubt that the squirt reaches several (authors say from 
 four to fourteen) feet, while the aura is readily perceptible at 
 distances to be best expressed in fractions (»f the mile. The 
 appearance of the animal during the act of emission is unmis- 
 takable, as I have observed on several occasions. The /-igzag 
 course, with mincing steps, by which it leisurely recedes from 
 a pursuer, is arrested for a moment, when the hinder parts are 
 raised and the tail elevated over the back, so that the long hairs, 
 heretofore trailing in one direction, fall in a tuft on all sides, 
 and the sense of smell immediately indicates what has taken 
 place. The discharge is ordinarily invisible in the daytime, 
 but several observers attest a certain phosphorescence, which 
 renders the fluid luminous by night. This is doubtless true, 
 though I have not verified it by actual observation. State- 
 ments to the effect that emission is impossible when the animal 
 is held suspended by the tail are, in the nature of the case, 
 not likely to be often proven by experiment. Nor have I found 
 that instantaneous death is always a sure i>revent»ve of 
 escape of effluvium. A Skunk which I shot with my pistol, 
 held within a foot of its head, the bullet traversing the .vhole 
 
 .i if 
 
 aafta ' • ■ 1i 
 
 •, • h i| 
 
 ■■• wi 
 
212 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 
 i 
 
 body from the forehead to the groiu, was too otiensive to be 
 skinned, though it died without a perceptible struggle, and 
 had certainly not opened its reservoir up to the moment when 
 shot. Nevertheless, there is abundant evidence that life may 
 be taken in such manner that the flesh is eatable, with due care 
 in the preparation of the carcase ; and the meat is said to form 
 a regular part of the food of some savage tribes and semi- 
 civilized people. I have seen it stated that emission does not 
 take place when the animal is captured in a deadfall in such 
 way that the small of the back is broken by the falling weight. 
 The "staying" qualities of the ettlnvium are certainly wonder- 
 ful ; some of the accounts seem incredible, yet they are well 
 attested. Audubon says that at a place where a Skunk had 
 been killed in autumn, the scent was still tolerably strong after 
 the snows had thawed away the following spring. The same 
 author adds that the odor is stronger by night and in damp 
 weather than under the opposite circumstances ; and, in speak- 
 ing of tainted clothes, he continues : — " Washing and t posure 
 to the atmosphere certainly weaken the scent, buo the wearer 
 of clothes that have been thus infected, should he accidentally 
 stand near the fire in a close room, may chance to be mortified 
 by being reminded that he is not altogether free from the con- 
 sequences of an unpleasant hunting excursion." The persist- 
 ence of the scent in museum specimens depends Utogether 
 upon circumstances. Some specimens, in which the fluid had 
 apparently not been discharged at death, and in which care had 
 been taken in the preparation, come directly into our hands with 
 little or no scent ; in others, those probably in which the pelage 
 had become impregnated, or in which the fluid had escaped 
 upon surrounding parts, retain their characteristic odor for 
 many years, whether immersed in alcohol, or dried and buried in 
 tobacco-leaves, insect-powder, and other vegetable aromatics. 
 I have also noticed that the scent may be drawn out of seem- 
 ingly odorless specimens, after several years' keeping, by plac- 
 ing them in the sun. But in proof of the possibility of absolute 
 freedom from scent may be instanced the use, especially of late 
 years, of Skunk furs as wearing apparel, immunity being gained 
 by processes similar to those used by furriers in purifying the 
 pelts of other Mustelidw, as well as of Wolves, Foxes, &c. The 
 enduring and mortifying consequences of actual contact of the 
 fluid with the person or the clothing, as well as of its dissemi- 
 nation in dwellings and outhouses, can hardly be exaggerated. 
 
 i;i; 
 
THE SCENT OF THE SKUNK. 
 
 213 
 
 bat require no further comment, as these matters have fur- 
 nished standing aecoauts since the history of the spacies began. 
 
 It seems, however, that the disgusting qualities of the sub- 
 stance have been given undue prominence, to neglect of a much 
 more important and serious matter. The danger to the eye- 
 sight, should the acrid and pungent fluid actually fall upon the 
 eyes, should not be forgotten. Dogs are not seldom perma- 
 nently blinded by the discharge, and there are authentic cases 
 in which human beings have lost their sight in the same way. 
 Sir John liichardson alludes, on the authority of Mr. Graham, 
 to the cases of " several " Indians who had lost their eyesight 
 in consequence of inflammation resulting from this cause. 
 
 The effect upon dogs is described by Audubon and Bach- 
 man: — " The instant'', they say, "adoghas received a discharge 
 of this kind on his nose and eyes he appears half distracted, 
 plunging his nose into the earth, rubbing the sides of his face 
 on the leaves and grass, and rolling in every direction. "VVe 
 have known several dogs, from the eyes of which the swelling 
 and inflammation caused by it did not disappear for a week." 
 
 These authors also speak of the nauseating qualities of the 
 etfluvium. "I have known a dead Skunk'', says Sir John, 
 "thrown over the stockades of a trading post, produce instant 
 nausea in several women in a house with closeil doors upwards 
 of a hundred yards distant." " We recollect .an instance," write 
 Audubou and Bachman, " when sickness of the stomach and 
 vomiting were occasioned, in several persons residing in Sara- 
 toga Comity, N. Y., in consequence of one of this species having 
 been killed under the floor of their residence daring the night." 
 
 The fluid has been put to medicinal use in the treatment of 
 asthma. One invalid is said to have been greatly benefit- 
 ed by the use of a drop three times a day ; but he was soon 
 obliged to discontinue the use of the remedy, owing to the in- 
 tolerably offensive character which all his secretions acquired. 
 The story is told* of an asthmatic clergyman who procured the 
 glands of a Skunk, which he kept tightly corkeil in a smelling- 
 bottle, to be applied to his nose when his syaiptoms appeared. 
 He believed he had discovered a specific fur his d.stressing 
 malady, and rejoiced thereat ; but on one occasi«^n he uncorked 
 his bottle in the pulpit, and drove his congregation out of 
 church. In both these cases, like many others, it is a question 
 of individual preference as between the remedy and the disease. 
 
 " By Audubon and Bacbuiiui, (juad. N. A. i. '6'i'6. 
 
 rJ 
 
 hi 
 
 v\ 
 
 w 
 
214 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTE-' ID^E. 
 
 
 The supposed counectiou betweeu the suppreasiou of .the secre- 
 tion and the possibility of inoculating hydrophobia is treated 
 beyond under head of "rabies mephitica". 
 
 There is one point connected with the varying oflFen8i\ ess 
 of the substance which has received little attention. It is cer- 
 tain that if its penetration were correspondent with actual 
 quantity of the substance present, no dissection of the parts 
 of a vigorous animal would be reasonably practicable. But the 
 fluid, like other highly odoriferous substances, is perceptible in 
 degree according to its diffusion in the air by minute division 
 of particles. This is well illustrated under the annoying and 
 too frequent circumstance of a Skunk taking up its abode be- 
 neath dwelling-houses for the winter, which season is passed 
 in a state of incomplete hibernation in some latitudes. At 
 irregular intervals, the animal arouses, and, to judge from the 
 effluvium, empties its distended pouches; but the stench, 
 when thus caused, soon ceases, as is not the case when it is 
 spirted under irritation or in self-defence. 
 
 Chloride of lime has been recommended as the most effectual 
 disinfectant, and there are doubtless other agents which, by 
 chemically decomi)osiug the substance, deprive it of its often- 
 sive properties. The professional "earth treatment", of late 
 extensively employed in hospital practice, was long anticipated 
 in this connection, it being a common custom to bury clothes 
 in ground tp rid them of the scent. There is also said to be a 
 belief among trappers that the odor may be dispelled by pack- 
 ing the clothes for: a few days in fiesh hemlock boughs. 
 
 The physiological role of this special secretion is obvious. 
 Its relation to the perpetuation of the species, though over- 
 shadowed by its exaggeration into a powerfully effective means 
 of preservation of the individual, is evidently the same as in 
 other species of Mustelidw, each one of which has its own ema- 
 nation to bring the sexes together, not only by simply indicat- 
 ing their whereabouts, but by serving as a positive attraction. 
 In the case of the Skunk, it would seem that the strong scent 
 has actually tended to result in a more gregarious mode of life 
 than is usual in this family of mammals; and it is certain, at 
 any rate, that the occupancy by one animal of a permanent 
 winter abode serves to attract others to the same retreat. 
 Burrows are sometimes found to contain as many as a dozen 
 individuals, not members of one fiimily, but various adult 
 animals drawn together. One other effect of the possession of 
 
1 1 
 
 ^m 
 
 DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF THE SKONK. 
 
 215 
 
 such unique powers is seen not so much in mode of life as iu 
 the actual disposition of the creature. Its heedless familiarity, 
 its temerity in pushing into places which other animals in- 
 stinctively avoid as dangerous, and its indisposition to seek 
 safety by hasty retreat, are evident results of its confidence in 
 the extraordinary means of defence with which it is provided. 
 In speculating upon the development of this anal armature to 
 a degree which renders it subservient to purposes for which 
 the glands of other Mustelinw, though of similar character, are 
 manifestly inadequate, it may not be amiss to recall how de- 
 fenceless the Skunk would otherwise be iu comparison with its 
 allies. A tardy terrestrial animal of no great strength or spirit, 
 lacking the sagacity and prowess of the Wolverene, the scau- 
 sorial ability of the Martens, the agility, su)all size, and 
 tenuity of body of the Weasels, the swimming and diviug 
 i'owers of the Otters, and even much of the eminent fossorial 
 capacity of its nearest relations, the Badgers — lacking all these 
 qualities, which in their several exhibitions cohduce to the 
 safety of the respective species, it is evident that additional 
 means of self-protection were required ; while the abundance 
 of the animal in most parts of the country, and its audacity iu 
 the face of danger, show that its confidence in the singular 
 means of defence it possesses is not misplaced. 
 
 Geographical distribution and habits of the Skunlc. 
 
 Leaving now that portion of the subject which is properly 
 most prominent in the history of the species of this subfamily, 
 we may turn to other matters. Skunks are common in most 
 portions of temperate North America, and very abundant in 
 some districts. I am not aware that any qualification of the 
 broad statement of their general distribution iu this country is 
 required ; for the animalr seem to be independent of those 
 matters of physical geography, such as mountain or valley, 
 woodland or prairie, which impose restrictions upon the distri- 
 bution of many quadrupeds. Skunks, moreover, are obviously 
 less affected by the settlement of a country than the more 
 defenceless, wary, and instinctively secretive carnivores, which 
 are sure to be thinned out and gradually forced awaj' by the 
 progress of civilization. In some parts of the West, indeed, I 
 have found Skunks more numerous in the vicinity of the sparse 
 settlements than they are in regions still primitive; they seem 
 to be actually attracted to man's abodes, like some other quad- 
 
 
 'i! 
 
 I'li' ■■;r': 
 
216 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 rupeds and not a few birds, which are more abundant in 
 "clearings" than in ihe depths of the forest or in the loneliness 
 of unreclaimed prairie. I was struck with this circumstance 
 during my recent travels in Colorado, where Skunks were a 
 never-failing nuisance about the ranches, though I never saw 
 or smelled one, to my present recollection, in the uninhabited 
 mountains of that State. Their entire absence, however, is not 
 to be predicated on this score, but simply their relatively lesser 
 numbers; and I have rarely found Skunks more numerous in 
 the West than they were in the entirely unsettled stretches of 
 country in Montana northwest of Fort Benton, and thence to 
 the region of the Saskatchewan. Eichardson notes their fre- 
 quency in this latter portion of the country, and fixes the north- 
 ern limit of the species at about 56° or 57° North latitude. In 
 the opposite direction, the habitat of the Skunk overlaps that of 
 the Conepate, reaching into Mexico ; but exactly how far remains 
 to be ascertained. It is i)robably replaced, southerly in Mexico, 
 by the closely .allied though apparently distinct M. macrura of 
 Lichtenstein, treated on a following page. A recent local writer 
 on the quadrupeds of one of our States noted that out of the 
 large number of Skunks attributed to North America only one, 
 the present species, was found in his locality, humorously adding 
 that one, however, was generally considered sufficient. Through- 
 out British America, and most of the northern tier of States, 
 New England, the Middle States, and some of the Southern 
 States, the present is the only species of the subfamily certainly 
 known to occur ; in most parts of the West, and some of the 
 South, it is associated with the smaller species, Spilogale putorius; 
 while the extreme Southwest may rejoice in the possession of 
 all three of the United States species. 
 
 The Skunk yields a handsome fur, lately become fashionable, 
 under the euphemism of "Alaska sable" — for our elegant dames 
 would surely not deck themselves in obscene Skunk skins if 
 they were not permitted to call the rose by some other name. 
 Pelts to the number of a thousand or more have annually passed 
 through the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and this 
 kind of "sable" is one of the staples of American furriers, 
 many thousands being yearly exported to Europe. The black 
 furs are the most valuable, ranging in price, according to qual- 
 ity, up to $1 apiece for prime; the " half-stripe" and the white 
 bring much less. The trapping of the animal seems to be an 
 easier matter than the subsequent disposition of the prize; for 
 
HABITS OF THE SKUNK. 
 
 217 
 
 the Skunk is far from cuuniug, and no special skill is required 
 for its capture. A variety of traps are used with success ; the 
 deadfall is particularly recommended, since, if properly con- 
 structed, it causes the death of the animal without emission of 
 the fluid.* Audubon and Bachman's statement that the fur " is 
 
 * Gibson's " Complete American Trapper "', pp. 198, 2d2-3, 286. 
 
 The following on the subject of trapping Skunks was contributed by C. L. 
 Whitman, of Weston, Vt., to Forest and Stream of February 17, 1876: — 
 
 " I am often asked by friends and brother trappers how I manage to rid 
 my fox traps of skunks without being defiled by their odor. For the benefit 
 of the uninitiated I will state that if there are any skunks living in the 
 vicinity where fox traps are set they are sure to be taken, and till all are 
 thus disposed of there is little chance of capturing foxes. When there is 
 reason to suppose the presence of many skunks, it is best to set the traps 
 early, in order to get them out of the way at once ; setting in a manner not 
 to take the fox — that is, less skillfully. To the fox trapper this animal is a 
 pest and annoyance, for where the trap is made fast — as in dirt trapping is 
 desirable — he will in a brief time with teeth and claws greatly impair, if 
 not wholly ruin a good setting-place. Sometimes he frees himself by self- 
 amputation ; in such case it is good riddance. They seldom get in a second 
 time, as in their weak and mutilated condition they fall an easy prey to the 
 fox, who is fond of their flesh ; so much so that he will sometimes gnaw off 
 the leg by which the skunk is held in the trap, and carry off his booty to be 
 eaten at his leisure. Trappers cognizant of the above trait do not fail to 
 use skunk's flesh for bait. Sometimes he is found asleep after a night of 
 ceaseless toil to get free, when, if in good position, he may be carefully ap- 
 proached from the leeward, and by stepping upon his tail, at the same time 
 dealing a smart blow upon the head with a club, he is easily and safely dis- 
 patched. But this seldom occurs, and the attempt to dispatch him when on 
 the alert with clubs or stones, is to risk and often receive defilement. Fire- 
 arms are out of the question, as a good trapper is chary of their use on his 
 rangfe. 
 
 " My favorite method of dealing with them is as follows : With a tough 
 annealed No. 15 or 16 iron wire I form a slip noose about five inches in diam- 
 eter on one end, aud a standing loop of two inches on the other, and a space 
 of five inches between. The loop is attached to the smaller end of a light, 
 stiflf pole of eight or ten feet in length. With this firmly grasped in both 
 hands I slowly and carefully approach, and slip the noose over his head, and 
 with a quick jerk backwards and upwards lift him as high as the chain of 
 the trap will allow, and thus hold him until he is strangled. The butt end 
 of the pole may be brought to the ground and there held by a foot, the hands 
 moved further in advance for greater ease. When taken by a hind leg I at 
 once lower the trap to the ground and release the same with one foot pressed 
 upon the spring ; the pole may then be set in a secure position against a rock 
 or other support while the trap is being reset. If the jerk upward has not 
 been adroitly made, the wire may not draw as tight as it ought, in which 
 case a discbarge of the pungent odor will usually follow ; but in this per- 
 pendicular position the discharge descends directly downwards, so that if the 
 attack has been made from the windward, as it ought, there is no danger. 
 
 IT? 
 
 1 ; 
 
 I . < 
 
 nillgiij 
 
 if ,h't 
 
218 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 seldom used by the hatters, aud never we think by the furriers ; 
 and from the disagreeable tas ' .repariug the skin, it is not 
 considered an article of cor j" was wide of the mark, 
 
 unless it was penned befc ..iska sable" became fashion- 
 
 able. 
 
 Like other animals ot present family — like most carni- 
 vores, in fact — the Skunk is somewhat nocturnal in habits, 
 chiefly prowling for food in the dark, though often abroad in 
 the daytime. In northern portions of its range, it hibernates 
 to some extent, but its torpidity is very incomplete ; it appears, 
 moreover, to be under some necessity of arousing itself, perhaps 
 for the periodical evacuation of its reservoirs. In the South, it 
 ranges freely at all seasons. In instances in which the animal 
 has taken up its abode for the winter about dwelling-houses, its 
 temporary activity, during warm spells of weather, is not likely 
 to be overlooked. This propensity to seek retreats in human 
 habitations is strikingly at variance with the disposition of other 
 Musteline quadrupeds, which instinctively shun man's abodes, 
 except when, in foraging for food, the poultry-yard tempts their 
 appetite and their courage. In travelling in some portions of 
 the West, it flid seem as if I never could approach a ranch 
 without being aware of the visit, past or present, of some 
 prying Skunk ; and the outhouses I entered were almost invari- 
 ably scented. The Skunk is an occasional robber of poultry and 
 eggs, and is said to be fond of milk. Wben away from human 
 habitations, the retreats of the Skunk are underground burrows, 
 the hollows of decayed logs and stumps, the crevices among 
 rocks — in short, any natural shelter not away from the ground. 
 Audubon and Bachmau describe the underground burrows 
 which the Skunk excavates for itself as less difficult to dig out 
 than those of the Fox, generally running near the surface of 
 flat ground for six or eight feet, and ending in a chamber lined 
 with leaves, where may be found during winter from Ave to 
 fifteen individuals huddled together. Sometimes, these authors 
 add, the burrow divides into two or three galleries. The ani- 
 
 " The approach is sometimes resented at tirst, but the gradual arcbiug of the 
 tail gives timely warniag, aud a careful retreat is necessary for a moment. 
 The second or third attempt is successful. The animal by that time recovers 
 from the alarm, and at most will merely sniff the air iu your directiou. 
 With this device I have destroyed many hundred during the past thirty 
 years, and do not recollect an instance where I bore any of the odor about 
 nie, except I had inadvertently trod upon dirt that was defiled, and now oft'er 
 it for the consideration of brother trappers." 
 
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITS OF THE SKUNK. 219 
 
 mala are evidently more gregarious than other Mnstelida'^ and 
 the numbers which congregate in one burrow are not neces- 
 sarily members of the same family. They are very prolific, 
 bringing forth in May, it is said, to the number of eight or ten ; 
 the period of gestation is probably unknown. Their natural 
 increase is at so high a rate that were they not systematically 
 persecuted, not only for the value of their furs, but on account 
 of their peculiar offensiveuess, they would become a serious 
 pest. The reaction of their principal means of self-preservation, 
 in fact, becomes one of the factors in the problem of their undue 
 increase, so nicely are the balances of Nature adjusted. 
 
 Skunksareattacked bydogsand othercaninequadrupeds, who 
 destroy and devour them in spite of their scent ; and some of the 
 larger birds of prey, like the Bitbo vh'ffinianus, or Great Horned 
 ( )wl, have been observed to capture and eat them. Their own food 
 is of rather an humble nature in comparison with that of other 
 Mustelidfi' of corresponding size and strength; for they have 
 neither the speed nor the address required to effect the destruc- 
 tion of many animals which the Martens and Weasels, for 
 instance, prey upon. They feed largely upon insects, birds' 
 eggs, such small reptiles as frogs, and small quadrupeds, such 
 as the various species of mice. They are also said to capture 
 rabbits in the burrows into which these timorous beasts some- 
 times take refuge, though they are manifestly incapable of 
 securing these swift-footed animals in the chase. The depre- 
 dations committed by the Skunk in the poultry-house have been 
 already alluded to. I recur to the fact to note the way these 
 awkward animals conduct themselves under such circum- 
 stances, when their blundering pertinacity and apparent neglect 
 of the most obvious precautions against detection contrast 
 strongly with the stealth, cunning, and sagacity of the Fox, 
 Mink, or Stoat when engaged in similar freebooting. Even 
 after discovery, the Skunk seems to forget the propriety of 
 making oflf, and generally falls a victim to his lack of wit. 
 
 I once tested the speed of a Skunk in a fair race over open 
 prairie. The wind was blowing "half a gale" at my back, and 
 my courage was consequently unchallenged. The animaj 
 seemed to be aware of its powerlessness under these circum- 
 stances, and, after once or twice vainly discharging its battery, as 
 I saw by its peculiar motions, though the wind carried off the 
 effluvium, made oft' at its best pace. But I had no difliculty in 
 keeping up with it at an easy jogtrot, scarcely faster than rapid 
 
 
 
 ! ■;.. 
 
 
 14! 
 
 
 •!i:i 
 
 W '*! 
 
 M 
 
 4 
 
 
 i:m 
 
220 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 walking, aud, after noting its gait and otiier actions, I 'lot it 
 dead. The specimen was too oflfensive to be skinned, however, 
 as some of the fluid had been blown npon its fur. In the conrse 
 of my varions campaigns in the West, I have witnessed not a 
 few ludicrous scenes, aud have known the startling cry of 
 " Skunk !*' to throw a camp into as great commotion, to all out- 
 ward appearance, as that other graver, yet not less sudden, 
 warning of Indians. But to recount stories of Skunks would be 
 to go on indefinitely ; like the pelt to the furrier, anecdotes to the 
 historian are " staple", and may be read in all the books, such 
 is the facetiousuess which this subject seems to inevitably call 
 forth. 
 
 History of the species. 
 
 The Skunk has figured in literature for more than two cen- 
 turies, as can be said of comparatively few American animals. 
 The earliest account I have found, one which Eichardson also 
 said was the first he had met with, is that given by Gabriel 
 Sagard-Theodat, "Mineur Recollect de la Prouince de Paris", 
 in his History of Canada, 1030. The quaint passage runs as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Les enfans dn diable, que les Hurons appellent Scangaresse, 
 & le eommun des Montagnais Babougi Mauitou, ou Ouinesque, 
 est un beste fort puante, de la grandeur d'un chat ou d'un ieuue 
 renard, mais elle a la teste un pen moins aigue, & la peau cou- 
 uerte d'un gros poll rude & enfum^, et sa grosse queue retrous- 
 see de mesme, elle se cache en Hyuer sous la neige, & ne sort 
 point qu'au commencement de laLunedu mois de Mars, laquelle 
 les Montagnais nomment Ouiniscon pismi, qui signifle la Lune 
 de la Ouinesque. Get animal, outre qu'il est de fort man 
 uaise odeur, est tres-malicieux & d'un laid regard, ils ietteut 
 aussi (j\ ce qu'on dit) parmy leure excremens de peiits serpens, 
 longs & deliez, les quels ne viuent neant moins gueres long 
 temps. I'en pensois apporter une peau pass^e, mais un Fran- 
 cois passager me I'ayant demandee ie la luy donnay." 
 
 From the way in which this passage opens, we may presume 
 or infer that "enfan du diable" was already a recognized name 
 among the French, in spoken at least, if not also written, lan- 
 guage. The "devil's own" beast is also mentioned by various 
 other early writers, amongst whom Gharlevoix may be cit^d. 
 It was the "Fiskatta" of Kalm (17 . . ); but the date of the 
 introduction of the term " Skunk" 1 have not been able to as- 
 
HISTORY OF MEPHITES MEPHITICA. 
 
 221 
 
 certain, nor do I know its meaning. A likeness to the word 
 most suggestive of tlie animal, and which appears in the Ger- 
 man Stinkthier, is too obvious to require comment, but the 
 resemblance may be fortuitous. It may be observed that the 
 Creo or Knistenaux word is seccawk, which is quite likely the 
 origin of the name, as the sound i* not so very different, though 
 the literal discrepancy is great. The American-English name 
 "pole-cat" or "pol-cat", by which the Swedish of Kalm is 
 rendered, and which has long been an appellation of this and 
 other species of Skunks, is simply a transferring of the Euro- 
 pean-English name of the Fitch, Putorius f<xtklus, the worst- 
 smelling species of its own continent, to the Western animal, 
 which has the same enviable notoriety. The terms pol-cat or 
 pole-cat and skunk were both used by Lawson about the be- 
 ginning of the last century. " Polcats or Skunks in Amer- 
 ica," says he, " are different from those in Europe. They are 
 thicker and of a great many Colours; not all alike, but each 
 differing from another in the particular Colour. They smell 
 like a Fox but ten times stronger. When a Dog encounters 
 them, they void upon him, and he will not be sweet again for a 
 fortnight or more. The Indians love to eat their Flesh, which 
 has no manner of ill smell, when the Bladder is out." " Skunk" 
 was formerly used adjectively, as we see in the " Skunk Wee- 
 sel" of Pennant, which may be deemed exactly equivalent to 
 the "Mephitic weesel" of Shaw. "Chinche" was a term ap- 
 plied by early French zoologists to this and other Mephitimv, 
 and in its various forms of chinche or chincha^ chinge or chinga, 
 was long current. The last-named form, indeed, became with 
 many authors, after Tiedemauu, the specific name of the spe- 
 cies in binominal nomenclature. 
 
 The early history of the species in technical nomenclature, as 
 distinguished from that of the animal in non*scientiffc accounts, 
 is much involved. It may be well to state that authors have 
 gone to opposite extremes in treating of Skunks as species. 
 Some, like Cuvier, " lumped " them all together, whilst others 
 made every streak or spot the basis of a species. We do not 
 find the present species clearly and unequivocally indicated by 
 the founder and earliest supporters of the binomial system ; on 
 the contrary, the Linn.-Gmel. accounts, though undoubtedly cov- 
 ering this even then well-known species, are so infiltrated with 
 reference to other species as to be not properly citable in this 
 connection. Linnteus put the Skuiks in his genus ViverrUj 
 
 ,yrm 
 
 -'4 
 
 -I '^'l i 
 
 
 "m 
 
222 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.t:. 
 
 f 
 
 8 1 
 
 traiKst'erriug this Plinian uame of certain Musteliue ani- 
 mals to those of the Civet-cat group, and in 1758 named a 
 species Virerra putorlm. Hi.s species at this date was partly 
 based on Kalm's Fi«JiaUa, and in so far means the i)resent 
 animal, but the primary reference is to Catesby's Polecat, and 
 the description rather suits the Spilofiale. In 17C0, Linnteus 
 made confusion worse confounded by resting his Viverm puto- 
 rim not only upon Catesby and Kalm, as he had done in 1758, 
 but by citing also Hernandez, Kay, Seba, and Brisson, his 
 species being consequently a conglomeration of animals not 
 only specifically but generically distinct from each other, though 
 the drift of his descriptive text is toward the present species.* 
 These accounts, and such as hang upon them, are not properly 
 citable in the present connection. About the end of the last 
 century, Dr. G. Shaw introduced a species, Viverra mcphitica, 
 which indicates the present animal with sufficient pertinence 
 and exclusiveness, and furnished a specific name, the first tena- 
 ble one I know of. In consequence, however, of its literal re- 
 semblance to the name of the Cuvierian genus Mephitis, the 
 term slept until revived by Baird in 1857, when, with those to 
 whom the alteration is not objectionable, the binomial name 
 Mephitis mephitica became current. 
 
 Shortly afterward, in 1808, Tiedeniann introduced a species, 
 M. chinga, adapted from the earlier chinche as a specific name. 
 This was adopted by Lichteustein in his special memoirs, by 
 Aubudon and Bachman, and by others. It undoubtedly refers 
 to the juesent animal, though vitiated to some extent by in- 
 applicable expressions. 
 
 Desmarest called all the Skwuks Mephitis f Americana, hav- 
 ing a long array of varieties, from A to R, his var. R being 
 the one which more particularly refers to the present species. 
 In 1829, Fischer rendered the " chinga" of Tiedemann as chinche, 
 reverting to the more customary orthography. The same year 
 Richardson introduced a new term, hudsonica. Later, nominal 
 species multiplied, not that there were not already names 
 
 * "Habitat in America septentrionali. Colore variat. Irritatus (cum urina 
 forIC') balitum explodit, quo nihil fcttidiue ; incessa tardus, nee Homines 
 nee Feras metuens; vestes fcetore inqninatie purgantur sepeliendo per diem. 
 A. Knhn." (p. 65.) Linnaeus's next Hpeciee, Viverra zibetha, the Civet-cat of 
 the Old World, is also tinctured with Bkunk, or some other American animal 
 not distantly related. . ., . 
 
 t Written " Mnstela " by an obvious slip. . 
 
HYDROPHOBIA FPOM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 223 
 
 enoiigb, but apparently in the impossibility of sifting and fixing 
 earlier accounts. M. rarians was proi)osed by Gray in 1837 
 for the southwestern variety, afterward called macroura by 
 Aubudou and Bacliman; and in 1805 Gray had the assurance 
 to set his term over all the prior ones as the specific designa- 
 tion, recounting numerous varieties of the species. MephitlH 
 mesomelas of Lichtenstein and M. occidentaUs of Baird are 
 names of the western strain of ordinary mephitica. 
 
 Other points in the history of Skunks are reviewed under 
 heads of species to follow. 
 
 ADDENDUM TO CHAPTElt VJI. 
 
 ON nYDROrilOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE, OR THE SO-CALLED 
 
 "RABIES MEPHITICA". 
 
 The importance of this subject induces me to present such 
 facts as have come to my knowledge. Though it has long 
 been known that the bite of the Skunk under certain condi- 
 tions, like that of various other animals, is capable of inoculat- 
 ing a disease like hydrophobia, it seems that only lately has 
 the subject been thoroughly investigated and adequately pre- 
 sented. This has been done, notably, by two writers, whose 
 respective accounts are here transcribed in full, without fur- 
 ther comment. 
 
 The points that the Eev. Mr. Hovey makes are these: — 
 That hydrophobia from Skunk-bite is a different species of 
 the disease from rabies canina ; the term rabies mephitica being 
 proposed for it. That rabies mephitica is caused by a special 
 hydrophobic virus generated by Skunks. That "possibly 
 there may be a causative connection between inactivity of 
 the anal glands and the generation of malignant virus in the 
 glands of the mouth". That the bite of Skunks in apparently 
 normal state of health (i. e., not rabid in the usual sense of 
 the term) is usually fatal. That " we might go further and 
 seek a solution of the whole dread mystery of hydrophobia 
 in the theory that this dread malady originates with the allied 
 genera of Mephitis^ Putorim, and Mustela^ . . . being from 
 them transferred to the Felidas and Canidte and other families 
 of animals". He also suggests that the mephitic secretion 
 might be found to be the natural antidote to the salivary 
 virus. . . 
 
 m 
 
 
 
224 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^E. 
 
 The article attracted considerable attention, from the nov 
 I'lty of the views put forth, and the intrinsic importance of 
 the subject. 
 
 Some months afterward Dr. Janewaj' replied in an elaborate 
 article, detailing cases and criticising Mr. Hovey's views, com- 
 ing to the conclusion " that the malady produced by mephitic 
 virus is simply hydrophobia". Following are the two articles 
 in question in full . — 
 
 ;i. 
 
 iS 
 
 [From Amor. Jouru. Scl. ami Ait, M sor. vol. vii. no. II, art. xliv. pp. 477-4*1, May, 1874.] 
 
 4 
 
 "Bahh-it Meithitica ; by Ilvv. Homir C. Ilorey, M. A. 
 
 "My subject coHcoriiH alike lueiliciil suieuco and natural history. For 
 wbilo proviujj the existoiiv.o of a uow disease, soule singular facts will ho 
 brought to light about a I'aiuiliar meiuber of the Anvsrican Fauna. It i.s 
 cruel to add aught to the odium already attached to the common skunk 
 (Mephitis mephitiva iShaw ; M, chinga Tiedenmnn). But, clearly, he is as dan- 
 gerous as ho is disagreeable. In a wild state he is by no means the weak, 
 timid, harmless creature commonly described by naturalists; although it is 
 said that, if disarmed of his wea))ons of ortonce while young, ho may bo 
 safely domesticated. 
 
 "A peculiar poison is sometimes contained in the saliva of animals be- 
 longing to the cauiuo and feline families, the production of which, it has 
 been generally suppo.scd, is limited to them. Other animals, of the same or 
 of diil'erent species, may be inoculated with this virus; the result being a 
 mysterious malady, which men have observed from the days of Homer and 
 Aristotle, but which has never been either cured or understood. This 
 frightful disease has been called, from its origin, Rabkn caninn, and from 
 one of its symptoms, hydrophobia. Probably it is not communicable by any 
 species but those with which it originates. A few instances have been re- 
 corded to the contrary ; but they were so imperfectly observed as merely to 
 stimulate ns to further investigation. It is stated by the best medical 
 writers (e. g., Watson, Qros.% and Aitken), as an undeniable fact, that no 
 instance is known of hydrophobia having been communicated from one 
 human being to another, although many patients, in their spasms, have 
 bitten their attendants. An interesting cose, but inconclusive, being the 
 only one of its kind, is reported by M. Quillery, in which an aged man expe- 
 rienced spontaneous hydrophobia (Bulletin of Belgian Academy, No. S, 
 1871). In such exceptional instances there may have been previous iuooula- 
 tion, unnoticed or forgotten ; for the least particle of this deadly poison 
 will be efficient, and yet it is always tardy in its period of incubation. 
 
 "The facts uow collated will show, it is thoight, one of two things, 
 either that the hydrophobic virus is both generated and communicated by 
 some of the Munfelidw as well as the Felidw and Canidiv ; or else, that a new 
 disease has been discovered, which generioal'y resembles Bahiet canina, while 
 differing from it speciilcall5^. My judgntuut favors the latter opinion, de- 
 cidedly, for reasons to be adduced ; and accordingly I may name this now 
 malady, from the animal iu whose saliva it is generated, Rabie* Mephitiva, 
 
IIYnROPHORIA FROM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 225 
 
 " Tlio viirioticH of MvpliitiH are iiotoriouH for tlio Hinjriilttr buttery with 
 which tliey are provi(hMl by iiatiir*>. It voiiHiHtH of two anal k^'^"*!'* 
 from whicli, by tlio coiitiactioii of Niib-caiidal iiuiHch^s, an otfoiiHive lliiid 
 can bo (li.scharjfoil in tlin>a<l-liV'« Htroanis, witli H\u;h accuracy of aim as to 
 Htriko any olijoct wiiliin tiftoon f«!<«t. TiiiM 8ccretion is uithur colorless, 
 or of a pale yolltiw hue. It is i»h<M|>horcHccnt. Viuwod from a safe distanco, 
 its <li.scliur)i(c IooIvh like a puff of Ntoain or white Niuoko. Its (»dor is far more 
 ]K rsiHtonttlum that' of musk. If too frocly inlialod it causoa intense nanson, 
 followcil by distrussin^ gastric cramp. In minute doses it is said to be a 
 valuable anti-spasmodic. If so, why not experiment with it as a euro for 
 hydrophobic convulsions? It is not known what the effect would be of 
 injecting this tinitl beneath the skin. Interesting results might be attained 
 by any one who is willing, in behalf of science, to investigate further in 
 this inviting path! There certainly seems to be some connection between 
 it and the disease under (Mmsideriition; for, in every instance, the rabid 
 skunk has either exhausted his mcphitic; battery, or else has lost the projec- 
 tile force by which it is discharged. Perhaps the secretion is only checked 
 by the feverish state of the system. Possibly there nnvy be a causative oi»u- 
 nection between this inactivity of the anal glands and the generation of 
 nnilignant virus in the glands of the numth. 
 
 "An adventure, while on a summer tour amid the Rocky Mountains, first 
 called my attention to the novel class of facts about to bo presented. Our 
 camp was invaded by a nocturnal prowler, which proved to be a large coal- 
 black skunk. Anxious to secure his fine silky fur uninjured, I attempte«I 
 to kill him with small shot, and failed. He made characteristic retaliation; 
 arid then, rushing at me with fer(»city, he sei/.ed the muzzle of my gun 
 between his teeth ! Of course the jtenalty was ins;ant deai.h. An experienced 
 hunter then startled us by saying that the bite of this animal is invariably 
 fatal, and that when in perfect appurcnt health it is always rabid. He re- 
 sented our incredulity and coiilirmed his statement by several instances of 
 dogs and men dying in convulsions shortly after being thus bitten. 
 
 "On mentioning this adventure to H. li. Payne, M. D., who had been 
 cam|iing with miners near Cailon City, Col., he said that at night skunks 
 would come into their tent, making a peculiar crying noise, and threatening 
 to attack them. His companions, from Texas and elsewhere, had aooouuts 
 to give of fatal results following the bite of this animal. 
 
 " 8inco returning to Kansas City, I have had extensive correspondence with 
 hnniiors, taxidermists, surgeons and othors, by which means the particulars 
 have been obtai ;ed of ftuty-ono cases of ral)ien mcphitica, occurring in Vir- 
 ginia, Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Texas. All were 
 fatal except one ; that was the case of a farmer, named Fletcher, living near 
 (iainsville, Texas, who was twice bitten by M. macroum [of And. <& liiich.=: 
 .If. mcphitica var. — E. C], yet recovered and is living still. On further inciairy 
 it was found that he was aware of his danger, and used prompt preventive 
 treatment. Another case was alleged to be an exception ; that of a dog which 
 was severely bitten in a long fight with a skunk, but whose wounds healed 
 readily and without subsequent diuease. It seems, however, that this dog 
 afterward died with niysteriou i sya.^ ' '^ms like those of hydrophobia in 
 some of its less aggravated forms. ^ 
 
 " Instead of burdening this article with a ma^-' of oiroumstautial details, 
 15 M 
 
 ' :; 
 
226 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E 
 
 - f ' 
 
 a few cases only will be given bnst fitted to show the poculiarlties of the 
 malady; and Miose are preferred that are located on the almost utiinh.ibitetl 
 plains of western Kansas, because there the mephitic weasels would be 
 least liable to be iuocnlated with canine virus. 
 
 "A veteran hunter, Nathaniel Douglas, was hunting butfalo, in June, 187'i, 
 fourteen miles north of Park's Fort. While asleep he was bitten on the 
 thumb by a skunk. Fourteen days afterward singular sensations caused 
 him to seek medical advice. But it was too late, and after convulsions 
 lasting for ten hours he died. This case is reported by an eye-witness, Mr. 
 E. S. Love, ot Wyandotte, Kansas, who also gives several siniilar accounts. 
 
 " One of the men employed by H. P. Wilson, Esq., of Hayes City, Kansas, 
 was bitten by askuuk at night, while herding cattle on the plains. About ten 
 days afterward he was seized with delirium and fearful con vuLsious, which fol- 
 lowed each other until death brought relief. Mr. Wilson also rtipo' '^i other 
 cases, one of which is very receut. In the summer of 1873, a Swedis. girl 
 was bitten by a skunk while going to a neighbor's house. As the wound 
 was slight and readily cured, the affair was hardly thought worthy of re- 
 membrance. But on .Ian. 24th, 1874, the virus, which had been latent for 
 five months, asserted ,its power. She was seized with terrible paroxysms. 
 Large doses of morphine were administered, which ended both her agony 
 and her life. 
 
 " In October, 1871, a hunter on Walnut Creek, Kansas, was awakened by 
 having his left ear bitten by some animal. Seizing it with his hand, he found 
 it to be a skunk, which after a struggle he killed, but not until his hand 
 was painfully punctured and lacerated. He presented himself for treatment 
 to Dr. J. H. Janeway, army surgeon at Fort Hayes, from whom I have the 
 facts. The wounds in the hands were cauterized, much to the man's dis- 
 gust, who thought simple dressing sufficient. He refused to have the wound 
 in the ear touched, and went to Fort Harker to consult Dr. R. C. Brewer. 
 Twelve days afterward the latter reported that his patient had died with 
 hydrophobic symptoms. 
 
 "Another hunter, in the fall d 1872, applied to Dr. Janeway to he treated 
 for a bite through one of the alae of the nose. He had been attacked by a 
 skunk, while in camp on the Smoky River, two nights previous. He had 
 been imbibing stimulants freely and was highly excited and nervous. A 
 stick of nitrate of silver was passed throUif^h the wound several times. He 
 was kept under treatment for two days, when he left to have a ' madstoue ' 
 applied. He afterward went home to his ranch, and died in convulsions 
 twenty-one days from the time he was inoculated. 
 
 " I give but one more of the cases reported to me by Dr. .laneway. In 
 October, 1871, he was called to see a young man living in a ' dug-out,' a few 
 , miles from the fort. He had been bitten by a skunk, seventeen ilays previ- 
 ous, in the little finger of the left hand. His face was flushed, and he com- 
 plaintd that his throat seemed to bo turning into bone. On hearing the 
 sound of water poured from a pail into a tin cup, ho went into convulsions, 
 that followed each other with rapidity and violence for sixteen hours, ter- 
 minating in death. This man's dog had also been bitten, and it was sug- 
 gested that he had better be shut up. He chanced at the time to be in the 
 hog-pen, ftud he was confined in that enclosure. Ere long he began to gnaw 
 furiously »t the rails and posts of the pen and to bite the hogs ; until the by- 
 
HYDROPHOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 227 
 
 standers, convinced that he was mad, ended the scone by shootint; all the 
 animals in the pen. 
 
 "It is evidently the opinion of Dr. Janeway that the malady produced by 
 raephitic virus is simply hydrophobia. Should he be correct, then all that 
 is established by these facts would be this, viz : that henceforth the varie- 
 ties of Mephitis must be classed with those animals that spontaneously j;en- 
 erate poison in the glands of the mouth and communicate it by salivary 
 inoculation. From this, as a starting-point, we might go further and seek a 
 solution of the whole mystery of hydrophobia in the theory that this dread 
 malady primarily originates with the allied genera of Mephitis, Pulorius and 
 Muatela, widely scattered over the earth :* being from them transferred to 
 the Felidte and Canida and other families of animals. And then, if it could 
 be proved experimentally that the ch.aracteristic mephitic secretions con- 
 tained an antidote for the virus of the saliva, we should have the whole 
 subject arranged very beautifully ! 
 
 " I am favored by Dr. M. M. Spearer, surgeon in the 6th U. S. Cavalry, 
 with notes from his case-book, of four cases in which persons have died 
 from the bite of the skunk ; and he also mentions additional instances 
 reported to him by other observers. He thinks there is a marked differ- 
 ence between the symptoms of their malady and those of hydrophobia. 
 1 uhall refer to his testimony again, but pause for a moment to notice bis 
 final conclusions, from which, original and interesting as they are, I must 
 dissent. He says: ' I regard this virus as being as peculiar to the skunk as 
 the venom of the rattlesnake is to that creature ; and not an occasional out- 
 break of disease as the ajstus veneris of the wolf or the rahiea canina.' Singu- 
 lar as this theory may seem, it is not wholly without support. It is remark- 
 able that of all the cases thus far reported to me there is but one instance of 
 recovery. It is stated in Watson's Physic (vol. i, p. 615) that of one hundred 
 and fourteen bitten by rabid wolves only sixty-seven died ; and of those bit- 
 ton by rabid dogs the proportion is still less. But mephitic inoculation is 
 sure death. Then agaiu it is to be observed that the only peculiarity notice- 
 able in these biting skunks is the arrest of their effluvium. They approach 
 stealthily, while their victims are asleep, and inflict the deadly wound on 
 some minor member — the thumb, the little finger, the lobe of the ear, one of 
 the alo) of the nose. How different from the fierce assault of a mad dog ! 
 How subtle and snako-like! It may be remarked, also, that dogs are gen- 
 erally as cautious and adroit in attacking these odious enemies as they are 
 in seizing venomous snakes. But we must remember, on the other hand, 
 that thousand** r-f skunks are killed annually, partly as pests and partly for 
 the fur trade ; and it is incredible that an animal whose ordinary bite is as 
 
 " " Since forwarding this article for publication, I have obtained an answer 
 to my inquiries made in California through my friend, Dr. J. G. Tidball, 
 respecting the Me2>hitis zorilUi [i. c, M. (Spilogale) piitoriiu — E. C.]. He de- 
 scribed it as a very pretty animal which usually allows itself to be killed 
 without resistance. But he adds that its bite is highly dangerous, causing 
 a fatal disease like hydrophobia. 
 
 " I regret that he gives no particulars of actual cases ; but bis testimony 
 is interesting, as it brings into coudemaatioD a species of Mejthilis quite dif- 
 ferent from M. chinga." 
 
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 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 venomous as that f^' a rattlesnake, should so seldom resort to that mode of 
 defence, if it be his. 
 
 " The resulting disease resembles hydrophobia more than it does the effect 
 of ophidian venom. But here, as observed at the outset, the likeness is only 
 generic, while specifically there are marked differences. These have pur- 
 posely been kept in the back-ground until now. And in giving a differential 
 diagnosis, I shall avoid repetitious details, and combine facts gathered from 
 many sources \«ith the close and accurate observations which Dr. Shearer 
 has put at my disposal. 
 
 "1. The period of incubation is alike in raMea canina and. rabies mcphitica. 
 That is, it is indefinite, ranging from ten days to twelve months, with no 
 opportunity meanwhile for subsequent inoculation. But during the incu- 
 bative period of /?. mephitica, no perceptible changes take place in the con- 
 stitution as in hydrophobia. In only one instance was there unusual nerv- 
 ousness, and that might have been due to alcohol. In every case where 
 there was time for it, the wounds healed over smoothly and permanently, 
 and in several instances not even a scar was visible. In no case was there 
 recrudescence of the wound, always seen in hydrophobia. Indeed, there 
 were so few premonitions of any kind that, in most instances, the attending 
 physicians themselves supposed the ailment to be simple and trivial, until 
 the sudden and fearful convulsions came on to baffle all their skill. 
 
 "2. Characteristic pustules form in hydrophobia beneath the tongue and 
 near the orifices of the snb-maxillary glands. (See Aitkeu, Sci. and Pract. 
 Med., vol. i, p. 653.) These were not reported in a single case of B. mephilica. 
 Dr. Shearer looked for them carefully in all his cases, but did not find them. 
 
 "3. The specific action of hydrophobic virus affects the eighth pair of 
 cranial nerves and their branches, especially the (esophageal branch, the 
 result being great difficulty in swallowing ; and the motor nerve of the layx 
 [larnyx — sic], causing sighing, catching of the breath, and difficulty in 
 expelling the frothy mucus accumulated in the throat. These invariable 
 accompaniments of B. canina are usually wanting in B. mephilica; the ex- 
 ceptions being in the case of the Swedish girl, who complained of pain in 
 her chest; and the young man. Dr. Janeway's patient, whose constriction of 
 the throat was decided, as well as his sensitiveness to water. Dr. Shearer's 
 patients had no such trouble. A taxidermist, who has seen four dogs die 
 from B. mephitica, in Michigan, says they did not seem to have any fear of 
 water, or other signs which he had supposed were characteristic of B. canina. 
 Ordinary hydrophobia, again, is marked by constant hypertesthesia of the 
 skin, so that the slightest breath of air will precipitate convulsions. But, 
 in B. mephitica, faiming the face affords relief, and even cloths dipped in 
 water and laid on the forehead were soothing ! 
 
 " 4. In hydrophobia the perceptions are intensified, so that even the deaf 
 are said to have their hearing restored ; the pupils are strongly dilated, im- 
 parting to the eyes a wild, glaring expression ; the spasms are tonic, i. e., 
 steady and continuous; the pulse is feeble; and delirium Is occasionally 
 relieved by lucid intervals. But the symptoms are wholly different in B. 
 mej)hitica: there is oscillation of the pupil; the spasms are clonic, i. e., 
 markevl by rapid alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles ; small, 
 but wiry radial pulse and rapid carotids ; positive loss of perception and 
 volition throughout, until delirium ends in persistent nnconsciousness, 
 simultaneonsly with cold perspiration and relaxation of the sphincters. 
 
:'* 
 
 HYDROPHOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 229 
 
 "5. The mode of death is by asthenia in both forms of rabies; bat in R. 
 canina the frightful strugjrles of nature to eliminate the poison are more 
 prolonged than in 72. mephiiica; and in the latter they may, on occasion, be 
 still further abridged by the use of morphine, which has no narcotic effect 
 upon the former, even in the largest doses and injected into the veius ! 
 
 "I have thus endeavored to de.Hcribe, and also to explain, these strange 
 and painful phenomena. I must leave the reader to form his own decision, 
 only hoping that some one may be induced to follow this pioneer worlc iu a 
 new path, by further and more able investigations of his own. 
 
 "Kansas City, Mo., Feb. '24th, 1874." 
 
 [From the New York Medical Record, vol. x. no. 827, pp. 177-lCO, Mar. 13, 1875.] 
 "On Hydrophobia. — By John G. Janeicay, M. D,, Assiatant Surgeon, U. S. A, 
 
 "A writer* in the American Journal of Science and Art, May, 1874, states 
 that ' it is evidently the opinion of Dr. Janeway that the malady produced 
 by the mephitic virus is simply hydrophobia. Should he be correct, then 
 all that is established by these facts would be this, viz.: that henceforth the 
 varieties mephitis must be classed with those animals that spontaneously 
 generate poison in the glands of the mouth and communicate it by salivary 
 iiioculation.'[t] The personal observation of fifteen fatal cases of hydropho- 
 bia, produced by the bite of rabid animals, skunks, wolves, and hogs.t and 
 the reliable statements of a number of other cases, has fully couHrmed me 
 in the opinion above stated, that the malady produced by mephitic virus is 
 simply hydrophobia. 
 
 " The following five cases are taken from the iifteeu fatal cases that have 
 fallen under my observation : 
 
 "Case I. Bite of Skdnk. — Was called to visit Wm. P., aged nineteen, a 
 herder, whom I was told by the messenger had been acting strangely all the 
 morning. I found him lying on a bed iA a sod-house, dressed, with several 
 of his companions around him. Face Hushed, pulse very rapid, the heat of 
 skin intense and dry, eyes brilliant and pupils dilated rather more than 
 natural, extremely restless and frequently catching at his throat ; upon 
 questioning, replied that his throat was turning into bone. Hud not felt 
 well for two or three days ; did not know what wds the matter with him. 
 Upou pouring out some water from a pail near by, to admiuister morphia to 
 him, he went suddenly into convulsions. 
 
 " Suspecting hydrophobia immediately, aa soon as he regained conscious- 
 ness I learned that he had been bitteu by a skunk, just before daybreak, 
 seventeen days before, in the little linger of the left hand ; that the wound 
 was small and soon healed ; that for two days preceding my seeing him bis 
 
 * " Rev. Horace C. Hovey, M. A." 
 
 t [There is some typographical confhsion in the quotation-marks at the 
 opening of Dr. Janeway's article ; and Dr. Janeway does not quote Mr. 
 Hovey's literally, leaving it liable to be misunderstood whose opinion is be- 
 ing quoted. I have slightly altered the text in this place, to reproduce the 
 quotation literally from the original. — E. C] 
 
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 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
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 finger and arm had felt iinmb. Upon examining the finger, slight redness 
 was observed at the place bitten, tongue slightly furred and somewhat 
 swollen, no so-called ' characteristic pustules ' were to be seen. Thirst in- 
 tense and begged for water, but the sound of dipping the water from the 
 pail throw him immediately into still more terrible convulsions, frequent 
 sighing, aud catching his breath. Administer hypodermic injections of 
 morphia without avail. Upon the arrival of chloroform, which I had sent 
 fur, its administration gave partial relief for a short time. His endeavors 
 to free himself of the tenacious mucus were terrible, when the incautious 
 upsetting of a pail of water again threw him into convulsions, opisthotonous 
 in character, followed by attempts at biting those holding him, and when 
 consciousness was regained, asking pardon for so doing. Hyperussthesia 
 existed in a very marked degree iu this case. Death came to his relief in 
 about eighteen hours from the time of his first convulsion. 
 
 " Cask II. Brrn of Skunk.— An emigrant from Wisconsin, camped on the 
 north fork of Big Creek, about seven miles from Hays, applied to me in the 
 fall of 1872 for dressing for his hand, which had been bitten between the 
 thumb and index finger of his left hand, the night previously, by a skunk. 
 Cauteri/ed the wound well, and directed him to repeat the cauterization 
 twice a day. Saw nothing of him for twelve days, when I was sent for, and 
 upon arriving at his camp found him iu convulsions, which were repeated 
 rapidly. Face flushed, eyes brilliant, pupils rather contrticted, skin hot and 
 dry, pulse small and rapid, 120, no so-called ' characteristic pustules ' under 
 the tongue. When not in convulsions, mind clear and fully aware of the 
 fate that jiwaited him. From his wife I learned that after the third day of 
 using the caustic the wound healed and gave him no further trouble ; that 
 for three days he had been complaining of some fulness in the head, and a 
 general ' malaise,' neither sick nor well ; that the convulsions came on 
 about seven hours previous to my seeing him, suddenly, upon attempting to 
 take a drink from a spring close to their camp; that he would go into con- 
 vulsions whenever water or tea was offered him, and that the faintest 
 breath of air would cause him the greatest anguish, so that she had to put 
 a blanket up before the door. Death followed in twenty-one hours after 
 seizure. 
 
 " Cask III. Bite of Skunk.— A hunter, in the latter part of October, 1872, 
 applied to me to be treated for a bite through the right ala of the nose. 
 He had been attacked by a skunk while iu camp on the Smoky Hill river 
 two nights previous. Having learned, previous to my seeing him, that 
 skunk-bites would produce hydrophobia, he had imbibed freely, and was 
 decidedly under the influence of liquor when I saw him, evidently nervous 
 about himself, but trying to conceal the fact. 
 
 "A stick of nitrate of silver was passed repeatedly through the wound. 
 Actual cautery was proposed, but be would not consent to its use. After 
 being under treatment two days he left aud went to Missouri, to have the 
 mad-stone applied ; returning from there, he followed his occupation. 
 Twenty-one days after he was bitten he was taken with convulsions, and 
 died about an hour after I got to his ranch, nearly thirty hours after the 
 seizure. From one of his companions I learned that after his return from 
 Missouri he was cheerful and in apparent health up to the day before his 
 seizure, when he complained of pain in his nose and face, headache, chilly. 
 
 
 I! 
 
HYDROPHOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE 
 
 231 
 
 and feeliu); tired, but bad no apprebenHioa concerning biniself. Tbe Arst 
 symptom, t be morning tbe disease developed itself, was a feeling of con- 
 striction in tbe tbroat, togetber with dryness, opisthotonos, with decided 
 mania preceding the spasms. 
 
 " Case IV. Bite of Wolf. — A private of Co. F, Sixth Cavalry, was bitten 
 by a wolf one evening, just after be had come off post, in tbe lobe of the 
 left ear, in tbe early part of October, 1873. Tbe wound was freely cauter- 
 ized with nitrate of silver by tbe surgeon of the camp. On tbe 'i8th of tbe 
 same month be applied to me for medicine for headache, which was given 
 to him. On the 30th he again applied for medicine, stating that be did not 
 feel sick enough to go on the sick report. Knowing tbe man's history, I 
 cautiously examined him, and questioned him in such a way as not to ex- 
 cite his fears. I found that tbe lobe of the ear that had been bitten was 
 quite numb to tbe touch. No other symptoms presented themselves promi- 
 nently. There was, however, a general malaise. Tbe day following, the 
 man was in tbe ranks for muster and inspection. Observing him, I saw at 
 once that something was wrong, and upon reporting bis case be was ordered 
 to his quarters, by the commanding officer. Fifteen minutes later I was 
 sent for to see him, and found him in convulsions, which the orderly in- 
 formed me came on upon bis attempts to take a drink of water. He was at 
 once removed to the hospital. He suffered from cold, he told me, whilst 
 being conveyed there. Examination revealed alternately contracting and 
 dilating pupils ; skin very hot ; temperature 102°, 102.5°, 100°, by three 
 examinations, with the thermometer in the axilla ; pulse 120-125, alternat- 
 ing in volume before and after a spasm, but constantly rapid. Tongue some- 
 what swollen and indented by tbe teeth on the edge; thick, whitish fur ; 
 no so-called 'characteristic pustules' under the tongue. Tiiirst intense; 
 no irritability or sensation in tbe wound of the ear ; constriction of the 
 pharynx; increasing violent attempts to relieve himself of tbe thick and 
 tenacious saliva ; sound produced resembling more tbe bark of a wolf than 
 any sound ever heard. Complete inability to swallow any liquid, the at- 
 tempt ending in a convulsion. Mental faculties perfect when not in spasm ; 
 fully aware that death must end the scene. Towards the close the convul- 
 sions were longer and of greater strength, with frequent furious attempts 
 to bite his attendants, for which he would beg their pardon time and again. 
 Death took place suddenly in thirty hours. 
 
 " Case V. Bite of Dog. — A man, aged about 46, attached to a bay-camp, 
 applied to me in August, 1873, to dress his band, which bad been terribly 
 lacerated by a favorite hound that day. He stated that bis dog bad been 
 acting rather strangely for several days, but that up to that time had 
 always come to him when called, and had appeared as affectionate as ever ; 
 that a strange dog bad appeared in camp, and that his dog had attacked it 
 furiously ; he attempted to separate them, when his dog turned and bit him 
 through the hand, his teeth passing completely through from side to side ; 
 that immediately after biting him be (dog) bad run off a short distance and 
 laid down in a pool of water. Cauterizing the wound freely I directed him 
 to report at the hospital next morning, when the eschar was removed and 
 bis hand was again cauterized. Tbe following day he called at the hospital 
 and stated that he had shot his dog, and was satisfied that be was mad, and 
 that be was going that day to Missouri to have a mad-stone applied. Ue 
 
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 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
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 renmined there a week, and then returned and rejoined the hay-camp. On 
 the twenty-f(inrth day after he was bitten, I whh sent for to visit him at the 
 hay-camp, on the Smoky Hill river, lying in a wagon-bed, and was saluted 
 with, 'Doctor, that dog has killed me ; I know that I have got the hydro- 
 phobia, and that I shall die.' His face flushed ; skin hot ; pnlse very ra})id 
 and small, liio; tongue furred, brownish, swollen; complained that his 
 throat was turning into bone, and that he could not swallow; if he saw 
 any liquid, thought he would like to drink a bucketful of water just once. 
 On attempting to give him some morphia in solution the convulsions were 
 ushered in. He had been well up to the morning he sent for me. The first 
 symptom he noticed was the feeling of constriction in his throat, and he 
 noticed a slight increase of redness in the wounds on his hand, though there 
 was no pain. Had seen several cases of hydrophobia, and at the earnest 
 solicitation of his wife had sent for me. Left him powders, of twenty grains 
 each, hydrate chloral, to be given in moist sugar every three hours, and 
 promised to see him next morning. I saw him the following morning, and 
 found him decidedly worse; convulsions more frequent and stronger; pulse 
 smaller and extremely rapid ; tongue more swollen ; no so-called ' charac- 
 teristic pustules' to be found after caieful search; eyes brilliant, with 
 rather a contracted pnpil ; great difficulty of swallowing, though he was 
 able to sup up a little water through some straw from a covered cup ; had 
 considerable sleep from the chloral, but his stomach had rejected the last 
 dose, and he was unable to take any more ; mental faculties clear, could tell 
 the approach of a convulsion, and begged his wife and attendants to take 
 care ; much increase of the thick tenacious saliva, and greater difficulty in 
 freeing himself of it. No alteration in appearance of wound. The con- 
 vulsions became more frequent, stronger, and longer in duration. He in- 
 sisted upon being chained down to the wagon bed to prever^ his injuring 
 any one. Chloroform was left, with directions as to use. T a day follow- 
 ing I found him barely alive, unconscious, with frequent feeble spasms. 
 Death ended the terrible scene after thirty-seven hours of sufl'erings. In 
 this case there was no marked hypero^sthesia of the skin complained of. 
 
 "Neither can I agree with the writer of the paper mentioned above, that 
 niephitic inoculation is sure death. For the result of one case of bite from 
 a rabid skunk, which will be detailed more fully hereafter, the report of 
 eight others (six hunters and two soldiers) that were bitten, and also from 
 having in my possession two dogs, one a setter and the other a black-aud- 
 tan, which have been repeatedly bitten in encounters with these animals 
 and have as yet never evinced any symptom of the disease, will not permit 
 me to concur with him. That more cases, proportionally, may result fatally 
 from the bite of this animal, than from the bite of rabid dogs or wolves, is 
 probably, if not actually, the case ; still, there are obvious reasons for it to 
 be so. An animal nocturnal in its habits, generally timid, but armed with 
 a powerful battery to resist any injury or affront ; one that will not attempt 
 to bite in defence until the secretion provided for it by uature is exhausted, 
 loses that secretion by the disease. It is a well-authenticated fact that 
 rabid skunks are entirely free from the odor so characteristic of these ani- 
 mals, which could not occur if the secretion was not exhausted, and forget- 
 ting its normal timidity will attack any person or animal he may come in 
 contact with, biting the most exposed art of the body, the alte of the nose, 
 
 ■ •4 f'/'J. 
 
HYDROPHOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 233 
 
 ilie lobo of the ear, the thumb, or one of the flofcers, and passes on. Here 
 iH probably the reason these bites are more fatal than those of other ani- 
 mals— always in a vascular part not protected by clothing, which prevents 
 by wiping away the poisonous saliva in the fierce attacks of the mad dog 
 or wolf, and thus saves the life of the one bitten. At a frontier post* this 
 was well illustrated. A mud wolf suddenly sprang upon the officer of the 
 day, who was making his round, and bit him on the arm, through his cloth- 
 ing; p&ssing on, he bit a sentinel on post in the wrist, between the sleeve 
 of his coat and glove, and then sprang upon a woman who was nursing a 
 child near by, and bit her on the shoulder through a thick woollen shanl. 
 All the cases were treated the same. The officer and the woman escaped 
 the dread disease, but the soldier died of hydrophobia. A recent writer t 
 says m reference to bites of rabid dogs : 'The documents of investigation 
 furnish indications full of interest in regard to the more or less iunocnous- 
 uess of bites, according to the different parts of the body upon which they 
 were inflicted. If we compare the fatal with the harmless bites made upon 
 the same region, we find that out of thirty-two cases where the face was 
 bitten, twenty-nine proved fatal, which gives these wounds a mortality of 
 ninety per cent. Out of seventy-three cases, in which the wonnds were 
 upon the hands, they have been fatal in only forty-six cases, harmless in 
 twenty-seven, giving an average mortality of sixty-three per cent. In 
 comparing wounds of the arms and logs with those of the face and hands, 
 the ratio is inverted; twenty-eight wounds upon the arms were followed by 
 only eight fatal terminations, and twenty-four bites upon the lower limbs 
 gave only seven fatal cases ; seventeen remained harmless, showing a mor- 
 tality of twenty eight to twenty-nine per cent., and an innocuousness of 
 seventy to twenty-one per cent., and, lastly, the ratio mortality for wounds 
 upon the body is shown as f<dlows : Out of uineteeu bitten, twelve cases 
 were fatal and seven bites proved harmless.' 
 
 "These facts are confirmatory of those afforded by other statistics, demon- 
 strating also that rabid wounds upon uncovered or unprotected parts, such 
 as the face and hands, are mnch more readily contagious than those of the 
 arms and legs, which the teeth of the animal cannot reach without passing 
 through a portion of the clothing, which wipes ofl' the virulent moisture 
 from the teeth. It is true the consequences of bites upon the body seem to 
 conflict with this statement : but we must remember that generally these 
 wounds are more severe, and among them some are uncovered parts, such 
 as the neck and chest, and that, when a man is attacked by a rabid animal 
 and bitten upon the body, he ;> also bitten upon his hands, which are his 
 material means of defence. Anoi^ner reason for the apparent large propor- 
 tion of fatal cases from skunk bite is, that it is only since 1871 that these 
 cases have been collected, or that the fact of hydrophobia existing in and 
 following the bites of these animals has been generally known, and only 
 those cases proving fatal have been reported, the non-fatal cases, from the 
 trivial character of the wound, not being considered of sufficient importance 
 to report. 
 
 . V! .V "a cask of skunk bite VOt FATAL. (.'-•*•<? .^'l;v..■ .1, ;,,.;* 
 
 " W., a young man, twenty-two years old, born in Missouri, commonly known 
 
 *" Fo>t Lamed, Kansas." 
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 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
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 by the Honbriqnot ' Pike County,' driving a team for a party of enngrants for 
 Colorado, waa bitten at night, in the early part of May, ld74, upon lott cheek, 
 by a sknnk, whilst camped at Park's Fort,* Kansas. A companion, who was 
 bitten by the same animal, freely cauterized the wound. Early the next 
 day he presented himself at the hospital for treatment. Removing the eschar 
 I cauterized it again freely with caustic, and directed that he take i^th grain 
 of strychnia every three hours during the day, with vegetable tonics and full 
 diet, the wound to be cauterized morning and night, and a poultice to bo 
 applied one hour before retouching to remove the eschar and promote sup- 
 puration. No cbaraoteristic symptoms being produced by the strychnia on 
 the fourth day, it was increased to T^th grain dose, given as before. Sup- 
 puration was fairly set up in the wound and continued ; four days after, 
 Htryclinia increased to grain ^th, and continued at that for four days without 
 any symptoms of its toxic effects. The dose was then increased to grain 
 ^th, and continued for six days without the patient being conscious of any 
 jerkings, though the night nurse and some of the patients stated that ho 
 jerked somewhat more than natural when asleep. Suppuration of the wound 
 continued free under the caustic and poultices: the dose of strychnia was 
 then increased to grain i, and I watched him very carefully, for the slightest 
 appearance of the eifcct of the medicine, for six days. On the last day I 
 detected some slight iu' ^luntary twitching of the muscles of the face, and 
 reduced tlie dose. Two days after reducing he remarked that he guessed that 
 he was safe from hydrophobia, as the strychnia bad not killed him. The 
 wound was allowed to heal up, which it did rapidly, and a few days after he 
 left the hospital, and I saw him three mouths after perfectly well. 
 
 " The above case shows either, first, that the man was not inoculated by 
 the virus when bitten ; second, a wonderful tolerance for the drug if he was 
 not so inoculated ; or, third, that acting primarily as a tonic to the nerve 
 elements it enabled them to resist the invasion of the disease, and together 
 with the frequent cauterization and free suppuration, to eliminate the poison 
 from the system. (That the strychnia used was a good article was proved 
 by the effect of a small dose upon an obnoxious cur of medium size.) I am 
 inclined to the latter, for that the animal causing the wound was undoubt- 
 edly rabid is proved by the fact that the companion who was bitten by the 
 same animal, in the camp, on the same evening, was reported to have died 
 from hydrophobia about ten days after being bitten, and should another case 
 present, would adopt the same treatment and push the drug until its char- 
 acteristic effects upon the system presented. 
 
 " Rabies Mephitica, like Rabies Canina, is evidently epidemical, no cases of 
 it having been reported previous to 1870 in this region. 
 
 " The period of incubation is alike in Rabies Canina and Rabies Mephitica 
 (so called), that is, it is indefinite, ranging from ten days to ninety days, no 
 opportunity in the meanwhile being afforded for subsequent inoculation of 
 hydrophobia. Statistics show that the manifestations of the disease have 
 been most numerous during the first sixty days, and that after a bite from a 
 rabid animal the probabilities of escape increase considerably when sixty 
 days have passed and no symptoms of the disease have shown themselves, 
 and that after the ninety days entire immunity is almost certain. Still, I 
 am aware that cases are reported of a longer period of incubation. These 
 
 ~~~' "~~ -""Park's'Fort" KfR R. W." ,. , 
 
HYDROPHOBIA FROM SKUNK-BITE. 
 
 235 
 
 are exceptional, and when reported to extend beyond the fonrth month it 
 may be qnestioned whether the patient has not been unconsciously inocu- 
 lated by the careHses of a pot dog, suft'oring from the disease unsuspected, 
 from tetanus, or, as Baron Larrey* remarked, when coramentatiuK upon Dr. 
 Ferool's case of hydrophobia with two years and a half incubation : * For 
 my part I should be disposed to regard his case not as an example of rabies, 
 with an incubation of two years and a half, but as one of cerebral hydro- 
 phobia or symptomatic of acute delirium, provoked or aggravated by the 
 coincidence of the bite of a dog presumed to be mad.' In all the cases from 
 the bite of a skunk the prodromic stage of the disease was more or less 
 marked, though none of them amounting to acute melancholy. An indefinite 
 feeling of dread and a general malaise — the most prominent symptoms, 
 together, in most cases, with pr:n or numbness at the seat of the wound, 
 were present from one to three days. To most of these unfortunates the 
 fearful result of the trivial wound they had received was unknown, and 
 unaware of their perilous condition were not incessantly tormented with 
 sad forebodings or dread of the onset of the malady. 
 
 " 2. The characteristic pustules which the writer of Rabies Mephitica lays 
 stress upon were not found in any of the ccses of hydrophobia produced 
 either by the bite of the skunk, wolf, or dog. Niemeyer t states that ' the 
 assertions of Marochetti, who claims that during the incubation stage vesi- 
 cles form beneath the tongue, and that by destroying these vesicles the out- 
 break of the disease can be avertefl, have not been substantiated.' 
 
 " 3. That the invariable accompaniments of Rabies Canina were not want- 
 ing in the cases of R. Mephitica. The specitic actit)n of the poison was made 
 manifest first by the oesophageal branch of the eighth pair, gi :'ing rise to 
 the characteristic symptom of the disease, or to the extreme difficulty of 
 swallowing, especially of fluids ; then the frequent catching of breath no- 
 ticed in all cases, showing that the recurrent nerve was also affected ; later 
 brilliant eye, and the sense of touch becomes painfully excited, hyperajsthe- 
 sia existing in a marked degree, with the exceptiou,of the case reported of 
 R. Canina, all of which point to some lesion of the central and spinal nerves. 
 That the brain itself, and especially the region of the medulla oblongata 
 becomes affected by the terrible convulsions and delirium in the more ad- 
 vanced stage of the malady. The spasms in all the cases were unlike' those 
 of tetanus, less continuous, remittent, and often intermittent. In none of 
 the cases produced by the skunk bite was there any loss of perception. In 
 no case that I saw did morphia have any effect in abridging the fearful 
 struggles; death either ended with convulsions, or exhausted by the terrible 
 exertions a sudden calm took place, and, as if nature gave up the conflict, 
 died without a groan." 
 
 * " Loudon Medical Times and Gazette, Aug. 8, 1874, p. 159." 
 t " Niemeyer, Pract. of Med," 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 !' I 
 
 mm 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ME PHITINzE— Continued: Skunks. 
 
 The genus Mephitis, continued — Mephilis macrura, the Long-tailed Mexican 
 Sltiink — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific cliaracters — Description — Tlieaiib- 
 genwi Spilogale — Mephitis (Spilogale) pnforitia, the Little Striped Skunk — 
 Synonymy — Habitat — Specific charactera — D.^^cription of external char- 
 acters — Description of the sknll and tenth — History of the species — The 
 ({eniis Conepatus — Conepatus mapurilo, the White-backed Skunk — Synon- 
 ymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external characters — 
 Description of the skull aiul teeth — Descriptiou of the anal ((lauds — Geo- 
 (rraphical distribution and habits. 
 
 THE length of the foregoing chapter having rendered a 
 division of the parts of the work relating to Mephinnrc 
 ndviisable, I continue directly with an acconnt of the other 
 Bpecies of the genus Mephitis, and of the genus Conepatus. 
 
 Iioiiff-tailefl Ulexican iSkiink. 
 
 9I«phitis macriira. 
 
 Mephilis mafroura, liicR Darst. Siiug. isa7-;i4, pi. 46, "f.l,2"; Abh. Alt. Wis8. Berl. 1*36 
 (IH3S),277.— M'aj/>i«r, Suppl. Sehrehur, ii. 1841, IdS.—Sehim, S.yn. i. 1844, 323, no. li.— 
 Buifdy M. N. A. 1857, 200.— To»ft«», V. Z. S. 188 1, 280.— (/ere. Cut. Bones Br. Mils. 18oi, 97. 
 [Nut nacrours of And. &. Bnch., nor of Woodhonse.] 
 
 Mephilis mcxlcana, Gray, Mag. N. H. i. 1837, 581; P.Z.S. 18G3, 149; Cat Cam. Br. Miis. 
 1869, — . 
 
 ? .Uemiltillls edulls, Iterlandier, MSS. ined.* ' . 
 
 Quid Mevhltis lUDKlcandata, Tomes, P.Z. S. 1861,280 (Quatemala) t 
 
 * Tho animal referred to by Burlaudier is probably this species. " Smaller 
 than the Polecat. Length of head and body 13 inches; tail 11; black ; a 
 white frontal line; another on the uape, dividing into two lateral ones, after- 
 ward converging near the root of the tail, on which they unite ; tail white- 
 tipped. Inhabits most of Mexico. I have found it about Sau Fernando de 
 Bexar, and in eastern interior States, where it is improperly called Zorillo. 
 It may be tamed ; is rather nocturnal; hunts various small animals ; is slow 
 and heavy in its movements, and bites forcibly. The fluid is highly phos- 
 phorescent by night. The natives are fond of its flush; they kill it, taking 
 care not to irritate it, remove the anal glaads entire, cut otf the head and 
 feet, singe off the hair, and broil the flesh. I overcame my repugnance on 
 one occasion and tasted the meat, which I found not disagreeable; it re- 
 sembled young pork." (Freely translated with abridgment from the original 
 MSS.) 
 
 236 ~~ 
 
DESCRIPTION OF MEPHITIS MACRUHA. 
 
 237 
 
 Hah. — Mexico. (Not known to occur in tlm United StatoH.) 
 
 Si'KCIkk; ciiAi<ACTKR8. — Tail very lonjj, tiio veitoltim alone nearly as lon;j 
 
 nn tlio lieail and body; tail with liali-a not Hliortur than the heai' "nd body. 
 
 A broad undivided white docHal area (as in Convpalitu), with laic'ral Mtripo 
 
 and frontal streak (iu the Hpccimen examined). 
 
 Description.* 
 
 The specimen wliicli I refer without hesitation to thi.s species 
 is considerably smaller than M. mephitica, in fact little exceed- 
 ing Spihgale jmtoriiiH, with a tail (including hairs) longer than 
 the head and bmly, and other characters indicating specific 
 validity. 
 
 I have no doubt that this specimen represents Lii'htcnstein's 
 animal, described as above cited, from IMexico. The M. rittata 
 of the same author, op. cit. pi. 47 (also Abhand. Akad. Wiss. 
 Berlin for .1836, 1838, 278; Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. ii. 1841; 
 Baird, M. N. A. 1857, 200), from Oaxaca, is based upon certain 
 slight peculiarities of color, and does not seem to be specifically 
 f'istr'iguishable. But I have seen no specimens corresponding 
 with Lichtenstein-s descriptions, and consequently do not ven- 
 ture to commit myself in the matter. 
 
 The general physiognomy is that of true Mephitis, the snout 
 very acutely pointed but not produced, and closely furred to 
 the sm all, rounded, definitely naked nasal pad. The nostrils are 
 antero-lateral. The ears are much as in M. mephitica — perhaps 
 rather smaller. The fore claws seem to be remarkably long, 
 slender, and curved ; the outer reaches more than halfway to 
 the end of the fourth, while the first barely attains the base of 
 the second. There may be some peculiarity in the tubercula- 
 tion of the soles, but this cannot well be made out in the dried 
 specimen. The palms are perfectly naked ; the soles the same, 
 excepting a little space on the side of the heel. The tail-ver- 
 tebrae appear just to about equal in length the head and body, 
 which is not the case in any other species of the family I have 
 seen. The tail is much less bushy than usual in Mephitis proper, 
 but seems to have been in this specimen somewhat worn away. 
 
 In coloration, this species curiously combines the broad white 
 dorsal area of Conepattts with lateral dorsal stripes and frontal 
 streak of Mephitis mephitica. The white dorsal area begins 
 squarely on the UHpe and continues uninterrupted to the tail, 
 but is only pure white anteriorly, being elsewhere of a grayish 
 
 * Fruui No. do60, Mus. Siuiths., Orizaba, Mexico, Botteri. 
 
 1 
 
 ! ■ >' 
 
 1 
 
 li! 
 
 !' 
 
 jf 
 
238 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 
 cast, aad between tbe shoulders a small irregular blrck spot 
 appears, leading to tbe supposition tbat tbe wbite dorsal area 
 in this species is liable to tbe same variations tbat are known 
 to exist in otber specie s. In addition to tbis general white area, 
 a slight wbite lateral stripe starts independently over each 
 shoulder and is continued for a little distance along tbe sides — 
 in this specimen fuii<her on one side than on tbe other. The 
 frontal streak is short and slight. There is a white area 
 on the breast between the fore legs, prolonged backward as a 
 streak — it is probably not constant, but then I have never seen 
 any wbite on the under surface of M. mephitica! (compare 
 expression in Linnseus's diagnosis of his Viverra memphitia of the 
 lOtb edition— "»M6tw« ex albo et nigro variegatus"). Tbe tail 
 is entirely and intimately mixed black and white — viewed from 
 below, we see chiefly hairs pure white at base and black at end, 
 from above, mixed white and black-and-white hairs, {)roducing a 
 grizzled gray cast, and in direct continuation of the dorsal stripe. 
 (This is exactly as given by Lichtenstein ; Gray's description 
 gi^es the tail as black ; the variation is thus seen to be as in 
 tboi allied species.) 
 
 The dimensions of a dried but fairly well-stuffed specimen 
 are as follows : Nose to root of tail about 13 inches (Lichten- 
 stein says 14) ; tail-vertebrte nearly the same, but rather less 
 (13 inches — Licht.), the hairs in this instance under three inches 
 longer (5 inches — Licht.). Fore foot 2 inches, of which the 
 longest claw is 0.65 ; hind foot 2.25. 
 
 This species was supposed (but erroneously as far as known) 
 to inhabit the United States by Audubon and Bachman and by 
 Woodhouse, the animal described by these authors being simply 
 the common M. mephitica under one of its interminable color- 
 variations. ; 
 
 The Subgenus &r>ILOGALE. (Gray.) 
 
 The characters of this subgenus having been indicated on a 
 preceding page (p. 192), we may at once proceed to consider 
 the single known species. 
 
 .'- , ■*•» t 
 
SYNONYMY OF MEPHITIS PUTOKIUS. 239 
 
 The Little Striped Skiinii. ; 
 
 Mephitis (Siillogale) pntorlns. (L.) 'ly '■''•'' 
 
 Plates XII, XIII. XIV. 
 
 Vlverra putoriUS, L. & N. I. lOth ed. 1758, 44, no. 3 ; 1. 1766, 64, no. 4 (partly. Baaed primarily 
 upon Putiirius atneriranug striatus, Catesb. Car. ii. 1731, 63, pi. 6'i- Quota's also Kalm, ' 
 Itlu. ii. 378. Includes syns. and descr. of T. memphitis of 10th ed. DiaRnosis agrees 
 sufficiently with Spilogale ; general bearing rather upon MephitU mephitiea).—Qm. 
 S. N. i. 1788, 87, no. 4 (partly). 
 
 Rpllogale piitorlUH, Couet, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv. Terr. 2d ser. no. 1, 1875, p. 12 
 (skull and teeth). 
 
 MephltiN Interrupta, i?a^. Ann. Xat. 1818, 3, no. 4 ("Lonisiana ").— Z««». Man. 1827, 152, no. 
 ill.— Griff. An. Kingd. v. 1827, 1'JQ, no. 35f>r.— Finch. Syn. 1829, \6i.—Licht. Abh. Akad. 
 Wiss. Berl. 1836 (1838), 2t3, pi. 2, f. l.—Schim, Syn. i. 1844, 325, no. 16. (All after liaji- 
 neiique.) 
 
 Rpilogale interrupta. Gray, P. Z. S. 1P65, 150; Cat Cam. Br. Mus. ISfiO, — . 
 
 Mephitis birolor. Gray, Mag. N. H. i. 1837, 581.— Botrd, M. X. A. 1857, l9^.—^arker, Am. Nat 
 iv. 1870, 376 ; iv. 1871, 761 (Iowa, and probably New York).— 4 Uen, Bull. M. 0. Z. ii. 1871, 
 169 (Florida, common).— Jlferr. U. S. Geol. Saw. Terr. 1872, 662 (Idaho). 
 
 Mephitis zorilla, LicKt. Abh Akad. Wiss. Beriin, 1836 (pub. 1838), pi. 2, f. 2 (not of Licht., 
 Darst. pi. 48, f. 2, which is an African species— whether the Zurille of Bnft"., xiii. 1765, 
 302, pi. 41 ? } }.— \ragn. Suppl. Schreber, ii. 1841, 199, pi. IZi.—Schinz, Syn. i. 1844, 325, na 
 15.— And. <fi Bach. Q. N. A. iii. 1854, 276 (tab. nulla). 
 
 Mephitis amerirana var. R., Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 187 (= interrupta Raf). 
 
 Mephitis quaterliHearls,' E. IT. Winans, writing from Williamsport, Kaus., in a (Kansas?) 
 newHpa|)eT, name unknown, date 18.59.* 
 
 *My eudeavurs to couiplete the reference, and thus place the synouyui 
 properly on record, have been unavailing. The newspaper clipping which 
 came into my possession does not include even the name of the paper — 
 nothing but ii date, " 1859", in MS., which I recognize as that of Prof. Baird, 
 who, however, has no recollection of the source of the clip. The following 
 is the article in full, with typography copied as closely as possible : — 
 
 "Mephitis Quaterlinearis.— Win.— Four>striped Skunk. 
 
 "dental FORM ALA. . . 
 
 " Incisive 6-6 ; Canine 1-1— l-l ; Molar 4-4—5-5 = 34. 
 
 " From point of nose to end of tail, vertebrae, S2j^ inches. 
 
 " From heel to top of shoulder, 4^. 
 
 " Length of hair in end of tail, . ^ 
 
 " Middle toe nail, {. 
 
 " General color, pure black ; a spot of white on either side of the bead be- 
 tween the eye and ear, another between the eyes, making three on the bead. 
 Four parallel lines of wliite about one fourth of an inch in breadth and three- 
 fourths of an inch apart, have their origon about the posterior part of the 
 head, the two upper originally on either side of the occiput, while the two 
 lower have their commencement behind and at the lower part of each ear, 
 all of which are carried directly backward to the posterior ribs, where the 
 lower lines terminate and the upper curving downward and forward then 
 rather ascend to the hind part of the shoulder where they descend one inch 
 to the elbow joint. A transverse band of white crosses the fore part of the 
 hips with an interruption of one inch at the side of the back. A spot of 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 lill! 
 
 ij 1 
 
 ' Ml! 
 
 
 t 
 
 
240 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 f f f MepbltiN myotlH, Fiseh. Syn. 1829, 162 (baoedon lietepiiante, Da Pratz, Lonla. ii. 97, flg. 
 
 (not identiflable, but very likely belonging here). 
 Little Striped Skunk, Auf/iorj. 
 Moufette Intcrrompue, Less. l.e. 
 Stinkthler mit unterbrochenen Blnden, iSTeMnz, {. e. 
 
 Hah. — United States, southerly. Carolina, Georgia, Florida. Iowa, Kan- 
 sas, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado. Washington Territory. Southwestern 
 States and Territories. Cape St. Lucas, (f New York.) 
 
 Specific charactkrs. — Black or blackish, with numerous white stripes 
 aud spotp, and tail white-tipped. Small; a foot or less long; tail (with 
 1 airs) obviously shorter than the body. 
 
 I! 
 
 Description of external characters.* 
 
 This animal is the smallest of the American species, as 
 fully indicated by the measurements given beyond. In form, 
 it agrees closely with the common species, excepting in the 
 shortness of the tail, in which there is a decided approach to 
 Conepatus. The tail- vertebrae are considerably less than half 
 as long as the head aud body, the tail with its hairs being 
 obviously less than the length of the head and body, although 
 this member is full and bushy. The pelage differs from that 
 of M. mephitica in being notably finer, softer, and closer. In 
 other respects of external form, the species agrees closely with 
 M. mephitica — so closely that further details are not required. 
 
 white on the upper part of each thigh ; one on either side of the root of the 
 tail; and a tuft of white hair arises from the tip of the tail; nose covered 
 with short hair which is naked. More or less fur is interspersed with the 
 long hair to the extremity of the tail differing in respect from the common 
 American Skunk (Mephitis Chinga); and, also in being less in size and 
 weight and having a finer and denser pelage differently striped and spotted 
 and being of a more slendor form. Its habits, so far as they are known, 
 agree with those of the last named species. 
 
 " Its geographical distribution is not yet determined the specimens which 
 I have examined were obtained in Kansas and vary in their markings as oth- 
 ers of the genus. The abovo specimen was a male taken on the 16th of Dec, 
 1858, excessively poor and weighed only one pound three ounces avoirdupois. 
 
 "/Another malespecimen which I examined weighed two pounds; his meas- 
 nremeuts being rather less thau the above ; his markings were similar ex- 
 cepting they were hner. The three white spots about the head and the tuft 
 of white hair in the end of the tail do not appear to be subject to any varia- 
 tion. The female differs from the male in being smaller. — After a careful in- 
 vestigation I DOW venture to introdace this u amiual as here-to-fore being a 
 nondescript. 
 
 "EDGAR W. WINANS. 
 
 " Williamsport, Shawnee Co., K. T." 
 
 * From No. 11£ ' Mus. Smiths. last.^ Fonntaiu, Colorado, C. E. Aiken. 
 
^mn 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF MEPHITIS PUTORIUS. 
 
 241 
 
 lu color, this animal is black or blackish, relieved with white, 
 like the other species. But the number and disposition of the 
 markings are peculiar, affording specific characters in spite of 
 an almost endless diversity in detail of the numerous white 
 spots and stripes by which it is superficially distinguished from 
 all its allies. The fantastic harlequin-liko coloratiou is scarcely 
 duplicated in any two specimetfs; in fact, the opposite sides of 
 the same specimen show sometimes an appreciably different 
 pattern. The markings are difficult of adequate expression in 
 words that shall cover all their modifications; and those of the 
 same specimen might easily be described in such different ways 
 as to convey an impression of distinct species — as indeed has 
 been done. The following formula, drawn from the most com- 
 monly observed state of the markings, probably covers most 
 cases : — 
 
 Black. A white spot on forehead between eyes. A white 
 spot on each cheek in front of ear more or less confluent with 
 a white stripe which starts behind the ear. Indefinite white 
 touches on chin and about angle of mouth. Four parallel equi- 
 distant white stripes on fore part of body above, beginning op- 
 posite the ears; the lower, lateral or external pair of these end- 
 ing back of the shoulder, the median pair curving around the 
 end of the lateral pair, downward and then forward to the fore 
 leg. A white stripe transversely across the flanks, broken in 
 two by an interruption on the median line of the back. A pair 
 of white spots on the middle of the back Just in advance of the 
 last named stripe. A white spot over each hip. A pair of white 
 spots at base of tail. A white tuft at end of tail. 
 
 The notorious inconstancy of the white markings of Skunks, 
 even of those in which the pattern is normally simplest, find) 
 room for exaggeration in the highest degree in this case where 
 the normal markings are numerous and complicated. In some 
 cases, owing to interruption of the usual stripes, I have counted 
 DO less than eighteen separate white marks, exclusive of tail- 
 tip and the vague chin-spots. The three head-spots and the 
 four parallel dorsal stripes on the anterior part of the body are 
 the most constant, and may, so far as I have seen, be always 
 traced, though the median pair of stripes are liable to ulight 
 interruption. The lateral pair are the firmest of all the mark- 
 ings. There is special liability to a break in these stripes where 
 they begin to curve downward on the side. Complete break 
 here, fusion of the solitary pair of dorsal spots with the trans- 
 10 M 
 
 Ki 
 
 ■■\::i.' 
 
 ! ■ 
 
 I) 
 
 ■ i Mil 
 
 .•■1 
 . ; ■ .,,vl 
 
 
 ■ " 'l 
 
 
 1 : ; 
 
 !M. If 
 
 m 
 m 
 
242 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 Eli 
 
 I - 
 
 verse flank stripe, and lengthening into a stripe of the hip-spot, 
 result in three vertical crescentie stripes succeeding each other 
 behind the end of the main lateral stripe, that runs from the ear 
 over the shoulder. Interruption of these transverse crescents 
 may give a set of numerous spots, without traceable stripes, on 
 the hinder half of the body ; indeed, the markings of this part of 
 the body are wholly indefinite. The lateral spots at the root of 
 the tail often fuse into one. The tail is ordinarily black with 
 definite white tip, but may have white hairs mixed with the 
 black throughout, or be all black or all white. The slioulder- 
 stripe sometimes sends short spurs around toward the throat 
 and breast. The chin and upper throat may be perfectly black, 
 or streaked throughout with white. The part of the ear corre- 
 sponding to the white markings about it is commonly light- 
 colored ; the rest of the ear is black. The naked muffle is 
 dark-colored. The claws are dull horn-color. 
 
 The black of this animal is generally quite pure and glossy 
 on every part; but sometimes it has a brownish tinge, espe- 
 cially notable in old museum specimens. 
 
 In this connection, the reader will refer, if he is snflBciently 
 interested to do so, to Plate XII, on which is a wood-engraving 
 of a photograph of two skins, showing the complicated mark- 
 ings very clearly. 
 
 Description of the shull and teeth. 
 
 Numerous specimens before me, labelled "Incolor^^ and "zo- 
 r/Wa", exhibit surprising variation in size and shape, without, 
 however, warranting presumption that they are not all of the 
 same species. Independently of the usual differences accord- 
 ing to age, there is a remarkable range of variation in the 
 width and depression of the skull behind and development of 
 the occipital crest. An average specimen is selected for de- 
 scription, in which the range of variation will be also noted. 
 Comparative expressions used have reference to the skull of 
 Mephitis mephitica. 
 
 The skull is smaller than that of mephitica; excepting one 
 abnormally large example, all are much less in every dimension 
 than the smallest (adult) skulls of mephitica which I have seen. 
 Viewed from above, the muzzle appears more tapering, if not 
 also relatively shorter; the angle of obliquity of truncation of 
 the nasal orifice is much the same. Supraorbital processes are 
 small, but well defined, as acute eminences, prolonged from 
 
CRANIAL CHARACTERS OP MEPHITIS PUTORIUS. 243 
 
 well-defined ridges of bone divaricating from the sagittal crest. 
 This crest is a single and acute ridge in adnlt skulls; in young 
 ones, it is a tablet of bono, the sides of which separate almost 
 at once from the occipital protube'ance. There is little post- 
 orbital constriction of the skulls the least width there bein g 
 little, if any, less than the interorbital width. The lateral 
 divergence of the zygomata is much us in the last species; but 
 their upward convexity is usually greater, and the summit of the 
 arch is at its middle. Behind, the skull is notably widened 
 and flattened, almost as in Taxidea, the intermastoid diameter 
 being relatively much greater than it is in either Conepatus or 
 Mephitis; in fact, it is not very much less than the interzygo- 
 matic width, in some cases at least. Nevertheless, the mastoid 
 processes are themselves less developed than in Mephitis proper, 
 extending little, if any, beyond the orifice of the meatus, instead 
 of flaring widely outward. The occipital crest is strongly de- 
 veloped, and its outline is characteristic in the great convexity 
 of contour on each side and deep median emargination ; in other 
 genera, the median emargination is always slight, sometimes 
 nil; and the lateral outline from the mastoid to the point whore 
 the supraoccipital bones leave the general occipital crest is 
 about straight — if anything, concave. 
 
 A notable peculiarity appears in the profile view of the skull. 
 The dorsal outline in Mephitis mephitica is strongly convex, with 
 a high point about the middle, and this is carried to an extreme 
 in M, frontata ; in the present case, the same outline is nearly 
 straight from the ends of the nasals to near the occipital pro- 
 tuberance ; in fact, the skull ift as flat on top as an Otter's, and 
 flatter than a Badger's. The zygomata are strongly arched 
 upward, with a regular curve throughout, instead of being 
 highest behind; the prominence of the bulla ossea on the floor 
 of the skull is sufficient to bring this part fairly into view from 
 the side, as is scarcely the case in M. mephitica; this feature is 
 also due, in part, to an abbreviation of the mastoid process, 
 which is hardly at all produced downward. , 
 
 On the floor of the skull, the principal feature is the width 
 behind, which, being simply coordinate with the general lateral 
 dilatation already noticed, requires no further comment. The 
 paroccipitals are very small — in fact, mere nibs of bone, hardly 
 able to bear the term '^ process". There are also strong points 
 in connection with the bullee auditoria> and periotic region gen- 
 erally. The bullsB are not only more swollen at the usual point 
 
 U' 
 
 i^j 
 
 
 ''t' 
 I' 
 
 1 i' 
 
 n 
 
 't 
 , i li 
 
 I ill If, 
 
1/ 
 
 244 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 of greatest iiifliitioii, but, behind them, the part that reaches 
 between the lateral elements of the occipital bone and the 
 lateral portion of the lambdoidal crest is also turgid, having a 
 general smooth convexity instead of an irregular concavity. 
 The general turgescence is due to the greater development of 
 the mastoid sinuses. The bony palate ends in the same rela- 
 tive position as in M. mephitica, and shows the same variation 
 in the character of the edge of this shelf. 
 
 The mandible, though, of course, proportionally smaller than 
 in M. mephitica, is identical in shape, contrasting equally well 
 with the peculiarities of Gonepatm, elsewhere mentioned. 
 
 The smaller size aside, there is scarcely anything in the 
 dentition of this species calling for comment in comparison 
 with Mephitis. The anterior premolar is well developed, and, 
 as far as I can see, the dentition is, in other respects, nearly 
 identical with that of Mephitis; the upper sectorial tooth (pos- 
 terior premolar), however, has the cusp of its inner moiety 
 rather a pointed process of the border itself than a conical 
 cusp, surmounting this inner part. 
 
 It should be noted that in one specimen, as an abnormality, 
 
 the anterior upper premolar has aborted entirely on the right 
 
 side, though present ou the left; while the lower jaw of the 
 
 same specimen shows an abortive posterior i^remolar on the 
 
 left side. But, in general, in Mephitinw, abortion or other 
 
 irreguliirities of dentition are less frequent than in the Muste- 
 
 linWf where the smaller teeth are more crowded. 
 
 - ■(;;. \''^' ■ > ■■,'. ■ ■ ■'■ ,-•-'.. 
 
 „ rr.;|. I ,,, ... History of the species. .^ , . ... 
 
 In the case of an animal whose markings are so variable as 
 those of the Striped Skunk, recognition of the species in nature 
 becomes a matter requiring some judgment and experience ; 
 and it is not in the least remarkable that compilers of vague 
 and often conflicting descriptions, or of inaccurate figures 
 badly drawn from stuffed specimens, or oven prepared from 
 poor descriptions, should have made inextricable confusion. In 
 an attempt to trace the written history o( Mephitis putorius, it is 
 probably not possible to identify all the names which have been 
 imposed upon it, nor even to fix the date of its first appearance 
 in literature. It is certain, however, that the animal was known 
 to the earlier writers ; its characters being clearly traceable in 
 some of the descriptions of the last century, long before the 
 period when Rafinesque and Gray respectively bestowed those 
 
HISTOUY OF THE LITTLE STRIPED SKUNK. 
 
 245 
 
 names which have become most extensively current. Referring 
 to the above synonymatic list as a renund of the views enter- 
 tained concerning the record of the species, some points of 
 special pertinence to M, putorins may be here noticed. 
 
 Le Zorille of Buffon (Biat. Nat. xiii. 1765, pp. 289, 302, pi. 41) 
 is a starting-point of a number of compilations, as at the hands 
 of Erxleben, Gmelin, Shaw, and others ; it does not reappear 
 in Linnieus, who carried his grudge against his French rival so 
 far as to ignore him in the "Systema Naturre'', thereby hurting 
 only the book. It is described from South America, and is to be 
 carefully distinguished from an African species, of an entirely 
 different group, also called Zorilla. Descriptions of a Vimrra 
 or Mephitis zorilla agree substantially in points of small size 
 and much variegation with white ; and thus, perhaps without 
 exception, bear hard upon the present species, if tliey may not 
 actually represent it. In many cases, however, the accounts are 
 complicated or negatived by introduction among the synonyms 
 of some names which apparently appertain to Gonepatua^ or to 
 Mephitis proper. Whether or not we agree with Prof. Lichten- 
 stein that Buffon's Zorille was this species, various indications 
 of Yiverra zorilla which flow from it cannot be satisfactorily 
 and exclusively located here, and are to be passed over. They 
 are, in effect, as they stand upon the pages^ compounds which 
 have no actual existence in nature. . * ■ 
 
 The Pol cat of Catesby, as above quoted, described with five 
 narrow white lines, is a species which authors have found it 
 difficult to locate, as the Oomtuon Skunk, M. mephitica^ the only 
 one supposed to inhabit Carolina, presents no such character. 
 But since the discovery of the existence, in this portion of the 
 United States, of a Spilogale, which is the only species having 
 several white lines, the pertinence of Oatesby's reference here 
 is evident. Catesby is primarily the basis of Viverra putorius, 
 the only species of Skunk in the 12th edition of Linnseus; and 
 LinnsBUs's diagnosis '^F. fusca lineis quatuor dorsalibus nlhis 
 parallelis^^ is exactly and exclusively pertinent to the present 
 species, which is, moreover, the only animal that presents this 
 character. The four white stripes upon the anterior half of 
 the body are its strong and coustant character. It is true that 
 the remainder of Linuiieus's account does not agree well, but 
 neither does it agree with any Skunk known to me ('' subtus 
 ex albo et nigro variegatus^^ &c.) ; and he also cites some refer- 
 ences that probably belong elsewhere. In adopting the name 
 
 
 'rl 
 
 f ..-; ^ 
 
 'B9 
 
 
 'H 
 
 ■ j 
 
 ;fl 
 
 i ' i 1 
 
 jH 
 
 > ■ , * ' i 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
246 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 hi 
 
 8. putoritia from LIddsbus, as I recently did {I. s. o.), 1 rested 
 upon the exclusive pertiueuce of his diaguosis, and his quota- 
 tion of Catesby. 
 
 The Mephitis interrupta of pafinesque may or may not have 
 been "a pure figment of his imagination". It probably, how- 
 ever, had some basis, and if his account does not wholly agree 
 with specimens of Spilogale putorius examined, it will be re- 
 membered that even his elastic imagination would be put to 
 the stretch to describe a spotted and striped Skunk in terms 
 too exaggerated to be met by the reality which this species 
 offers. We may accept his name as undoubtedly belonging 
 here, and in fact we should adopt it, as a more definite appella- 
 tion than zorilla, were it not anticipated by Linnajus, as just 
 shown. 
 
 Among earlier accounts, the best description I have seen is 
 that presented by Shaw, page 389, vol. i. of the General Zool- 
 ogy under head of " var." of his Striated Weesel. Shaw refers 
 *:■■ )me miscellaneous plates of animals published a short time 
 previously by Mr. Catton, among which is a representation of 
 an animal " having only four white bands on the back, and the 
 tail almost entirely white ; a patch of white appears below each 
 ear, and a small triangular white spot on the forehead. In the 
 description accompanying the plate the animal is said to have 
 measured twelve inches from nose to tail, and to have been 
 brought from Bengal." The probably erroneous locality aside, 
 the whole account is perfectly, and indeed exclusively, pertinent 
 to Spilogale putorius. 
 
 In Du Pratz's Louisiana, there is a description of a " bete 
 puante", which certainly conforms to no known species, but 
 which was probably meant to be this one, to judge from the 
 locality and the ascribed size. It is the basis of Mephitis myotis 
 Fischer, I. c. 
 
 In 1837, Dr. J. E. Gray bestowed upon this species the name 
 of M.bicolor, by which it has been generally known of late years. 
 About the same time, Lichtenstein adopted the name of M. 
 zorilla, after Buffon, in which he was followed by Wagner and 
 Audubon. Lich ten stein's earlier M. zorilla, of the Darstellun- 
 gen neuer Saugethiere, u. s. w., is ihe entirely different African 
 animal. 
 
 The only description I have seen in which /oMr white lines are 
 prominently indicated since those of Linnaeus and Shaw is an 
 account given in 1859, when a certain Mephitis quaterlinearis 
 
HABITS OF THE LITTLE STRIPED SKUNK. 
 
 247 
 
 was formally named and dei^cribed in a Kansas (?) newspaper, as 
 above quoted. It is singular that upward of a century inter- 
 vened between these two curiously concordant accounts. Mr. 
 Winans's description is accurate in the minutest particulars ; 
 it was evidently taken from a specimen exactly like some of 
 those now before me. 
 
 ! 
 
 
 , jit 
 
 is I! 
 
 Geographical distribution and habits. 
 
 The geographical distribution of this species is much more 
 extensive than has been generally supposed. Thus, Prof. Bainl, 
 in 1S57, gave its habitat as merely "Southern Texas and Cali- 
 fornia", and the indications of most authors are of a western 
 and southwestern animal. But there is no doubt now of its 
 inhabiting the greater part of the Southern States, aud of the 
 United States west of the Mississippi. I have examined speci- 
 mens from Georgia and Florida, in which last State Mr. Allen 
 considers it common, from various portions of the West, and 
 from Cape St. Lucas. Mr. H. W. Parker, in his notes in the 
 American Naturalist, as above quoted, records the species from 
 Iowa, where at least fifty pelts were obtained one season, near 
 Des Moines, and as probably occurring in the State of New 
 York: — " There is reason to believe that the species may be 
 found even in central New York. Dr. S. J. Parker, of Ithaca, 
 N. Y., has twice seen by the roadside, in that region, a small, 
 many-striped skunk, very different from the common one." 
 
 Respecting the habits of the species, I have no information to 
 offer. It is not to be presumed that it differs materially from 
 the common species in this regard. Mr. Maynard has stated 
 that in Florida the animals are domesticated and used like cats, 
 the scent-glands being removed at an early age ; they become 
 quite tame and efficient in destroying the mice {Rvsperomya) 
 that infest the houses. 
 
 The different species of Skunks, in fact, seem to be suscep- 
 tible of ready semi-domestication, in which state they are, like 
 the Fitch ot Ferret, useful in destroying vermin, if they do not 
 also make agreeable pets. Writers speak of the removal of the 
 anal glands in early life, to the better adaptation of the ani- 
 mals to human society, and such would appear to be an emi- 
 nently judicious procedure. For, though Skunks may habitu- 
 ally spare their favors when accustomed to the presence of man, 
 yet I should think that their companionship would give rise to 
 
 '■■'.:\i\ 
 
 
248 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 a certain sense of insecurity, unfavorable to peace of mind. 
 To depend upon the good will of so irritable and so formidable 
 a beast, whose temper may be ruMed in a moment, is hazard- 
 ous — like the enjoyment of a cigar in a powder-magazine. 
 
 ^ The Genus CONEPATUS. (Gray.) 
 
 X VIrerrii sp^ Gulo »p., of some authors. 
 
 < MrphUlN uf most aiithorti. 
 
 < MarpulluM, O'-at/, Charleaw.HaK-N. B.i, tS-Tr, sat. ' ' 
 = €»nepatUN,6Va;/, Cbarlenw. Mag. X. H. i. 1837, 5tit. 
 
 >= TtaiOHmUN, Lichteustevn, Abh. Akod. Berl. for le36, 1838. 
 
 The very well-marked characters of this genus have already 
 been given (p. 192). The pecnliarities of the skull and teeth are 
 correlated with certain modifications of external contour, which 
 give the animal a somewhat Badger-like aspect, though there is 
 no mistaking it for anything but a Skunk. It is the only known 
 representative of the subfamily in South America. 
 
 I have not been able to examine any specimens of this genus 
 from other than United States and Mexican localities, represent- 
 ing in strictness the Mephitis {Thiosmus) mesoleucm of Lichten- 
 stein and late American writers, the iewcouofMsof Lichtenstein, 
 and the M. nasuta of Bennett. The synonymatic list given 
 beyond must be regarded as somewhat tentative or presump- 
 tive, indicating tliat I see nothing in the deaeriptions of authors 
 forbidding the supposition that the seemingly interminable list 
 of nominal species really refers to more than a single good one. 
 In adopting a name for the "Conepatl'*, I simply take the oldest 
 one I find. Should there prove to be more than one species of 
 this genus included in the synonyms given, my article is to be 
 held to refer solely to that one which occurs in Mexico and the 
 southwestern portion of the United States, and upon which the 
 descriptive matter herewith given is exclusively based. 
 
 Nowhere, perhaps, in the literature of mammalogy have 
 greater confusion and uncertainty prevailed than in that por- 
 tion which relates to the Skunks, and the history of the Cone- 
 patl is certainly not less hopelessly involved than that of other 
 Skunks. Views of authors have oscillated between such ex- 
 tremes as those held by Guvier and his imitators, for whom a 
 Skunk was a Skunk, and those of other persons for whom an 
 inch of tail or a speck of color was a good specific character. 
 Into the tedious discussion of the names cited below I do not 
 propose to enter, but shall content myself with giving a faithful 
 description of the United States animal. 
 
SYNONYMY OP C0NEPATU8 MAPURITO. 
 
 249 
 
 Gray's barbarous term for tbis geniis^ Conepatu8, is obviously 
 the same as the old Mexican Conepatl. Of its meaning I am 
 not certain ; but it probably refers to the burrowing of the ani- 
 ]nal ; for, it may be observed, nepantla in the Nahuatl language 
 signified a subterranean dwelling.* Gray'^ other generic name, 
 Marputius, is similarly related to Mapurito. This word may be 
 compared with Mephitis itself through such forms as Maftiti- 
 liqiH, Freuiih Mou/ette, &Q. .*. . ,.,.,. 
 
 .bif ••v>i .... 
 
 The Hrhite-backed §kiink. 
 
 Conepatns niapnrlto^ 
 
 Plate XV. ' •;'•'•'■''•'' "'-' ■'• ''r " 
 
 Vlverra pntorlOS, 3luti», "Act. Holm, xxxii. 1760, 68" (non Linn). 
 
 Vlverra mapurito, Cm. S. N. 1. 17f8, 88, no. 15 {ex Mutls).— <$/iai«, G. Z. 1. 1800, XH.—Turt. S. 
 
 N. i. 1806, .53. 
 
 Gulo mapurito, llumb. " Roo. Obn. Zonl. , i. 350". 
 
 MephltlH mapurito, Lesn. Man. 1837. 151, no. 401.—Ft»eh. Syn. 1839, 16\.—Schim, Syn. {. 1844, 
 
 318, no. l.-Licht Abh. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1836 {IS36), 210 {rhwsmu»).—T»ehudi, Fo. 
 
 Peru. 1844-46, 113.— Oiebel, Siiiiu. 1:855, 764. 
 t'onepatus mapurito, Cottes, Unll. cr. S> Geol. and Oeogr. Snrv. Terr. 9d sor. no. 1, 1875, 14 
 
 (Rkull and teeth). 
 rVirerramephititt, Gfm.S.N. i. 1788, ,— C'CMncAe, Buff., xiii.pl. 39").— 72Vr(on,S.K. 
 
 i. 1806, S3. 
 TiTerra conepatl, Gtn. S. N. i. 1788, 88, no. 13 (Oon«paW, Hem., Mex. 338). 
 MephltlH conepatl, FUch. Syn. 1839, 160. 
 tMephitlNCliilenslM, " Oeo/T. Cat. Mus." (.Mov/ette du Chili, Buff. H. K SuppL vii. 33.3, pi. 
 
 57).— Fr. Ouv. "Diet. Sc. Nat. xiil, 18—, 136".—" Oriff. Anim. Kingd. ii. , — , f. -."— 
 
 Less. Man. 1837, 153, no. 40S.—FUeh. Syn. 1839, 160.— I^cAt. Abh. Ak. Wisa. Berlin, 1836 
 
 (1838),378(7'Aio«mu«).— ScAiTW,8yn. i. 1844, 319, no. 4.—" Gray, P. Z. S. 1848, ,— ." — 
 
 Oieb. Saug. 1853,765. 
 Marputiuschllensls, Oray, "Mag. KH. 1.1837 '. • . ..;• 
 
 ConepatU» "chlnensls", Gerr. Cat Boneo Br. Mas. 1863, 97 (by typog. err. for chiletuvi). 
 
 tiulo quitensi!*, Humb. " Ree. Oba. Zool. i. , 346 l.or}347 " {A.tok, Zorra, Qloutm de Qitito). 
 
 f Mephitis quItenNlsXm. Man. 1837, 153, no. WO.—Fiseh. Syn. 1839, 161.— £icA(. Abb. Akad. 
 
 Wiai. Berlin, 1836 (1838), 373 {thio»mus).—Sch.\m, Syn. i. 1844, 319, no. 4. 
 YGHl0 8Ufrocan8»"/U. Verb. BerL Akad. Wiasenacb. 1811, 109 (Yag\tar6, Azara, i. 311. of 
 
 French transL—CAificAe, FeuilUe, Jonm.Obs.Phy8. 1714, 872)" (Braziland Paraguay). 
 ? Mephitis SUffocans, Licht Darst. Sb'ng. 1837-34, pi. 48, f. 1 ; Abh. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1836 
 
 (f838), p.—{ThiotmMS).~Seki7ui, Syn.i.l8i4, 380, no.5(Thiosr»us).—aieb.S&as. 1855v76Sl 
 
 t;HephitlH feulllel, , "Zool. de la Bonite, ,— , pi. 3, f. 1-3" {Schim). 
 
 tConepatUH humhOliUII et var., Qray, Mag. N. H. i. 1837, 581; List Mamm. Br. Mns. 1843, 
 
 m.—Oerrard, Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 1863, 97. 
 r .Mephitis humboldtii, Itlainv. "Osteog. Mxistela, pi. 13, f. — (teeth)". 
 f Mephitis patagonica, lAeht Abb. Akad. Wiss. Bert. 1836(1838), 3*5 {Thiosmm) (" Yagxiari, 
 Maikd, Falk. PaUg. tiS").—8ehim, Syn. i. 1844. 330, no. 6 {ThiMtntu).—" Burm. L» 
 
 Plata. iL , 400."-Gm6. Sftug. 1855,. 765. .;. 
 
 t .Mnstela (Lyncodon) patagonica, D' Orb. " Voy. Ani6r. M6rid." 
 
 f Mephitis amazonica, Lieht Abh. Ak. Wiss. Berl. 1836 (1838), 2T5(Thiosmtu).—Sehim, Syn. 
 
 1. 1844, 331, na Ti.—Tehudi, Fn. Pern, 1844-46, 115. 
 TConepatus amazonica. Gray. List Br. Mua. 1843, 69. 
 f Mephitis molinie, lAeht Abh. Akad. Wiaa. Berl. 1836(1838), 373 (Thiosmus) {"Ohinehe. 
 
 Molina, Hial. Kat. Chili, 340") (Chili).— ScAinz, Syn. 1844, .ISl, no. 8. 
 
 * Fide Prof. G. liarroeta, of Sau Luis Putoai, Mexico, to whom I appliea per- 
 8oual]y for tbia iuforiuation. 
 
250 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MITSTELID^E. 
 
 tMephlllNgumlllir, £<()A(. Abh. Ak. Wisa Bnrl ism (IS38) C Jlonfelte mnpurita or Majn- 
 
 taiqui, Gtiruilla, OHdooo, li. in6").— «oAiru. Syn. 1. 1844, »31, uo. 10. 
 MephltiN meiioleuca, Z.ieA(. Dant SUuk- 18:17-34, , pi. 44, f. 8; Abh. Akad. WIm. Berl. 1636 
 
 (1838), 311, pi. 1, f. 1 {Thioimui) (Chloo, Mexico).— iraf;n. Siippl. Schrxb. ii. 1841, IDi), 
 
 pi. 131 X.-ScMm, Syn. i. 1844, 319, no. X—A.ud. it Back. Q. X. A. it. 1851, 18, pi. 53.— 
 
 aUb. Sttag. 1855, llH.—Baird, M. X. A. 1857, 1U3 (aubg. Thiotmu»)—Tomei, P. Z. S. Itltil, 
 
 380 (Ouatoiuala).— Jfoxint. Aroli. f. Naturg. xxvii, Idfil, 213. 
 ThIosmaH neHolearii, Lm». Kouv. Tab), R. A. 1843. 06. 
 
 ThlosHHR metiOleucOR, Ohatin, Ann. Scl. Nat. 5th ser. xix. 1874, 100, pi. 6, f. S»-63 (anat.). 
 Meptaltiii leucunota, Lieht Darat. Sttug. 1837-34, , pi. 44, f. 1 ; Abh. Akad. WImm. Borl. 1836 
 
 (1638), 371 (r/(to«mu<) (Alvaradu, Mexico).- /ScAin2, Syn. i. 1844,310, no. S.-OJfb.Sttng. 
 
 1853, 764.— BatVd, M. N. A. 1857, 'iOO.—Tomet, P. Z. S. 1861, 380 (Quateiuala). 
 Mephitis leucunoU Intermedia, D» Sauit, R. M. Z. 1860, 6. 
 MepbltlH BASUta, Bennett, P. Z. S. i. 1833, 3<J (Califoruia).— <7rai/, Mag. N. H. i. 1837, 
 
 Fraeer, Zodl. Typ. no. 4, pi. — . 
 MarputlHH nattuta. Gray, Mag. N. H. 1. 1837, 581. 
 Thiosmus nasuta, Lest. Nouv. Tabl. K. A. 1843, 66. 
 VonepatuN nasutu, vars. naNUta, humboldtll, rhlleiiHlH et llriitenstelntl, Gray, P. Z. 8. 
 
 1865, 145, 146, 147; Cat Cam. Br. Mub. 186tf, — . 
 f T"Mephltltt caNtaneUM, D'Orbig. Voy. Am6r. M^rid. 31, pi. 13, 13, f. 3."—" Giebel, Odontog. 
 
 35, pi. 13, f. 7."— fift«b. Sfiug. 18.55, 765 (Southern South America). 
 ?"HepllltlH nircata, irapn.Suppl. Sohreb. ii. 1841, 193" (Chili).— TmA. Arch. Katurg. 1843, 
 
 948) Fn. Peru. 1844-46, 114 (Peru), 
 t Mephltltt weHti'rmannI, Reinh. Vid. Selak. Forb. 1856, 370. 
 
 t Mephitis amerlcana, vara. DT , E, F, 0, H, I, M.f , Q, Desm. Marom. i. 1830, 166-167.* 
 f Mephitis amerlcana, varg. a, d? , h, m, n, o, p, s, OriJ, Au. Kingd. v. 1837, 137, no. 358. 
 fMalkcl, Patagonlan Malkel, Gray,!, c. i-v - " • 
 
 Hab. — Sonthwestera border of the United States aud southward through 
 Mexico aud Central and Sonth Aiuerica. 
 
 Specific characters. — Black or blackish, with a white dorsal area sonie- 
 tiuies divided by a black vertebral stripe, rarely broken into several por- 
 tions; tail white, or black and white. . • ^.^ 
 
 ' Description c^ external characters.* 
 
 This species differs materially from the Xorth Americaa and 
 Mexican Mephitis proper, in many points of external anatomy, 
 as well as the more essential structural peculiarities upon 
 which the genus Conepaius primarily rests. These secondary 
 generic characters are the same, as far as 'mown, in all the 
 several slight varieties of the (probably) single species which 
 represents the genus. The general configuration of the body 
 and limbs is much the same as in Mephitis; but the physiog- 
 nomy is wholly peculiar, while the short scrubby tail, almost 
 rudimentary ears, and a particular arrangement of the sole- 
 pads, are all highly characteristic. 
 
 The Conepate is the largest of the Skunks, some specimens 
 attaining a length of about two feet, exclusive of the tail; but an 
 ordinary dimension is about a foot aud a half from the nose to 
 
 * From specimens from Texas and Mexico, with uninterrupted white 
 dorsal area and white tail. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF CONEPATUS MAPURITO. 
 
 251 
 
 the root of the tail. The head ii more leugthened and nar- 
 rowly conical than in Mephitk The facial aspect is highly 
 characteristic in the production and attenuation of the snout 
 and lownesB of the ears. The long snout is broad and de- 
 pressed on top, obliquely truncated in front, with a backward 
 bevelling, so to si)eak, which brings the nostrils anteroinfe- 
 rior — they are not at all visible from above. The mu?zle is 
 almost a little retrousse, and recalls that of a Pig rather than 
 of a Weasel or Badger. It is furthermore peculiar in being 
 entirely bald and callous on top for nearly an inch, this ..aked 
 part narrowing to a point behind. Underneath, the nasal pad 
 is closely and definitely circumscribed by the line of fur which 
 closely approaches the nostrils. There is no sign, on the front 
 of the snout, of the usual vertical groove, nor of such a division 
 of the hairy part thence to the middle line of the lips. The 
 organ looks as if it were fitted for rummaging among fallen 
 leaves, or even for " rooting" in the ground. The whole muzzle 
 is beset with sparse short bristles, apparently growing irregularly 
 in no determinate direction ; the longest moustaches scarcely 
 reach to the eyes. There are similar bristles over the eyes and 
 on the cheeks and chin. The proper pelage of the cheeks and 
 snout is scanty, and it grows upward and forward from the lips. 
 
 The external ears are so slightly developed that they have 
 been described as wanting. The pinna is a mere low orbicular 
 rim completing about two-thirds of a circle, lower than the 
 surrounding fur. The entrance of the ear remains broadly 
 open. The eye is considerably nearer to the ear than to t'ue 
 end of the snout. The mouth is wholly far inferior, with short 
 gape ; it is nearly au inch from the end of the lips to the ex- 
 tremity of the snout. 
 
 The short and rather close-haired (for this group) tail is quite 
 different from the long, full, bushy member in Mephitis and 
 Spilogale — iu fact, it is only superior in these respects to the 
 stumpy tail of Taxidea. It is difficult to estimate its relative 
 leujjth accurately, owing to the character of the base ; but the 
 vertebras are certainly less than half the length of the head 
 and body, and with the hairs the whole member is only about 
 half such dimension, more or less. The terminal pencil of hairs 
 is from only about two to four or five inches in length, iu dif- 
 ferent specimens; the width of the hairs in the middle, pressed 
 flat sideways, is from six to ten inches. The tail, especially 
 when white, or the white portion of it when black and white, 
 
 
 ' m 
 
 ,- 3 
 
 1 : f 
 
 ■ ! !U 
 
252 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 frequently presents a worn scrubby appearance, as if abraded ; 
 and th« white tip, when » "ourring in connection with black, 
 may seem as if imperfectly connected with tho remaining por- 
 tion. .^: ere is something very peculiar in the character of the 
 white hairs of the tail of this or other Skunks; it is very 
 coarse, stiff, yet weak and brittle, almost like Antelope hair, to 
 which it has beeu aptly compared; it seems as if partiaJy de- 
 vitalized, and readily falls or breaks off. The same character 
 is observable in the white portion of those hairs which are 
 black at the end. In general shape, the tail is rather depressed, 
 or slightly distichous, than uniformly cylindrical or bushy. 
 
 The soles of the fore feet are perfectly naked from the wrist- 
 joint, but overhung along the sides with a fringe of long hairs. 
 The tuberculation is not well utarked ; but at the bases of the 
 digits, in advance of a general broad bare area, two incom- 
 pletely divided pads are observable. The fore claws are very 
 large, long, strong, compressed, little curved, not excavated 
 underneath, and eminently fossorial. The middle three claws 
 are of approximately the same size, though they are a little 
 graded in length from fourth to second; the tifth is notably 
 smaller, reaching to tue middle of the fourth ; the first is much 
 shorter and more curved, reaching little beyond the base of the 
 second. The terminal bulbs of all the toes are large. 
 
 The scles of the hiud feet, like the palms, are perfectly 
 naked from the heel in all the specimens examined, fringed 
 along the side with long hairs. The tuberculation of the soles 
 is better marked than that of the palms, and somewhat pecu- 
 liar, but not to the extent which Dr. Gray's remarks would 
 indicate. The general broad flat area of the posterior part is 
 divided by a transverse sulcus ">^ variable depth and distinct- 
 ness from tho bulbous part at th«. ^dse of the toes. This latter 
 is not a continuous pad, as indicated by Dr. Gray — not always 
 at any rate; even in the dried specimens before me it is dis- 
 tinctly divided into three bulbs, much as in Mephitis — one at 
 the bases of the three middle toes, and another at the base of 
 each lateral toe. The clawH are very much smaller than those 
 of the fore feet, short, stout a^ base, moderately curved, obtuse, 
 excavated beneath. The third and fourth are subequal and 
 longest^ the second is little shorter, the fifth much shorter, and 
 the first shorter still. 
 
 The pelage is very coarse and harsh throughout. Tlie pecu- 
 liarity of the white hairs of the tail has beeu already indicated. 
 
DESCRIPTION OP CONEPATUS MAPURITO. 
 
 253 
 
 In coloration, this auitnal presents greater variations than 
 those of Mephitis mephiticaj in which the differences are mainly 
 in the extt^ut or restriction of the two normal white stripes. 
 The pattern is essentially a white dorsal area, which \i;iy in- 
 clude all or most of the tail. The white, in all the specimens I 
 have seen, begins fairly on the sinciput, in advance of the ears, 
 instead of on the nape, as in M. mephitica. This may be the 
 only point of detail that is constant. The white begins squarely 
 in a transverse line, or in a curve, or in a point; it is broad and 
 uninterrupted to the end of the tail, or fails to reach the tail 
 (which then usually only has a white brush at the end), or 
 is divided by a median vertebral stripe of varying width, or, 
 tinally, may be interrupted in its continuity. >.. • i . • 
 
 Viewing the wholly indeterminate character of this white area, 
 and comparing it with corresponding variations in Mephitis 
 mephitica, it is easy to account for the extraordinary confusion 
 which prevails in the accounts of this group, by authors who 
 sought to establish species upon the character of the markings. 
 These masses of black and white distracted the attention of 
 all the early authors from the essential generic and specific 
 characters; in fact, it is only about forty years since the true 
 points of distinction were perceived at all, and even subse- 
 quently species continued to be made upon a wrong under- 
 standing. Some repugnance to handling and closely exam- 
 ining the noisome beasts may not have been entirely inoper- 
 ative in perpetuating error and confusion ; and certainly the 
 group as a whole is not among those best represented in muse- 
 ums, owing to the obviously disagreeable task it becomes to 
 capture and prepare the animals. Once again, the perfect 
 ease with which a fair description will answer to Conepatus and 
 Mephitis has had its weight in provoking and perpetuating 
 confusion. 
 
 Let me illustrate this last point with the following example 
 of fair diagnosis based upon color: — ' 
 
 " Black ; back with two broad white stripes meeting on the 
 head ; tail end wMite." 
 
 This is a perfectly applicable and exact description of both 
 
 Mephitis mephitica and Conepatus mapnrito when the latter has 
 
 the dorsal area divided. Again : — 
 
 ' "Black; back with a single broad white stripe; tail black 
 
 and white." ' ^ "' ^■ 
 
 :v if 
 
 1 1 
 
 t-ir 
 
 T ■ 
 
 r-r- 
 
 i. 
 
 '^\ 
 
 1 ; 
 
 el 
 
 
 "'•■ ■» 
 
 ■■'" 
 
 :,j 
 
254 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELlDiE. 
 
 This is entirely pertinent to both Mephitis rnacrura and Cone- 
 patus mapurito when the latter has the dorsal area undivided. 
 I tlo not know where to look for the parallel to this curious well- 
 spring of error. 
 
 Even after the full re(!Ognition by Lichtenstein and Gray of 
 the diflferent genera of Skunks, many nominal species endured, 
 upon the basis of CDloration alone. In the case of Conepattis, 
 these have all latterly been reduced to varieties by Dr. Gray, 
 because, as he very truly says, " the differences in the colora- 
 tion appear to pass into one another". This is a step in the 
 right direction, but, as it appears to me, does not go quite far 
 enough. The ascribed differences are not of the character to 
 which recognition by name is usually granted ; they are appar- 
 ently not characteristic of particular geographical areas ; nor 
 are they accompanied, for all that appears, by any other char- 
 acters. I see no alternative to regarding them ao wholly within 
 the normal range of individual variability of th^ species. 
 
 Nor are the ascribed differences, when sifted of generalities 
 and cleared of mere verbal discrepancies, anything remarkable. 
 I can make nothing more of them than this : the white dorsal 
 area may be entire, or divided by a line of black of varying 
 length or width (giving the "two" stripes of authors); it may 
 stop short of the tail, or go to its end, or may be broken up in 
 its continuity. This is the whole sum of the various accounts 
 I have seen. 
 
 In compiling t*"e foregoing extensive synonymy of Couepatm, 
 I have not been unmindful of Dr. Gray's judicious caution : — 
 "When we have the power to compare the living animal and 
 the skeleton of each [of his nominal varieties], we may discover 
 that some of them are distinct species, having a peculiar geo- 
 graphical range." This is improbable, yet quite possible; and 
 its prudence impresses me especially, as I have not inspected 
 specimens from South America. But I would urge these points 
 iu defence of the synonymy I have prepared: that all the 
 supposed species whose names I have cited rest upon no other 
 basis than that variability which is proven to be merely indi- 
 vidual, and that, therefore, they are ipso facto synonymous ; 
 that should the synonymy be ever shown to embrace more 
 than one species, an attempt to distribute it among two or 
 more species, and to tix upon the proper na*' .e for each, would 
 be well-nigh futile, so inextricably blended has it become; 
 that should a second species of Gonepatm be hereafter estab- 
 
 I 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OF CONEPATUS MAPURITO. 255 
 
 lislied, it should properly receive a new name upon the new 
 basis, as the best means of avoiding further confusion. 
 
 It may not be amiss to add, that all the recognized South 
 American references are^ to Conepatus alone, Mephitis proper 
 being not known to occur on that continent. This is a simplifi- 
 cation of matters which does not hold for Central America and 
 Mexico, where the two genera are found together. Neverthe- 
 less, the supposed absence of Mephitis proper from South 
 America rests upon negative evidence. 
 
 Description of the skull and teeth. 
 
 In the following description, reference is had to the same 
 parts of M. mephitica, to which all expressions of comparison 
 apply. The account is based mainly upon No. ^, Mus. Smiths. 
 Inst., from Texas, but several other specimens are examined at 
 the same time. 
 
 Viewed from above, the rostrum is notably tapering — decid- 
 edly more so than in M. m^Mtica, though the calibre at the 
 base of the zygomata is even greater. 1?he nasal aperture is 
 much less foreshortened in this view. Supraorbital processes 
 are barely, or not at all, recognizable; the prongs of the sagittal 
 crest are faintly indicated or entirely inappreciable, fhe point 
 of greatest constriction of the skull (about midway between 
 muzzle and occiput) is well marked and abrupt ; the skull im- 
 mediately swelling behind it, forming a decided projection into 
 the temporal fossa, hardly or not seen in M. mephitica. The 
 cranial dome is rather higher and fuller. The zygomatic arches 
 are comparatively shorter, more divergent, and more regularly 
 curved. In profile, the differences are more striking. The 
 highest part of the skull is back over the cranial dome, not at 
 the interorbital space ) the slope is but slight thence to the 
 occipital protuberance, but is long and regular from the same 
 spot to the incisor teeth ; for so great is the obliquity of the 
 nasal orifice that the end of the muzzle comes into this general 
 curve, instead of rising, with slight obliquity, from the teeth 
 to then bend abruptly backward at an angle. None of tne 
 specimens, unluckily, are young enough to show the nasal 
 sutures ; but I have no doubt that these bones, if not also the 
 neighboring part of the maxillaries and intermaxillaries, will 
 be found to afford good characters. The anteorbital foramen 
 (as in other species, sometimes subdivided into several separate 
 canals) is farther forward and higher up, .piercing a thicker 
 
 ' !■'!« 
 
 ;:;] 
 
 li 
 
 \ 
 
 ■' ■ 
 
 
 li' 
 
 
 
 ' \ \ 
 
 ■■:•[' 
 
 ' i|' 
 
 i . 
 
 ■ 
 
 % ( 
 
 -^ , 
 
 t ■ 
 
 ■'- 'M 
 
 
 It 
 
 ;1: 
 
 111 
 
 
256 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. 
 
 zygomatic root, and consequently being rather a tube than a 
 hole. The zygomatic bones are slenderer and less laminar than 
 in Mephitis. Tlie arch, as a whole, is shorter and more an- 
 terior ; in skulls of the same length laid together, the back 
 roots of the arch in Conepatus fall in advance of the other when 
 the muzzles are together. Viewed from behind, the occipital 
 surface is much higher and narrower; thus the distance from 
 the bottom of the foramen magnum to the occipital protuber- 
 ance is greater than tlie interparoccipital w'dth ; in Mephitis, 
 it is, if anything, less. Beneath, the palate is seen to end some 
 distance back of a line drawn across behind the molars \ the 
 pterygoids and contained interspace are correspondingly shorter 
 than in Mephitis, in which the palate ends more nearly opposite 
 the back molars. The edge of the palatal shelf is simply trans- 
 verse in some specimens, while in others it shows a little median 
 process backward, and we may presume that in other cases it 
 is nicked, for all this variation is now well known to occur iu 
 both Mephitis ahd Spilogale. 
 
 The lower jaw gives excellent characters. The angle of the 
 mandible is strongly exficcted and the emargiuation between 
 this and the condyle is slight. The coronoid process rises with 
 considerable backward obliquity, with a very convex anterior 
 border, and concave posterior one, carrying the apex of the 
 bone backward to a point nearly or directly over the condyle. 
 
 A peculiarity of the dentition of Conepatus has been unduly 
 exaggerated by some authors, who assign a different dental 
 formula {pm. ^, as against pm. ^ in Mephitis). But the sup- 
 posed wanting anterior premolar is often present ; though it is 
 always minute, probably never functionally developed, and 
 deciduous or abortive on one or both sides. I see this small 
 tooth plainly in two skulls before me, but do not find it in a 
 third ; in which last there is instead an unusual diastema be- 
 tween the canine and the nearest premolar. This point dis- 
 posed of, nothing in the dentition of Conepatus calls for special 
 remark. The detailed account given under the head of Mephitis 
 mephitiea is here equally applicable. 
 
 Vertebr* : 0. 7 ; D. 16 ; L. 5 ; S. 3 ; Cd. 18 (Oermrd). 
 
 Description of the anal glauds. 
 
 The anal armature of this species has been investigated by M. 
 Ghatin, who has published a thorough description, illustrated 
 with excellent figures, in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, as 
 
ANAL GLANDS OP CONEPATUS MAPURITO. 
 
 257 
 
 I 
 
 above quoted. Although the specimen bad been preserved ia 
 i'lcohol for several years, it was still extremely ofteusive, and 
 the preservative fluid was tainted with the same fetor. M. 
 Chatin's account is substantifilly as follows : — The anus presents 
 56""" behind the root of the penis, in a large irregularly 
 elliptical depression, crossed by numerous grooves; the sur- 
 rounding integument forms a sort of flap folded about the anus 
 and excretory pores of the glands. These appear as openings 
 pierced in the centre of two thick, prominent, umbilicated 
 papilliB, situated on each side of the anus, about 9""" from the 
 middle line. Moderate pressure suffices to bring up to these 
 orifices the dirty brown fetid liquid which has made Skunks 
 famous. Kemoval of the cutaneous fold which partially covers 
 these nipples shows that they are situated in a kind of recess 
 rising about 5'"™ above the floor of this small pouch; the 
 calibre of the pore which opens at the summit is suflicient to 
 admit a probe about a millimetre in diameter. Dissection of 
 the perinieum brings to view the whole secretory apparatus, the 
 size of which is so considerable that it is surprising Cuvier 
 had nothing to say on the subject in his chapter upon anal 
 glands and those of neighboring parts. Stannius and Siebold 
 were also silent, while Owen confined himself to mere mention 
 of the anal glands of the Skunks. 
 
 The glandular mass is nearly trapezoidal; it begins 33""" 
 from the prostate, on a level with the origin of the corpora caver- 
 nosa, the roots of which thus extend upon the posterior or pro- 
 static portion of the gland; superiorly it lies in relation with 
 the urethra, which passeti 'over it. It is enveloped in a thick 
 muscular tunic, the origin of which may be readily determined. 
 It iii c. ell known that the ischiocavernous muscle (ischiopenial 
 of German authors) passes obliquely downward and inward to 
 the root of the corpus cavernosum, where it ends in tendinous 
 or muscular fibres. "But sometimes", says Leyh, "there are 
 found below this muscle some isolated muscular fibres which 
 appear to have no function." They may be so regarded in 
 domestic animals ; but, in the present case, nature furnishes 
 another instance of her economy in giving them no inconsider- 
 able part to play. These same fascicles form a large part, but 
 not the whole, of the muscular envelope of the gland ; the bulbo- 
 cavernous muscle is equally concerned in the for jiation of the 
 tunic ; nor can we entirely separate from it the prostatic muscles 
 which are blended with it, and which cover the upper portion 
 17 m 
 
 
258 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 I 
 
 I ' 
 
 of the urethra iu those animals that, like the present species 
 and the Dog, have no Cowper's glands. The muscular coat, 
 about 3""" thick, is composed of two layers readily distin- 
 guished by the direction of their fibres ; those of the superlicial 
 layer being transverse, that is to say, perpendicular to the 
 median or antero-posterior axis of the gland, while the fibres 
 of the deep layer run in the opposite direction, parallel with the 
 same axis. 
 
 Below these muscular layers, that is to say, within the general 
 muscular envelope, is found the follicular or glandular portion 
 proper of the organ ; it is not regularly distributed around the 
 central reservoir, as in most Carnirora, but occupies only a 
 limited portion of the surface of this receptacle. The follicles 
 are rather large, and of a reddish-brown color; their numerous 
 well-developed culsde-sac measure on an average 0""".55 iu 
 diameter, and are variously rounded, ovoidal, club-shaped, &c. 
 
 The reservoir, which is of great size, is covered with a thick 
 whitish tunic composed of dense laminated tissue and elastic 
 fibres, the presence of which is readily determined by means of 
 acetic acid. In the specimen examined, the receptacle was 
 empty, containing only a few dirty brown pellicles, which 
 showed under the microscope nothing but laminated fibres and 
 fine granules. « Toward the anterior extremity of this cavity is 
 found the opening of a duct, through which the fluid secreted 
 is conducted to the lateral anal pore, as may be easily ascer- 
 tained by passing a probe. The surface of the reservoir, marked 
 with numerous folds and furrows, resembles to some extent that 
 of Herjyestes fmciatus. 
 
 It is an established fact, then, that the fetid humor which 
 was long supposed to be urine is the secretion of true anal 
 glands. It is to be regretted that the anatomy of the various 
 species of Mephitis is not better known, for it would be interest- 
 ing to compare them in the details of this structure. Much is 
 still required to complete their history, and it is to be hoped 
 that the missing links may be soon supplied. 
 
 < Oeographical distribution and habits. 
 
 The general extra-Iimital dispersion of the species southward 
 has been already indicated. Lichtensteiu's M. mesoleuca was 
 procured by Deppe, in 1825, near Ghico, Mexico ; his leueonota 
 was from the Rio Alvarado, Mexico. Bennett's M. nasuta came 
 
HABITS OF THE WHITE-BACKED SKUNK. 
 
 259 
 
 from "California". Audubon and Bachman describe the ani- 
 mal from Texas. The only specimen Baird had seen in 1857 
 was also from this State (Llano Estacado), beyond which I am 
 not aware that the animal has been actually observed north of 
 the Mexican border. I obtained no evidence of its presence in 
 New Mexico, Arizona, or Southern California during my resi- 
 dences in those regions, and the species may be confined, in the 
 United States, to the valley of the Lower Rio Grande, like vari- 
 ous other quadrupeds and birds. 
 
 From Audubon's account, it is to be inferred that the animal 
 is not rare in portions of Texas, where the specimen which is 
 figured in his work was procured by his son, John Woodhouse. 
 His notice of its habits is as follows : — 
 
 "The Mephitis mesoleuea is found on the brown, broomy, 
 sedgy plains, as well as in the woods, and the cultivated dis- 
 tricts of Texas and Mexico. Its food consists in part of grubs, 
 beetles, and other insects, and occasionally a small quadruped 
 or bird, the eggs of birds, and in fact everything that this 
 carnivorous but timid animal can appropriate to its sustenance. 
 
 " The retreats of this Skunk are hollows in the roots of trees 
 or fallen trunks, cavities under rocks, &c. ; and it is like the 
 northern species, easily caught when seen, (if any one has the 
 resolution to venture on the experiment,) as it will not endeavour 
 to escape unless it be very near its hiding place, in which case 
 it will avoid its pursuer by retreating into its burrow, and there 
 remaining for some time motionless, if not annoyed by a dog, or 
 by digging after it. 
 
 " The stomach of the specimen from which our drawing was 
 made, contained a number of worms, in some degree resembling 
 the tape-worm at times found in the human subject. Not- 
 withstanding this circumstance, the individual appeared to be 
 healthy and was fat. The rainy season having set in (or at 
 least the weather being invariably stormy for some time) after 
 it was killed, it became necessary to dry its skin in a chimney. 
 When first taken, the white streak along the back was as pure 
 and free from any stain or tinge of darkness or soiled color as 
 new fallen snow. The two glands containing the fetid matter, 
 discharged from time to time by the animal for its defence, 
 somewhat resembled in appearance a soft egg. 
 
 "This species apparently takes the place of the common 
 American skunk {Mejthitis chinga), in the vicinity of the ranches 
 and plantations of the Mexicans, and it is quite as destructive 
 
 :1 
 
 ^m 
 
 w 
 
 /if 
 
 '■: m 
 
 ::: i 
 
 i 
 
 u 
 
 
260 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 to poultry, eggs, &c., as its northern relative. We have not 
 ascertained anything about its season of breeding, or the time 
 the female goes with young ; we have no doubt, however, that 
 in these characteristics it resembles the other and closely-allied 
 species. 
 
 " The long and beautiful tail of the Skunk makes it conspic- 
 uous among the thickets or in the musquit [mezquite] bushes of 
 Texas, and it most frequently keeps this part elevated, so that 
 in the high grass or weeds it is first seen by the hunter who 
 may be looking for the animal in such x^laces." 
 
^■^ I 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Subfamily MELIN^E: The Badgers. 
 
 The genus Taxidea — Generic characters and comparison with ^^de8 — Taxidea 
 americana, the American Badger — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific charac- 
 ters — DeHcription of external characters — Description of the skull and 
 teeth — Geographical variation in the skull — History of the American 
 Badger — Its geographical distribution — Habits — Tcaidea americana var. 
 herlandieri, the Mexican Badger — Synonymy — Habitat — 8ul)specific char- 
 acters — General remarks. — Addeji'dum : Description of the perinieal glands 
 of the European Badger, Melea vulgnris, 
 
 ANIMALS of this subfamily inhabit Europe, Asia, and 
 America. There are four well-marked genera, though 
 the species are so few : the European Meles, the Asiatic My- 
 daus and Arctonyx, and the American Taxidea, long time con- 
 founded with Mele8. 
 
 I have already (p. 10) given the characters by which the 
 North American representative of the Melinw is distinguished 
 from our other subfamilies. The expressions used, however, 
 are rather diagnostic of the particular genus Taxidea than of 
 the subfamily Melinw at large, the various members of which 
 differ sufficiently to require greater latitude of definition. It 
 being not to my present purpose to consider the Melinw fur- 
 ther than as represented by the American genus, we may at 
 once take np the latter. 
 
 The Genus TAXIDEA. (Wateeh.) 
 
 X I'rsus, pt., of Schreber. 
 
 < Meles, TaxuN, of anthors referring to the Kortli American Badger. 
 = Taxidea, Waterhoune, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. vi. 1838, 154 ; Trans. Zo81. Soc. Loud. ii. pt. ▼. 
 1841, 3i3.—Baird, Mamm. N. A. 1857, 301, and of late antbora generally. 
 
 3-3 1 1 
 
 Generic characters. — Dental formula : i. i,--„,c.~ 
 
 3-3 
 
 1-1 
 
 34.* 
 
 _!«_ 
 
 3-3' "' l-l' ^""' 3-3' "*• a-2 ~ 18~~ 
 
 Back npper molar a right-angled triangle, with hypothenuse postero- 
 
 *Prof. Baird (M. N. A., 201), after correctly stating the dental formula, 
 makes the total "32" instead of 34, by an obvious slip of the pen. He 
 further states, "In young specimens there is an additional premolar, (first,) 
 
 261 
 
 y 
 
 ■ ,1 
 
 
 
 ' • i' 1 i 
 
 •; . I):' 
 
 
 ^m 
 
262 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 u 
 
 external. Back upper premolar similar iu si/e and shape (though the euii- 
 iiences of the crowu very dirt'ereiit), but the hypothenuso postero-intcnial. 
 Back uuder premolar with two tubercles. Anterior uuder molar compara- 
 tively small, not dilated behind, mostly opposing the back upper premolar 
 (instead of the upper molar as in Melen), Cerebral portiou of skull de- 
 pressed-cuneiform, very wide across the flaring occipital crest; the inter- 
 mastoid diameter nearly equalling the inter-zygomatic ; sides of the brain- 
 case straightened and strongly convergent anteriorly. Bony palate reach- 
 
 which soon disappears ; this will add 1-1 premolar to the lower jaw, making 
 34 in all." But such additional under premolar of the early dentition 
 (which I have not seen, though I have examined skulls with the teeth 
 scarcely cut) would make 36 in all, not " 34 ", the latter being the correct 
 total of the adult formula. 
 
 Audubon and Bachmau state (Quad. N. Am. i. 361) that " the present spe- 
 cies has one tooth less than the latter IMeha rulgarW] on each side in the 
 lower jaw", which is certainly not the case, as the dental formula is the 
 same in the two genera. (Quoting Waterhouse, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii. pt. v, p. 
 343, these authors continue : — "' The subgeneric name, Taxidea, may be ap- 
 plied to the American Badger, and such species as may be hereafter dis- 
 covered with incisors^; canines j~j; false molars g^g, ... molars ^^^ . . . '" 
 I have not Waterhouse's article at baud to verify the quotation ; if his words 
 and figures are correctly quoted, Waterhouse did not give the right fornmla, 
 for his total is only 32, instead of 34 ; besides which he reckoned the upper 
 sectorial tooth as a molar, instead of a premolar, as it is. Making this 
 change, but retaining his original numbers, Waterhouse's formula becomes 
 J)«i. ~^, m. ^. But there are live grinding teeth on each side of the lower 
 jaw of Taxidea, I have never seen an American Badger's skull with teetli 
 otherwise than as given in the text above. 
 
 A peculiarity in dentition of A/eha vulgaris, which may account for dis- 
 crepant statements of the dental formula, has been pointed out by Professors 
 Moseley and Lankester ( Jouru. Auat. and Phys. iii. 1868, 79) : — " Mr Flower, 
 in his recent admirable paper on the Dentition of Marsupials, has laid sonic 
 stress on the fact that, in several diphyodont mammalia, some of the anterior 
 maxillary teeth never have any predecessors, as in the case of the second an- 
 terior maxillary teeth of the dog, and the corresponding lateral mandibular 
 teeth, and iu the hog also. We are led to believe, from the examination of 
 a line series of Badgers' skulls in the university museum, that this animal 
 furnishes an additional example. In three skulls, possessing the permanent 
 dentition, we fouud a small peg-like tooth implanted in the jaw immediately 
 behind the caniniform maxillary, and somewhat internally to the general 
 line of the teeth, and obviously corresponding to the small anterior lateral 
 tooth (pra'molar) of the lower series abutting against the large caniniform. 
 We found no trace of this tooth in a young skull with the perfect deciduous 
 dentition, nor in De Blainville's figure of the same. It is described neither 
 by Owen nor De Blainville, and is evidently easily lost, since it has dropped 
 out of one skull, leaving only its alveolus as evidence of its former pres- 
 ence ; and in two other skulls no traces of it were to be seen at all. The 
 addition of this tooth makes the dentition of the Badger the same as that 
 of the Glutton." 
 
THE GENUS TAX IDEA — T. AMERICANA. 
 
 263 
 
 Ing httlf-way to ends of pterygoids. Biillii- anditoriip at a maximum of 
 influtiou, impinging behind upon pnroccipitals. Condyles of jaw often 
 locked in the glenoid. Coronoid of jaw erect, pointed, its posterior edge 
 angulated by the meeting of two straightish lines. (For further cranial char- 
 acters see page 2f)t). ) 
 
 Body extremely stout, squat, and clumsy, owing to great deiiression ; tail 
 short, broad, flattened; pelage loose; coloration ditl'use; fore claws ex- 
 tremely' large, highly adapted for digging. Habits thoroughly terrestrial 
 and fossorial. 
 
 Taxidea is confined to North and Middle America. " Tliis 
 genus," as Prof. Baird* has remarked, " is so strikingly differ- 
 ent from MeleH as to render it a matter of astonishment that 
 the typical species were ever combined." It is represented by 
 a single species, divisible into two geographical races. 
 
 The American Bacl^irer. 
 
 Taxidea americana. 
 
 Plate XVI. 
 
 I'rsus taxus, SchreU. "Snug. Hi. 1778, 520, f. 14211. (After Buffou.)" 
 
 Mcles Uxus var. amerlranus Bodd. Ehtnoh. Anim. i. 1784, 130. 
 
 Meles amerlcanuM, Zimm. Peun. Arktischo Zool. i. 1787, 74. (Qaotes Boddaert.) 
 
 * Mamni. N. Am. p. '201. From direct comparison of skulls, which I have 
 not made, this author has concisely set forth many leading points of dissim- 
 ilarity. I quote his article, with some abridgment:— 
 
 " The most striking peculiarity of TaxiAea consists in the great expanse of 
 the occipital region, the width of the occiput being [nearly or about] ei|ual 
 to that of the skull, measured between the outer surfaces of the zygomatic 
 arches. Thus the geuersil shape is that of a depressed wedge, widest behind 
 and truncated anteriorly, instead of being very much widest across the 
 zygomatic arches, as in Miles. . . . The occipital crests are well developed 
 in Taxidea, the sagittal very moderate. The auditory bulla* are very largo 
 and convex. The processes of the glenoid cavity are not so well developed 
 as in Meles, though occasionally sufticiently developed to lock the condyles 
 of the lower jaw. The coronoid process has its apex pointed instead of 
 rounded or truncated ; its posterior margin is formed by two lines, the lower 
 rising nearly perpendicularly a little in advance of the condyle, the other 
 rather longer than the lirst, making a very obtuse angle with it. The differ- 
 ences in the character of the teeth are equally striking, though their number 
 is the same. The penultimate or sectorial upper molar [last premolar] is 
 very large and triangular ; fully eiiual in size to the last molar, instead of 
 being much smaller ; it has likewise a large tubercle on the inner lobe, 
 scarcely observable in Meles. The last molar is also triangular, (nearly right- 
 angled,) somewhat resembling hiilf of the quadrilateral tooth of Mele^. In the 
 lower jaw the last premolar is larger than iu Meles, and has two tubercles. 
 The penultimate molar is smaller and not dilated behind. The portion of its 
 crown which is applied agaiust the upper sectorial molar [premolar] is larger 
 than that in contact with the last upper molar, instead of being smaller, as 
 in Meles." 
 
 h^^ 
 
 |;;v 
 
 
 Kill 
 
 a 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 5< 
 
 
 A 
 
 i. « 
 
 %^ 
 
 U.s 
 
 
 
 1.0 la ■■■ " 
 
 I.I 
 
 2.5 
 
 1^ 12.2 
 
 
 1.25 nil 1.4 
 
 20 
 
 1.6 
 
 v%^ 
 
 Ta 
 
 /a 
 
 'V^) 
 
 ^^^^ ifc^'*',^'^ 
 
 V 
 
 ^5. 
 
 y 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
WJ^wW!T)>WWW»"i 
 
 264 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 I •'' 
 
 i:>! 
 
 Tttxidra amt'ricana. Baud, M. N. A. 1857, 202, pi, H9, f. Q.—Xewb. P. R. R. Rep. vi. 1857, 45 
 (habits).— Coo^j. X. 11. W. T. 1860, n.—SyMeit, ibid. ^J4.—Sucklcy it (Hhhs, IMd. 117.— 
 Hayd. TranB. Am. Philos. Soc. xii. 1862, 134 (Upper Missouri country).— Gcrt//, P. Z. S. 
 1865, 141 ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, —.—Coop. Am. Nat. ii. 1868, 529 (Montana).— Stci,'. 
 TJ. S. Geo!. Surv. Terr, for 1870, 1871, 461.-^1 Hen, Pr. Boat. Soc. N. H. xiii, 1869 (publighfii 
 February, 1870), 183 (Iowa, still numerons) ; Bull. Ess. Inst. vi. 1874,46 (Kausas), 54 
 (Colorado), 59 (Wyomintj), 63 (Utah) j Pr.Bost. Soc. xvii. 1874, 38.— Awe*, Bull. Miun. 
 Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69 (Minnesota).— Cokc? d: Yarrow, Zoiil. Expl. W. 100 Merid. v. 
 1875, G3.— Allen, Bull. U. S. Gool. and Geogr. Surv. Terr. vol. ii. no. 4, 1875, 330 (skull). 
 
 iTSUS labradoriUN, Om. S. K i. 1788, 102, n. l.—Kerr, H. N. i. 1792, 187.— Shaw, G. Z. i. 1800, 
 469, pi. lOe.-TMC*. S. N. i. 1806, 63. 
 
 MeleH labradurla, Meyer, " Zool. Arch. ii. 1790, io.'—J. Sab. App. Franklin's Jonm. 1823, 649 
 (compared with European).- ZTarJ. Fn. Anier. 1825, SH.-Oriff. An. Kingd. v. 1827, 116 
 {"labradorica").—Le8s. Man. i. 1827,141, no. 372 {"labradorica"). — Finch. Syn. 1829, 
 l^X.-lUch. F.B. A. i. 1829, 37, no. 12, pi. i.—Qodm. Am. Nat. Hist. i. 1831, 179.— 7Ji</i. 
 Zoiil. Becchey's Voy. 1839, i.-Wagn. Suppl. Schreb. ii. 1841, 182.— Z)c Kay, N. Y. Zoiil. i. 
 1842, Sa.—Schim, Syn. i. 1844, 315 (" labrndonia").—Axid. d- Bach. Q. N. A. i. 1840, 360, 
 pi. 4T.—Bd. Stansbury's Rep. 1852, 311.— iioin. Tr. Illinois Agric. Soc. lor 1853-4, 
 1855, 578.— OwhcJ, Siiug. 1855, 761 <,"labradoriuii").—IIall, CanAA. Nat. and Geol. vi. 
 1861, 294 ("labradoricm").— Maxim. Arch. Naturg. 1861, — i Verz. Siiug. 1862, 33. 
 
 Taxus labradorirus, Say, Long's Exp. i. 1823, 261, 369. 
 
 Taxidca labrudoria, H. Smith, Nat. Lib. xiii. 1842, 210.— Gray., List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 
 lO.-Baird, M. N. A. 1857, 745 (expl. of pls'.).-0(')v. Cat. Bonces Br. Mus. 1862. 99. 
 
 1 Taxidea labradoria. Waterh. P. Z. S. vi. 1838, 154 ; Tr. Z. S. ii. 1841, 343, pi. 59 (may be the 
 other subspecies). 
 
 Meles Jeffersonil, Harl. Fn. Amer. 1825, 309 (based on Lewis and Clarke). 
 
 Ameril'un Badger, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 202, no. 143; Hist. Quad. il. 1781, 15, no. 998 //.— 
 ICrxl. Syst. i. 1777, 164 (in text).— And of authors generally. 
 
 Common Badger, Penn. Arct. Zoiil. i. 1784, 71, no. 23 (in part; includes the European). 
 
 Blaireau d'Amerlqiie, "F. Cuu. Hist. Nat. Mamm. " 
 
 Blalreau du Labrador, £«««. I. c 
 
 AmcrlkanlNrhc Darhs, Schim, I. c. {Dachs, cf. Martens, Zoiil. G art. xi. 1870, 251, philological). 
 
 Braro, Lewis rf Clarke, Trav. Allen's ed. ii. 1814, 177; Rees'sed. 4to, 471 ; Rees's ed. 8vo, iii. 
 40 (also called "badger" passim in this work ; rendered "blaireau" in the McVickar 
 ed. ii. 349; basis of Meles jeffersonii, Harlan). 
 
 Prarow, " Gass's Journ. p. 34."— (Richardson.) 
 
 Brairo or Lacyotl, Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mns. 1843, 70. 
 
 Bralbo or LaryotI, Gerr. I. c. 
 
 I'arcajou, Buff. "Hist. Nat. Suppl. iii. 242, pi. 49" (cf. Desm., Mamm. i. 1820, 173; Eucy.pl. 
 38, f. 2). 
 
 rarrajou ou Blalreau am^rlraln, F. Cuv. Suppl. Bufl'. i, 1831, 267. 
 
 Carkqjou ou Blalreau d'Amerlque, Gervais, Proc. Verb. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1842, 30. 
 
 Brairo et SIflleur, French Canadians. 
 
 NannaspachiC'neeNkieshew, Ml!«lonusk, Awawteekipoo, Oree Indians (Richardson). 
 
 Hab. — United States, from Wisconsin, Iowa, and Texas westward. Brit- 
 ish America, east to Hudson's Bay at least, north to 58°. Replaced near the 
 Mexican border by var. berlandkri, whicli extends into Mexico. Formerly 
 further east (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois). " Ohio, near Toledo, abont 20 
 years since ; now extinct" (Edw. Orton, in epist.). 
 
 Specific characters. — Top of head darker than other upper parts, with 
 a median white stripe ; sides of head below the eyes, and its under surface, 
 •white, with a dark patch before the ear; limbs blackish; body-coloration 
 above a grizzle of blackish with white, gray, or tawny, or all of these ; be- 
 low uniform whitish, shaded or not with gray or tawny. Length about 24 
 inches to root of tail ; tail 6 ; head 5i ; longest fore claw 1^. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF TAXIDEA AMERICANA. 
 
 265 
 
 Description of external characters.* 
 
 Form stout, thick-set, indicative of great strength and little 
 agility ; body broad depressed ; head flattened, conoidal ; tail 
 and limbs short ; feet broad and flat ; fore claws enormous, 
 highly fossorial. Pelage of body and tail long, loose, shaggy, 
 and of coarse texture ; shorter and closer on the head and feet. 
 Coloration blended, diffuse, grizzly above ; below, uniform ; on 
 the head definitely marked in certain areas. 
 
 The head is nearly one-fifth of the total length exclusive of 
 the tail ; it is conoidal, but depressed very broad across the 
 temples and cheeks, contracting gradually to the prominent 
 snout. It is covered with short, close, coarse hair, only length- 
 ening about the ears. The muzzle is completely furry, except- 
 ing the nasal pad itself; this is completely anterior, with a 
 downward-backward obliquity ; there is a median vertical fur- 
 row ; the nostrils, not at all visible from above or laterally, are 
 pyriform, lengthening slitwise at the lower outer corner. The 
 naked pad is black ; below it, the upper lip is completely furred 
 across, and the fur elsewhere extends to the very edges of the 
 rather thin lips. The rictus is ample ; the canines are visible 
 in life. The eye is remarkably small, and rather high up, a lit- 
 tle back of the angle of the mouth. The vibrissa} are sparse 
 and short, the longest scarcely or not attaining the eye ; here 
 and there other bristles grow about the eyes and on the chin. 
 The ears are low, rounded, and very broad, with remarkably 
 large external meatus, partly defended by long loose hairs 
 growing in front, completely hairy outside and for some dis- 
 tance inside around the border ; but most of the concavity of 
 the conch is naked, with some sparse isolated tufts. 
 
 The fore limbs are short, stout, and the fore feet very large, 
 broad, and flat, bearing immense claws. The digits are much 
 abbreviated and consolidated, appearing from above almost 
 entirely grown together, from below as five closely appressed 
 oval pads. Thej' are shorter than the claws they respectively 
 bear ; the 2d-5th, are subequal and longer than the 1st or 5th, 
 which are mere claw-bearing bulbs. The back of the hand is 
 hairy to claws, the bases of which are overhung by the longer 
 anterior hairs ; the palm shows the following disposition : a 
 crescent of five large closely apposed naked digital bulbs, sep- 
 arated by a profound excavation from a single large irregu- 
 
 * From uunieruus Hpeuimeus iu the Smithsonian MuHeum. 
 
 h;-i:; 
 
 h If 
 
 :• ,il 
 
 M , 
 
 ■VI. 
 
 :S 
 
•■.*«VS!»,W»(H^JSi,' 
 
 9,jv^fp?v:^ 
 
 ■JIfflP 
 
 266 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDyE, 
 
 larlj' shaped palmar pad, either entirely naked or partly over- 
 grown with coarse hair extending crosswise from the inner 
 border over more or less of its extent ; this main pad divided 
 by a decided transverse groove from a much smaller postero- 
 exterior one, which is entirely hairy, or partly so, or perfectly 
 naked, in difterent cases. The claws are all compressed, 
 arched, with rounded ridge and sharp edge underneath, origi- 
 nally acute but generally blunted with use. The three middle 
 ones are subequal in length, much longer than either of the 
 lateral ones, and project still further, owing to the shortness of 
 the lateral digits ; they are also stouter tuau the others. The 
 lateral claws are subequal to each other, and they reach half- 
 way (more or less) to the ends of the middle ones ; they are 
 more compressed and not so strong, the inner one especially 
 being thin, sharp, and falcate. As usual in such cases of spe- 
 cial developments of parts, the rate of variation in size, both 
 absolute and relative, is high, not permitting more strict state- 
 ments than the above. Either one of the three larger middle 
 claws may exceed the other two in size, and, of the lateral ones, 
 either may surpass the other. The inner claw, however, appa- 
 rently preserves its decidedly thin and falcate condition. 
 
 The hind feet are much like the fore, on the whole, with, how- 
 ever, a decided reduction in size, and especially in the develop- 
 ment of the claws. The foot is about four titues as long as 
 broad, of nearly equal width throughout, hairy above and 
 completely so below, more than half-way from the heel to the 
 ends of the toes. Much as in the fore foot, the digits under- 
 neath present a crescent of five bald pads, of which the lateral 
 ones, and especially the outer one, are somewhat disconnected ; 
 with a deeply excavated interval, these pads are succeeded by 
 a single large bald callosity, heart-shaped in general contour, 
 incompletely divided by several radiating impressions into 
 four, sometimes five parts. These grooves are not constant, 
 nor are the resulting partitions always of the same size and 
 shape. The relative lengths of the digits, and of the claws 
 they bear, are essentially the same as in the fore foot ; but all 
 the claws are very much smaller, and the lateral ones scarcely 
 or not attain the base of the 2d and J:th respectively. These 
 hind claws, however, as compared with the fore, differ remark- 
 ably in construction, though of much the same shape ; they 
 are less compressed, and, instead of being sharp-edged along the 
 median line below, they are deeply excavated underneath — 
 
DESCRIPTION OF TAXIDEA AMERICANA. 
 
 267 
 
 sometimes so deeply as to be merely a thiu shell of horn, the 
 edges of which ouly unite at the base of the claw. 
 
 The short, broad, flattened tail has no sharp distinction from 
 the body at its base, but the body tapers toward it somewhat 
 as in the Porcupine. It is densely covered, in a somewhat dis- 
 tichous manner, with long coarse hair like that of the body ; 
 the end is obtusely rounded. 
 
 The perimeal region shows, immediately beneath the root of 
 the tail, a large transverse fissure leading into the peculiar sub- 
 caudal pouch of the Melhuc, and, in advance of this, a large 
 hemispherical protuberance, more or less naked, or covered 
 with a few sparse hairs, and imperfectly divided by a mediau 
 raph6 into lateral oval masses. (The anatomy of the peculiar 
 organs of these parts, as illustrated in the European Meles 
 taxtis, is given beyond.) 
 
 The Badger varies greatly in color, as a fortuitous matter of 
 age, season, or condition of pelage, aside from certain geo- 
 graphical dift'orences, to be shown in the sequel. The varia- 
 tion, however, is mainly m the relative amounts of the black- 
 ish tawny-gray and white 'which produce the general grizzle, 
 the pattern of coloration being well preserved, especially as to 
 the m irkings of the head. The top of the head is dark brown 
 or blackish, generally increasing in intensity and purity from 
 the nape to the snout, since it is commonly more or less 
 blended with gray or hoary encroaching from behind. This 
 dark area is divided lengthwise by a sharp white or whitish 
 mediau stripe, which runs from the snout, or from just back of 
 the snout to the nape, where it is gradually lost in the grizzle 
 of that part. I have never known this stripe to be entirely 
 wanting ; but it varies much in extent, both laterally and 
 longitudinally. The sides of the extreme muzzle are dark, 
 like the top of the head ; from about opposite the canines, the 
 sides of the head and the ears are white, continuous with the 
 white of the chin and throat, but interrupted by a large (gen- 
 erally crescentic) dusky patch in front of the ear. Another 
 dark patch usually shows, though less conspicuousily behind 
 the ear. The whole body and tail above are an intimately 
 blended mixture of blackish with white, hoary gray, and 
 tawny, or pale dull fulvous (dilut'j lidvohis). The individual 
 hairs are for the greater part of their length of one of the 
 lighter colors above mentioned, then black or blackish for a 
 distance, and finally tipped with hoary gray or whitish. This 
 
 ':''] 
 
 -■4-f-i 
 
 
268 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 pale eudiug of the hairs seems constant, even when there is 
 most tawny in the body of the furs. Owing to the length and 
 coarseness of the pelage, the animal usually presents, when 
 prepared for the museum, a patchy or streaky appearance, the 
 completely blended grizzle being interrupted by the slightest 
 disturbance of the set of the hairs. Beneath, the animal is 
 uniformly as above, minus the black or blackish. The feet are 
 dark brown or blackish ; the claws are generally light-colored, 
 especially those of the fore feet. 
 
 In examining a large suite of specimens from various locali- 
 ties in the United States west of the Mississippi, I find decided 
 expression of a variation dependent upon climatic influences. 
 Specimens from the comparatively fertile and well-watered 
 regions upon the eastern border of the great central plateau 
 are identical in tone with others from the Pacific slopes, and 
 both much more heavily colored than those from the arid 
 intermediate region. In the former, the fulvous or tawny tinge 
 predominates among the lighter colors, mixed with a large 
 amount of nearly pure black. As remarked by Prof. Baird, 
 the resemblance of these specimens to the Woodchuck {Arc- 
 tomys monax) is striking. In all the specimens from the inte- 
 rior dry region, and especially from the Upper Missouri, where 
 the animal is extremely common, there is little if any of the 
 fulvous. At a distance, the animal appears nearly white ; the 
 general color is white, soiled with a faint tawny or dirty yel- 
 lowish-tinged and mixed with but little blackish, the dark 
 part of the individual hairs being less extensive than even the 
 terminal hoary portion, and the area where the black occurs at 
 all being restricted. In these cases, also, the general grizzle 
 encroaches most on the head, and the frontal white stripe 
 reaches farthest along the nape. Under these conditions, the 
 animal very closely resembles in coloration the brindled gray 
 Wolves of the same geographical area. 
 
 It is almost needless to add that the gradation between the 
 extremes above noted is unbroken and insensible. 
 
 None of the specimens now under consideration show the 
 slightest trace of a vertebral white stripe beyond the nape. 
 Those exhibiting this peculiarity are treated under the next 
 head. 
 
 Without alcoholic specimens, or measurements taken in the 
 flesh, I cannot give the dimensions with desirable precision, as 
 all the dried skins before me are more or less distorted. The 
 
^m 
 
 SKULL AND TEETH OF TAXIDEA AMERICANA. 
 
 269 
 
 range of variation in size, though considerable, is nothing un- 
 usual. To the figures above given may be added : Nose to eye 
 about 2i inches ; to ear about u ; fore foot from the posterior 
 callosity, and including claws, 3i ; hind foot from heel, includ- 
 ing claws, 4. Lowest hairs of the back 3 or 4 inches ; of the 
 tail, 2 or 3. Height of the ear above the bottom of the meatus 
 
 Penis hone 4 inches long, clubbed at one end, compressed, 
 and with shallow sulcus in the continuity; the other end bent 
 nearly at right angle, abruptly and irregularly flattened and 
 grooved. 
 
 It is surprising that this animal should ever have been con- 
 founded with the MeJes tamis of Europe, since the decided 
 structural characters upon which the genus Taxidea rests are 
 coordinated with readily appreciable superficial distinctions. 
 In the European Badger, the snout is much larger, more pro- 
 tuberant, more extensively naked, and differently shaped, be- 
 ing not very dissimilar to that of a hog in miniature. It is def- 
 initely naked on top for some distance, as well as in front for 
 a space below the nostrils ; these occupy but a small part of 
 its subcircular front. The fore claws are much smaller and 
 weaker. There are some differences in the details of the pads 
 upon the palms and soles. The general body-color above is 
 not dissimilar ; but the under parts are black like the limbs, 
 this color extending on the chin, where our species is white. 
 The head is otherwise white, with a broad black stripe begin- 
 ning on each side opposite the canines, running back, embrac- 
 ing the eye and ear, and losing itself on the side of the nape. 
 The edge of the ear is white in this otherwise uninterrupted 
 black bar. In the dried specimen before me, the naked part 
 of the snout appears to have been flesh-colored, and the claws 
 are dark. 
 
 Description of the sJcuU and teeth. 
 
 I have no skull of Meles in hand for direct comparison, but 
 this is less to be regretted in view of the numerous striking 
 differences which any accurate and detailed description will 
 show, even without use of strictly antithetical expressions. 
 (See also antea, p. 263, note.) 
 
 A striking peculiarity of the adult skull is perceived in a 
 view from above, in the great width behind, the distance across 
 the terminations of the occipital crest being equal to (a Httle 
 more or less than) the iuter-zygomatic width ; the lateral out- 
 
 
 f 
 
 W- 
 
 »f J 
 
 ■ ■ rfi 
 -■'- ¥^^ 
 
 m 
 
 'il 
 
■■ymif^T^ 
 
 270 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDyE. 
 
 line in general is therefore wedge-shaped. The rostral part of 
 the skull (all that in advance of the zj'gomatic arches) is about 
 one-third, or rather less, of the total length. The sides of the 
 rostrum are approximately parallel in old skulls, owing iu a 
 measure to the swollen tract of rooting of the canines, in young 
 specimens somewhat tapering; the nasal extremity is abruptly 
 narrower than the rest ; the obliquity of bevelling of the nasal 
 aperture is about 45°. In old skulls, the nasal and maxillary 
 sutures are obliterated ; in young ones, the nasal bones are 
 seen to be narrow, with approximately parallel edges for the 
 anterior half of their length, where they begin to narrow, and 
 extend as slender acute processes very far back — to opposite 
 the middle of the orbits. Their suture with the superior niax- 
 illaries is very brief; for the intermaxillaries reach far up, and 
 for nearly all the rest of their extent they are received betwixt 
 long, pointed processes of the frontal. Similarly, the superior 
 maxillary runs up in a recess of the frontal to a point opposite 
 the ends of the nasals. This deep wedging of lateral processes 
 of the frontal between processes of the nasals and maxillaries 
 forms a complete letter W, better marked than in any other 
 North American genera of the family, though they all, excepting 
 Lutra and Enkydris, show an approach to the same character. 
 The anteorbital foramen is large and rather triangular than cir- 
 cular. The orbits are much better defined than in Slustelbuv 
 and Mej)hitm(c — not that supraorbital processes are stronger 
 than usual, but because the zygoma sends up a spur to mark 
 the orbital brim below — much as in the others. The approxi- 
 mation of these two (zygomatic and supraorbital) processes 
 completes about two-thirds of a circle. The point of greatest 
 constriction of the skull is a little back of the supraorbital pro- 
 cesses, at a point about midway in the whole length of the 
 skull ; except in some very old skulls, the constriction is little, 
 if any, greater than that of the interorbital space. The top of 
 the skull is marked with an average sagittal crest, whence 
 forks curve outward to the supraorbital processes. In young 
 specimens, there is little or no trace of these ridges. The occip- 
 ital crests appear more flaring than they really are, owing to 
 the general breadth of the skull behind ; they are in fact only 
 moderately developed in the oldest specimens, excepting at 
 their lateral extremities. From a moderate median emargina- 
 tion, the crests proceed on either hand with a moderate con- 
 vexity, which suddenly increases at the bend around to the 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OF TAXIDEA AMERICANA. 
 
 271 
 
 mastoid. The cranial dome considered alone has little infla- 
 tion ; the lateral outlines run nearly straight from the point of 
 greatest constriction to the back root of the zygoma. This 
 wedge shape contrasts with the greater inflation of the cranial 
 dome in most other Mustelklfv, notably Lutra and Enhydris. 
 
 The back of the skull has a general triangular shape, with 
 perpendicular flat face and irregular strong muscular impres- 
 sions. The paroccipital processes are rather short, wide, and 
 blunt; they descend to the level of the lower border of the 
 foramen magnum, which latter is low and broad across. The 
 condyles are short and very broad, their articular surfaces 
 being prolonged toward the paroccipitals. 
 
 In profile, the skull shows a single general declivity from 
 near the occiput to the end of the nasals, thence an abrupt 
 bend down to the teeth. This general curve is sometimes a 
 little sinuous, owing to slight depression just beliind the orbits, 
 and elevation over them. The jiosterior outline is truncate, 
 with the occipital crest curving into full view below. The 
 zygomata are very little arched indeed — almost straight ; they 
 are stoutly laminar, with a strong superior orbital process an- 
 teriorly, and remarkably developed borders of the deep glenoid 
 fossa. Such development of the glenoid, in connection with 
 its peculiar shape (the front border overlaps on the outer ' alf, 
 the hinder on the inner half), is suflQcient to ordinarily lock 
 the jaw in old age. But this peculiarity is not so strongly pro- 
 nounced as it is said to be in Melcs. The same thing occasion- 
 ally occurs in old Otter skulls. The orifice of the meatus au- 
 ditorius lies wholly between the border of the glenoid and the 
 well-developed mastoid process. 
 
 The floor of the skull, aside from its mere shape, resembler 
 that of the Mustelinw in the two prominent features of far back- 
 ward extension of the bony palate and great inflation of the 
 bullfe. In the skulls, with moderately inflated bulhe, the ptilate 
 ends nearly opposite the last molars; in the Otters, with the 
 same extent of palate that Taxidea shows, the bullfe are quite 
 flat. The palate reaches considerably more than half-way from 
 the incisors to the foramen magnum ; about half-way from the 
 molars to the end of the pterygoids the palate is quite plane ; 
 the incisive foramina are very short and broadly oval. The 
 palate ends behind with a simple concave edge, or nearly 
 straight transverse one, indifferently nicked on the median line 
 or with a little median process. The alvelolar borders are ap- 
 
 I 
 
 ,' I '.a 
 
pwi,«W'f'>|»i"i||iV'l'ia''i'>' K'" 
 
 I !' 
 
 272 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID/IC 
 
 proximately parallel — more uearly so than usual iu this family. 
 The spread of the zygomata is rather more thau three-fifths 
 the total length of the skull; the outward eurvature is greatest 
 behind. The great width of the skull behind loaves a very 
 broad basilar space, notwithstanding the size of the bulla'. 
 This space narrows but little as it advances between the ptery- 
 goids, and is uearly tiat throughout. A curious character is 
 seen iu the division of the posterior nares into two by a ver- 
 tical bony septum running to the very edge of the palate, and 
 thence projecting into view. Skunks and Land Otters have 
 such a septum, but it is not complete to the end of the bony 
 palate. In the Sea Otter, it is represented by a lamina depend- 
 ing from the roof of the nares, but not reaching the palate for 
 about an iuch from the end of the latter. In the Martens, 
 Weasels, and Wolverene {Mustelinw), there is nothing whatever 
 of the kind. The pterygoids are simply laminar, with some 
 little irregularity outside, as usual ; they are moderately hamu- 
 late. The (comparatively) immense inflation of the large buUaj 
 occupies uearly all the extent of the periotic bones ; the swell- 
 ing is immediate all along the interior border; outwardly it 
 subsides in a moderately tubular meatus, and behind it is re- 
 placed by a concavity around the foramen. 
 
 The mandible is massive; the ramus lower and thicker before 
 than behind ; the symphysis long, strong, and early completed ; 
 the coronoid low and of peculiar shape. Its apex is obtuse; its 
 front border nearly straight, but its hinder border divided at 
 an abrupt angle into a lower perpendicular jjart and an upper 
 strongly oblique portion. The lower border of the ramus is a 
 gentle curve along the symphyseal portion, thence a straight 
 line to a considerable angle abreast of the last molar, thence 
 straight again to the proper angle of the jaw, which is small 
 and not at all exflected. In young animals, the same border is 
 more nearly a continuous slight curve from symphysis to the 
 end. The condyle is very broadly transverse ; its articular sur- 
 face is extensive, with a peculiar twist to correspond with the 
 above described formation of the glenoid fossa. 
 
 A young animal should be examined with reference to the 
 teeth, as the characters of the molars become much obscured 
 by wear. The back upper molar is neither narrowly transverse 
 as in the Martens and Weasels, nor quadrate as in the Skunks 
 and Otters, but triangular; and iu size and shape it is not very 
 dissimilar to the last premolar. Details aside, it is a right-an- 
 
1 ,1 
 
 SKULL AND TEKTH OF TAXIDEA AMERICANA. 
 
 273 
 
 gleil triangle of nearly ecjiial base autl perpendicular, tUe right 
 angle being antero-internal, the longest side posteroexternal. 
 When entirely unworn, it shows six or eight irregularly dis- 
 posed tubercles, all small, the general surface being (juito flat, 
 and there being no notable division, by sulcus or otherwise, 
 into different portions, such as the crown ol this tooth presents 
 in most Mitstelida: The lowest [)art of the tooth is a small cir- 
 cular area posteriorly. This tooth roots by a long fang exte- 
 riorly, but is otherwise simply set in an irregular shallow 
 depression. The last premolar is likewise approximately an 
 ecpiilateral right-angled triangle ; but in this case the right 
 angle is anteroexterior, the hyi)othenuse postero-interior. It is 
 well divided into an outer and inner moiety. The former is 
 produced into a large main cusp, with prominent heel on its 
 front base, and a smaller posterior cusp. The low inner moiety 
 shows two perfectly distinct conical cusps; one anterior, the 
 larger, with a cinguluni around its base, and a smaller posterior 
 elevation directly from the border of the tooth. The middle 
 premolar is a simple conical cusp with a slight heel posteriorly; 
 it is two-rooted. The front premolar is like the last named, 
 but still smaller. I have never seen, In the adult dentition, 
 the small first premolar which is said to occur " in young ani- 
 mals", nor do I observe anj'^ trace of such tooth in a young 
 specimen which was just shedding when killed. In this one, 
 the first and last permanent premolars have just displaced the 
 earlier ones, but the middle milk-premolar is still present, with 
 the future one visible below it, about to push it away. The 
 presence of four upper premolars can, therefore, only charac- 
 terize the milk dentition.* 
 
 The upper canines offer no special points. Of the incisors, 
 the outer is very much larger than the rest; indeed, it is hardly 
 more exceetled by the lower canine than ihe latter is by the 
 upper canine, and its superficial resemblance to a canine is 
 striking. The other incisors are of the same size, regular, with 
 dilated trilobate ends. 
 
 The back lower molar, as elsewhere in the family, is small, 
 circular, with a border a little higher before and behind than 
 at the sides. It abuts against the depressed back part of the 
 
 * The small anteriur upper premolar is the most variable tooth iu Muatelidw. 
 It persists in the Lutra,- Enhydris, Gulo, Mnatela, and usually for a time iu 
 Conepatua; it is absent in the adult dentition of Taxiilea, Mejihilis, S^nlogalc, 
 
 Putorlm. 
 
 18 m 
 
 \ I 
 
 f' i 
 
 I'll 
 
 i' f 
 
274 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 Upper molar. The next molar is large and more complicated 
 than usual. It presents, in front, a large cusp, which, with the 
 outer one of a i)air of median cusps, constitutes the trenchant 
 edge of the tooth ; the inner cusp of the median pair is little 
 smaller than the other. The lower back part of this tooth, or 
 its tuberculous portion, which abuts against the back upper 
 molar, is seen, when entirely unworn, to present four cusps, 
 three transversely abreast, whereof the niiddle one is the 
 largest, and a posterior one. These all wear down level in the 
 course of time, and indeed very old skulls show this whole 
 tooth almost flat. The next tooth— last premolar — is a strong 
 conical cusp, with a secondary cusp halfway up its back 
 border, and well- developed posterior heel; the anterior border 
 is straight. The remaiulng premolars, successively decreasing 
 in size, are like the last, but without the secondary cusp. The 
 lower canines are not peculiar. The lower incisors are smaller 
 than the upper; the exterior pair are little larger than the 
 rest, and obscurely trilobate. The next pair reach backward 
 further than the rest, but all are flush on the front face; the 
 four inner teeth are slightly bilobate. 
 
 Geographical variation in the skull. 
 
 Like other species of the present family, the Badger has 
 been discussed in this regard by Mr. J. A. Allen.* His results 
 are here transcribed : — 
 
 "The subjoined measurements of eleven skulls of this species 
 (embracing all at present available) show also a well-marked 
 southward decrease in size. A fuller series would be more 
 satisfactory, but would doubtless only confirm what is here in- 
 dicated. Six of the specimens are from rather northern locali- 
 ties and five from rather southern localities, the region repre- 
 sented extending from the Upper Missouri southward to the 
 Lower Kio Grande. The specimens composing the two series 
 are of very nearly corresponding ages. The northern series 
 (four from different points on the Upper Missouri, one from 
 Iowa, and one from Oregon) average 5.00 in length and 3.18 in 
 width, the extremes being, in length, 5.22 and 4.92 (4.75 if we 
 include one rather young example), the width ranging from 
 3.50 to 2.97. The southeru series (including two or three from 
 the vicinity of Matamoras, Mexico, and one each from New 
 
 * Bull. U. S. Oeol. and Geo;;r. Siuv. vol. ii. no. 4, pp. 330, 331. 
 
mm 
 
 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN BADGER 
 
 275 
 
 Mexici> aiid C.ilifornia) avenvjfv^s 4.02 in loiijEftli anil 2.92 in 
 widtli, the exf.reinos belli-?, in length, 4.75 and 4..'»0, and in 
 width, 3.07 nd 2.80. 
 
 "Tlie sktills, and especially the molar teeth, in the American 
 Badgers, vary considerably in different individuals, as long 
 since pointed out by Professor Baird.* Sonthern specimens 
 differ from northern ones not only in being smaller, but some- 
 what in color, so that the T. herlaniUeri of Professor Baird may 
 perhaps be entitled to snbspeciflc rank [T, americana snbsp. 
 herlandieri), though the material at hand indicates that the 
 two forms will be found to thoroughly intergrade. The chief 
 differences in coloration consist in the more reddish-gray tint 
 of the southern form, with a decided tendency to a continuous 
 light dorsal stripe, instead of this stripe being restricted to the 
 
 head. 
 
 " Mcasuremeiita of eleren mIciiUs of Taxiuea amkUicana. 
 
 
 11505 
 1178 
 3148 
 
 2078 
 12908 
 •20:)3 
 
 4 1 on 
 ;t7ti7 
 
 lliilO 
 1135 
 
 Locality. 
 
 
 ja 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 JO 
 
 Kemarka. 
 
 3. 50 
 3.12 
 3.07 
 
 IJitppr Missouri | ! 5. 32 
 
 do ; '5.12 
 
 rlo ! I 4.75 
 
 Quisciuntoii, Iowa ' j 5.06 
 
 FortKandall. Dak | \ 4.95 
 
 Vpper Des Chutes, Orog 1 4. 92 
 
 Fort Crook, Cal.... \ 4.60 
 
 Xew Mexico 1 ■ 4.50 
 
 HatnuKiras, ^[exico 1 i 4.75 j 2.94 
 
 do , 4.66 2.85 
 
 Texas 1 4.57 8.94 
 
 3.25 
 2.97 
 3.07 
 2. fO 
 
 Ratlier young, 
 luipeii'e'ct. 
 
 Rather young ; Iwi-Utndicri. 
 Iiedandien. 
 
 do. 
 
 -.do.' 
 
 Uistory of the American Badger. 
 
 The early history of the American Badger is curiously in- 
 v"' ^.1, not only with that of the European species, but with 
 several entirely different animals. The celebrated traveller, 
 Kalm,+ speaks of the occurrence of the common Badger in 
 Pennsylvania, where, he adds, it is called "ground hog*'. But 
 this is a common appellation of the Woodchuck, Arctomys mo- 
 nax, to which, doubtless, Kalm's note is to be considered to 
 apply. In 1750, Brisson| describes A'-^Meles a^&rt" from New 
 York ; but this, it seems, proved to be an albino Baccoon, Pro- 
 cyon lotor. '"fiuffon," (says Sir John Eichardson,§) "in the body 
 of his great work, doubts whether the Badger be an inhabitant 
 of the American continent," .... "but afterwards, in tl "st 
 
 *" U. 8. and Mex. fiounil. .Survey, Zool. p. ai." 
 i Rfegne Auitn. p. S-'if). 
 
 t Trav. i. p. I«y. 
 ^ F. B.-A. i. p. :]8. 
 
 m 
 
 
 :-'|t 
 
 : ■■: J* 
 
#' 
 
 276 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 !i 
 
 I: 
 
 additiou to Lis article on the Glutton, described the skin of a 
 true Badger, which he received, it is said, from Labrador, under 
 the misapplied name of Carcajou." "We find the same confusion 
 with a vernacular name of the Oulo luseus or Wolverene to con- 
 tinue for many years among French naturalists; thus, in 1842, 
 Gervais still speaks of the "Carkajou, ou Blaireau d'Am^rique". 
 I am not able, at the time of present writing, to consult Bution's 
 work. His figure, given in the supplement of the llistoire Na- 
 turelle ("pi. 49"), is stated to. have been afterw<ard given by 
 Schreber, in 1778, as plate 142 B of the " Siiugthiere". Schre- 
 ber's work is not ju.^ lovv accessible to me. Ho is cited for a 
 name, ^^Ursus taxus''', as applicable to the American Badger, 
 though quoted as considering our species as distinct from the 
 European. 
 
 Pennant, one of the more accurate and reliable among the 
 early writers, is sadly at fault in the present case. After treat- 
 ing of an "American Badger" in his earlier works, he afterward, 
 in the xVrctic Zoology, as above quoted, united it with the Eu- 
 ropean Meles, and, besides thus confounding it with a totally 
 different species, he perpetuates several ecrors. , Thus he quotes 
 Kalm (see last paragraph) for its supposed occurrence in Penn- 
 sylvania, and si)eaks of its being " sometimes found white in 
 America", evidently having Brisson's albino Itaccoon in view. 
 
 Boddaert, in 1784, seems to have been the first to bestow a 
 technical appellation upon our animal, calling it Meles taxus var. 
 americanus. Zimmermann, citing Boddaert, adopted the name 
 Melcs americanus in his German translation of Pennant's Arctic 
 Zoiilogy. This name has priority over all others that have come 
 to my knowledge, though it was suffered to rest almost unno- 
 ticed until very recently, when, in 1857, it was formally adopted 
 by Prof. Baird, whose example has been generally followed by 
 subsequent writers. 
 
 Linnanis (17GG) makes no mention whatever of an American 
 species of Badger. Supposing him to have had any knowledge 
 of the animal from Buffon, his unworthy jealousy of the great 
 French naturalist would have led him to studiously ignore the 
 fact, in gratification of his absurd and puerile whim. 
 
 The name labradoria, or labradorius, by which our Badger 
 has been usually known, was imposed by Gmelin in 1788. His 
 Ursus lahradorms is based primarily upon Schreber's plate 
 142 P. Other citations given by him are, the "American Bad- 
 ger of Pennant, Quad. no. 143, and the " Carcajou " of Buffon, 
 
HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN BADGER. 
 
 277 
 
 Snppl. pi. 40. The habitat is given as " Labrador to Iludson's 
 Bay". But there is grave reason to doubt that Buffon's animal, 
 which furnished the material for his and Schreber's plate, came 
 from Labrador, as implied in Gmelin's name. This point was 
 brought up b}' Richardson, who, quoting Baffoii's words "qu'il 
 venoit du pays des Esquimaux", adds, "but in fact it may 
 have been brought actually from the banks of tlie Saskatche- 
 wan by souje of the Canadian fur hunters." In this uncer- 
 tainty, it is fortunate that Gaielin's name, most probably ob- 
 jectionable on the score .of geographical inapplicability, is also 
 anticipated in point of date. Gmelin's diagnosis is also incor- 
 rect, for it st'ems that his phrase "palmis tetradac;tylis" arose 
 in the circumstance that Buffbn's specimen had accidentiiUy 
 lost one of its fore toes. 
 
 Early in the present century, the Badger attracted the atten- 
 tion of Lewis and Clarke, being then as now extremely abundant 
 in the regions traversed by these intrepid explorers. Under 
 the curious name of ''braro", the animal is fully described by 
 them in the narrative of their journey, published under the 
 editorship of Paul Allen in 1814, for the first time, and in liuiny 
 subsequent editions. This word " braro" is obviously a corrupt 
 rendering of the French "blaireau", like "brairo", by which 
 nan\e the animal was known to the Canadian voyageurs; the 
 orthography is corrected in the McVickar edition. It is curious 
 to trace the further typographical mangling of this word, 
 originally written wrong by the travellers, being phonetically 
 rendered according to the sound which caught their ears. It 
 is spelled "brarow" or "prarow" in the Journal of Gass, one 
 of their companions; and "braibo" is found in Gerrard's work 
 above cited.* The animal described by Lewis and Clarke fur- 
 nished Harlan, in 1825, with the basis of a nominal species, 
 Melcs jefersonii, considered distinct from Jf. lahradoria, which 
 is also given by this author. 
 
 In 182.3, Thomas Say treated of this species, under the name 
 of Taxiis InhrnAoricus ; and the same year Mr. Sabine gave us 
 a detailed and the first satisfactory account of the actual diflfer- 
 ences in external characters between the American and Euro- 
 pean Badgers. His comparison was transcribed by Sir John 
 Itichfudson, in rhe Fauna Boreale Americana, 182!). The latter 
 
 •The old ilexicun name of tbe soutlicrii Hii(l;;er, Muifi to lie reiKk-rud "Tla- 
 coyotl" hy Fernandez, lias snT-'ercd as 1 ally, 1 ein .; rendered " Lafiyotl" and 
 " riacovoli.'"' by som(! lati; writers. ^'- •■' > 'vc,- 
 
 .i!ii 
 
 ■iV'm 
 
 
 
 li !l 
 
 
 1 
 
 1- 
 
 
 1- 
 
 fl 
 
 ^rti 
 
 m 
 
278 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 W 
 
 author's a tide remains to-day one of the best, on the whole, 
 that has appeared, covering as it does the then liuowu ground, 
 with a history, description, account of habits and geographical 
 distribution, a sj onymy, and a very characteristic plate, drawn 
 by Landseer. Sir John, however, noted none of the characters 
 by which our animal is geuerically distinguished from the Euro- 
 pean Meles, the establishment of a genus Taxidca being left to 
 Waterhouse, 1838. 
 
 An index to the general later history of this species is afforded 
 by the synonymatic list given on a preceding page (p. 2G3) ; it is 
 unnecessary to recite the various authors who have contributed 
 to our knowledge of the subject. Audubon and Bachman's 
 article, however, is specially noteworthy as illustrating the 
 habits of the animal in confinement. Portions of it are quoted 
 beyond. Baird's notice of the species enters very fully into 
 the technicalities of the case. J. A. Allen has discussed the 
 variability of the skull, with special reference to geographical 
 
 distribution. 
 
 Geographical distribution. 
 
 lam not aware that the Badger has ever been traced north- 
 ward beyond the limit of its distribution long ago assigned by 
 llichardsou, namely, latitude 58° north. " The Meles lahradoria ", 
 says this author, " frequents the sandy plains or prairies which 
 skirt the Rocky Mountains as far north as the banks of the Peace 
 River, and sources of the River of the Mountains, in latitude 
 58°." The doubts respecting its extension in British America 
 to the Atlantic Ocean have already been expressed. Mr. Don- 
 ald Gunn, in some inedited MSS. which have come into my 
 possession, temporarily, through the Smithsonian Institution, 
 speaks of the animal in the following terms: — "The Badger, 
 called by the Indians 'Weenusk', inhabits all the woody dis- 
 tricts south and west of Hudson's Bay. It hybernates duri»T 
 the long winters, entering its retreat early in October and 
 remaining under ground until the middle of May. It is not 
 often met with on the shores of the Bay, but is found at a dis- 
 tance of thirty to fifty miles. It does not appear to inhabit the 
 woody districts east of Lake Wiuipeg, but is found in open 
 places to the westward of that lake, and is occasionally met 
 with along the river of the same name." It is well known to 
 abound in the region of the Saskatchewan, and the British 
 territory in general lying immediately uOrth of Dakota and 
 Montana Territories. ■ 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OP THE BADGER. 279 
 
 Audubon and Bachman, writing in 1851, state that they 
 were not able to trace the Badger within a less distance from 
 the Atlantic than the neighborhood of Fort Union (which 
 stood at the southeastern corner of the Territory of Montana 
 as at present bounded). But there is abundant evidence that 
 the species formerly occurred far east of the Mississippi ; and 
 even now its range extends to that river. One of the States 
 along the Mississippi has in fact acquired a cant name from 
 this animal, being known by the soubriquet of the " Badger 
 State ". In 1858, Prof. Baird gives the habitat as " Iowa and 
 Wisconsin to the Pacific coast, and from Arkansas to 49° N. 
 lat. (To 58° N. lat.. Rich.)" • The animal formerly extended 
 eastward in the United States to Ohio at least. A letter ad- 
 dressed by Mr. Edward Orton, not long since, informs me of 
 its occurrence near Toledo in that State, about twenty years 
 previously, and of its extinction there Mr.. Robert Keunicott, 
 in 1853-54, has the species among the mammals of Illinois ; 
 while in Iowa, writes Mr. Allen in 1869, " the species is 
 probably nearly as numerous as formerly." The eastward 
 range in the United States to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Mich- 
 igan, Iowa, and Minnesota, as well as the oblique trend in 
 British America to Hudson's Bay, thus makes the distribution 
 of the animal more or less closely coincident with that of some 
 of the Spennophiles; these animals, with the Badger and Kit 
 Fox, being highly characteristic species of the central treeless 
 region of the United States, where they occur in countless 
 multitudes. 
 
 To the southward, the range of the typical Badger cannot 
 be precisely given, for the reason that there the characters of 
 the animal melt insensibly into those of the Mexican subspe- 
 cies herlandieri. The change becomes marked in Texas, New 
 Mexico, Arizona, and Southern and Lower California. I have 
 personally traced the typical form into Colorado, and it is said 
 by Drs. Coues and Yarrow to be very common throughout 
 Western Utah and Eastern Nevada, but less abundant in New 
 Mexico and Arizona. To the extraordinary abundance of the 
 animal in the Upper Missouri country I shall again refer in 
 speaking of its habits. Dr. J. S. Newberry has indicated its 
 abundance in Eastern California, Utah, and Oregon. Mr. 
 George (Jibbs says that the Badger, called bj' the Yakima In- 
 dians Weehtlila, was not seen by him west of the Cascade 
 Mountains of Washington Territory, though very common on 
 
 ■*i:: 
 
 i:: m 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 II. 
 
 Wi>'< 
 
 % 
 
n 
 
 280 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 the dry barreu plaius on tlie Yakima Kiver, and also on the 
 timberless mountains between the Yakima and the Columbia. 
 In certain sections of that Territory, as for instance the Sim- 
 coo Valley, the species is represented by Dr. Snckley as so 
 abundant that riding becomes dangerous from the number of 
 the burrows. The writer last mentioned adds a paragraph on 
 the general east and west distribution of the species, as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 "Found sparingly in the eastern portion of Minnesota; be- 
 ing mort abundant i>ear the Missouri. From thence, after 
 entering Nebraska [L e., the present Territories of Dakota and 
 Montana], it extends almost all the way to the dividing ridge of 
 the Cascade Mountains, near the Pacific coast. Farther w^est 
 it does not go, at least north of the Columbia. 1 have seen it 
 in the St. Mary's Valley, at the western base of the main 
 chain of the llocky mountains, and as far south in Oregon as 
 the vicinity of Fort Bois6 on the Snake or Lewis river. They 
 are most abundant (north of Utah) in the vicinity of Powder 
 river, Oregon, and the Yakima, one of the northern tributa- 
 ries of the Columbia." 
 
 Hahitn. 
 
 The Badger is one of the most secret animals of this country — 
 one whose habits and whose whole nature tend to screen it from 
 observation so thoroughly that much of our knowledge is a re- 
 sult of reasonable inference rather than a matter of actual expe- 
 rience, while some of the most important points respecting its 
 economy remain to be ascertained with precision. As will have 
 been gathered from what has preceded, it lives altogether in 
 holes in the ground, for the excavation of which its whole struct- 
 ure is adapted. Other animals are as decidedly fossorial as 
 the Badger, and like it live underground, but the Badger, un- 
 like its usual associates, the Prairie-dogs {Cynomys) and other 
 Spermophiles, does not continually appear in view; rather, it 
 leads a life almost as completely subterranean as that of the 
 Gophers ( Geomys and Thomomys)^ or even of the Mole itself. In 
 the colder latitudes, moreover, it hibernates during a consid- 
 erable portion of the year. I have travelled for days and weeks 
 in regions where Badgers abounded, and where their innumer- 
 able burrows offered the principal obstacle to progress on horse- 
 back or by wheeled conveyance, yet the number of Badgers I 
 have actually seen alive, in a state of nature, might be told oft' 
 
HABITS OF THE BADGER. 
 
 281 
 
 on the fingers of either hand. Most of the individuals I have 
 laid eyes on were in sight but a few moments, as they hurried 
 into the nearest hole.*" On one occasion, however, a Badger, 
 croucb'ng at the mouth of its burrow in fancied security, allowed 
 me to approach and kill it with a shot ; but I should add that 
 this imprudent individual was but half-grown, and probably 
 had never seen a man before. 
 
 I -lave found Badgers in countless numbers nearly through- 
 out the region of the Upper Missouri Kiver and its tributaries. 
 I do not see how they could well be more numerous anywhere. 
 In some favorite stretches of sandy, sterile soil, their burrows 
 are everywhere, together with those of Kit Foxes, Prairie-dogs, 
 and Sperniophiles, and, as already said, these holes are a source 
 of annoyance and even danger to the traveller. In ordinary jour- 
 neying, one has to keep constant lookout lest his horse suddenly 
 goes down under him, with a fore leg deep in a Badger-hole; 
 and part of the training of the western horse is to make him 
 look out for and avoid these pitfalls. In the Buffalo country 
 particularly. Badgers live in extraordinary numbers, attracted 
 and retained by the surety of abundant food-supply; and there 
 are places where the chase of the Buffalo < i horseback is abso- 
 lutely impracticable, except at a risk to life or limb which few 
 are willing to run. 
 
 The burrows of the Badger are known from those of the 
 Prairie-dog and other Spernopbiles by their greater dimensions ; 
 besides, they differ from the former in never being built up 
 around the entrance into the regular mound or circular buttress 
 which usually surmounts the well-kept domicile of the Cynomys. 
 From the holes of Kit Foxes and Coyotes, they are not dis- 
 tinguishable with any certainty ; in fact, it is probable that these 
 animals frequently or almost habitually occupy deserted bur- 
 rows of the Badger, remodelled, if need I e, to suit their con- 
 venience. But it must not be supposed th. t all of the innumer- 
 able Badger-diggings are the residences of these animals. The 
 Badger, too slow of foot to capture the nimble Rodents which 
 form its principal food, perpetually seeks them in their own 
 retreats; and it is the work of a few minutes for this vigorous 
 miner to so far enlarge their burrows that it can enter and reach 
 the deepest recesses. In places where tjie Badgers and Spernio- 
 philes most abound, the continual excavation of the soil by 
 these animals fairly undermines and honeycombs the ground. 
 The Bfidgers, though not migratory, are sometimes attracted 
 
 km 
 
 ;j. hi. 
 
 rill 
 
 ' m 
 
282 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 it 
 
 iJs! I 
 
 M ij 
 
 ir 
 
 i; 
 
 or focussed as it were, from a large area ia some particular spot 
 which temporarily offers special attraction in the way of a food- 
 supply. Thus, I have in mind a place on the Mouse River, 
 Dakota, where there had been not long before a grand battue 
 of Buffalo by the Indians, and where the number of Badger- 
 holes, then deserted, exceeded anything I La J before seen or 
 have since witnessed. 
 
 The abundance of the Badgers might bo expected, in view of 
 the fact that they have very few enemies. The animals are 
 stout and determined enough to stand off Wolves and Foxes ; 
 they seldom vfvture far from their secure retreats; and in fact 
 I know of no indigenous mammal which habitually preys upon 
 or otherwise destroys them. A Badger ensconced in its hole 
 would be a formidable antagonist which few animals would care 
 to molest. Their immunity from danger, part'y the result of 
 their physical prowess, part'y secured by the practically impreg- 
 nable nature of their resorts, together with the abundance of 
 food and the ease with which it is secured, tends to the firm per- 
 petuation and continual increase of the species in all unsettled 
 portions of the country. Man is the principal enetfiy of the 
 Badger, destroying thousands annually for his convenience or 
 luxury. 
 
 Besides the Spermophiles, Arvicolas, and other small quadru- 
 peds which furnish its staple diet, the Badger is said to prey 
 upon a variety of humbler animals, even insects and snails, and 
 to eat birds' eggs. As to the last named, there is a large sup- 
 ply on the western prairies, where many kinds of small birds, 
 in great multitudes, nest upon the ground. Mr. W. H. Gibson 
 refers to an especial fondness of the Badger for the stores of 
 wild bees ; the honey, wax, and grubs being alike devoured.* 
 Audubon has figured the Badger with a Shore Lark [Eremo- 
 phila alpestris) in its grasp. Mr. J. A. Allen speaks of finding 
 
 * I am not sure, however, that the actual reference is not to the European 
 Badger, whose apivorous habit has long been known. " Buifon states that it 
 tligs up wasps' nests for the sake of the honey ; — a fact which has received 
 an interesting confirmation from the observation of a correspondent of Lou- 
 don's Magazine of Natural History, who seems, however, to attribute the 
 destruction of these nests to the fondness of the Badger for the larva> of the 
 wasp, as he says that the combs were found scattered about, but none were 
 left that contained the maggots. This predilection of the Badger for honey 
 offers a striking analogy to several others of the group, psirticularly to its 
 Oriental relation the Ratel, MeUivora Capensis, which is known to live 
 principally upon it." — (Ukm.'s Jiritish Quadrupeds, ed. of 1837, pp. 123-4.) 
 
'TO 
 
 HABITS OF THE BADGER. 
 
 283 
 
 the bones and wool of lambs iu its burrows, though the unimal 
 is not generally regarded as injurious by the farmers. 
 
 The Badger has been called a " timid " animal. So it is, in 
 the sense that it avoids rather than confronts impending danger ; 
 but this is simply the instinctive prudence and discretion of a 
 creature which prefers the absolute immunity of its subterra- 
 nean resorts tc the chances of unequal combat in which it is at 
 disadvantage. Certainly, no lack of courage, determination, 
 and physical endurance is seen when the creature, captured or 
 cut off" from its retreat, is brought to bay. Its pluck is then 
 as conspicuous as its really formidable strength. The cruel 
 sport of "Badger-baiting" is sometimes indulged in the West ; 
 and if the animal be given a barrel or similar retreat in which 
 it is secure from attack in the rear, it may prove more than a 
 match for a strong dog. Indeed, the fighting qualities of the 
 Badger, and stubborn resistance it offers at whatever unfair 
 odds, have supplied our language with a word of peculiar sig- 
 nificance : to " badger" is to beset on all sides and harass and 
 worry. The stout, thick-set, and depressed shape of the animal 
 is greatly in its favor, combining with the long loose hair to 
 prevent a dog from reaching vulnerable parts, and to embarrass 
 it in attempting to take hold ; the snap of the jaws inflicts a 
 serious wound; and, finally, the tenacity of life is at a high 
 rate. . 
 
 A sketcli of this animal, from the pen of Dr. J. S. Newberry, 
 gives corroborative evidence of the Badger's powers of self- 
 defence; I transcribe the passages at some length, as they 
 afford other items iu the natural history of the species: — 
 
 " In traversing the arid surfaces of the sage plains of eastern 
 California, Utah, and Oregon, there is, perhaps, no one thing 
 which the traveller may be more sure of seeing every day of 
 his journey than the burrow of a badger ; and, after cursing the 
 country, and the folly which led him to cross these barren, hot, 
 and dusty surfaces, there is nothing he will more certainly do, 
 whether on foot or mounted, than tumble into one of these 
 same badger holes, and yet the chances are more than equal 
 that he never sees a living badger on which to revenge him- 
 self; for the badger is a shy and tiujid animal, and the country 
 he inhabits is so open, it rarely happens that he is surprised at 
 a distance from his burrow. During our march of several 
 hundred miles through the country inhabited by the badger 
 this did occur, however, on one or two occasions, and gave rise 
 
 Hi: 111 
 
 : m 
 
284 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.K 
 
 w 
 
 Bfr 
 
 to some liulicron8 scenes. The badger, tlioiigh far from formi- 
 dable, is too well provided with teeth to be handled without 
 gloves ;^ and knowing that hia only safety when attacked is in 
 plunging to the bottom of his barrow, his pig-headed pertinacity 
 in endeavoring to reach it is such, that an unarmed man finds 
 it difficult to stop him. 
 
 " Mr. Anderson^ who gave me most efficient aid in collecting, 
 came one day suddenly upon a badger at some distance from 
 his hole; of course he made for it with all possible speed, which, 
 it should <»o said, is not so great but that a man could easily 
 overtake one. Mr. Anderson at first endeavored to trample 
 him under his horse's feet, but, though he ran over him several 
 times, the badger avoided the hoofs and received no injury. 
 As we had not then obtained a specimen, he was particularly 
 anxious to secur '.is one, so he drove his horse before him, and 
 brought him to bay. He then jumped off, hoping, by means of 
 kicks and his sheath-knife, to dispatch him ; but the badger, 
 instead of retreating, came at him open-mouthed, and with 
 such a show of ferocity that he was tain to let him pass, trust- 
 ing to fin<l a club to kill him with ; but in that region clubs do 
 not 'grow on every bush,' for most of the bushes are sage 
 bushes, and before he found any sort of stick the badger had 
 reached his hole. Two days after I became indebted to him 
 for a fine specimen, which a long rifleshot had dropped at the 
 entrance of his burrow. Another, while leisurely following an 
 old trail, apparently on a journey, was overtaken and killed 
 by some of our soldiers. Seeing, perhaps the hopelessness of 
 the attempt, he made no effort to escape, but a vigorous defence, 
 and was only dispatched with some difliculty." 
 
 Sir John Richardson narrates an incident which, further illus- 
 trates the prowess of this stubborn, sullen customer. " The 
 strength of its forefeet and claws is so great," says he, " that 
 one which had insinuated only its head and shoulders into a 
 hole, resisted the utmost endeavors of two stout young men 
 who endeavored to drag it out by the hind legs and tail, until 
 one of them fired the contents of his fowling-piece into its 
 body." This is quite a match for the stories told of the Arma 
 dillo itself. " Early in the spring, however," the author con- 
 tinues, '' when they first begin to stir abroad, they may easily 
 be caught by pouring water into their holes ; for the ground 
 being frozen at that perio I, the water does not escape through 
 
Tm 
 
 HAIIITS OF TIIK BADGER. 
 
 285 
 
 the saiul, but soon tills the hole, and its teiiiuit is obliged to 
 come out." 
 
 The author of the "Complete American Trapper " also refers 
 to this method of taking Badgers, and adds others: — "Although 
 his general appearance would not indicate it, lie is a sly and 
 cunning animal and not easily capturetl in a trap of any kind. 
 He has been known to set at defiance all the traps that were 
 set for him, and to devour the baits without suffering from his 
 audacity. He will sometimes overturn a trap and spring it 
 from the under side, before attempting to remove the bait. 
 Although not quite as crafty as the fox, it is necessary to use 
 much of the same caution in trapping the badger, as a bare 
 trap seldom wins more than a look of contempt from the wary 
 animal. The usual mode of catching the creature is to set the 
 trap, size No. 3 [the so-called fox-trap, with springs at each 
 end], at the mouth of its burrow, carefully covering it with 
 loose earth and securing it by a chain to a stake. Any of the 
 methods used in trapping the fox will be found to work ad- 
 mirably. The dead-fall or garrote will also do good service. 
 Bait with a rat, mouse, or with whatever (,'.se the animal is 
 specially fond, and scent with oil of anise or musk. In early 
 spring, while the ground is still hard, badgers are easily cap- 
 tured by flooding." 
 
 The .reproduction of the species does not appear to be fully 
 known. I have no personal information on this score, beyond 
 the fact that I once secured a still ungrown animal in Colorado 
 during the latter part of August. The writer last (luoted says 
 that the nest is made in the burrow (as indeed is unquestion- 
 able), and that the young are three or four in number. Eich- 
 ardson, referring to the hibernation of the Badger in British 
 America from November to April, states that, like Bears, the 
 animals do not seem to lose much flesh during the winter, for 
 they are observed to be very fat when they come abroad in the 
 spring; and adds that, as they pair at once, they soon become 
 lean. The periods of gestation and lactation are probably un- 
 known. ■ • * 
 
 The habits and manners of the Badger in confinement, to 
 which we will next turn attention, have been attentively studied 
 by Audubon and Bachman, who have given an interesting ac- 
 count, here transcribed in full: — 
 
 " During our stay at Fort Union, on the Upper Missouri Ri ver^ 
 in the summer of 1843, we purchased a living Badger from a 
 
 iia 
 
 ' '■> m 
 
 
 
286 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID/E. 
 
 n 
 
 squaw, who had brought it from soino (listance to the fort for 
 sale ; it having been cantrht by aiiother squaw at a place nearly 
 two hundred and tifty miles away, among the Crow Indians. 
 It was Hrst placed in our common room, but was found to bo 
 so very mischievous, pulling about and tearing to i)ieces every 
 article within its reach, trying to dig up the stones of the hearth, 
 «S:c , that we had it removed into an adjoining apartnient. It 
 was regularly fed morning and evening on raw meat, either 
 the tiesh of anitnals procured by our hunters, or small birds shot 
 during our researches through the adjacent country. It drank 
 a good deal of water, and was rather cleanly in its habits. In 
 the course of a few days it managed to dig a hole under the 
 hearth and fire-placo nearly large and deep enough to conceal 
 its body, and we were obliged to drag it out by main force when- 
 ever we wished to examine it. It was provoked at the near 
 approach of any one, and growled continuously at all intruders. 
 It was not, however, very vicious, and would suifer one or two 
 of our companions to handle and play with it at times. 
 
 "At that period this Badger was about Ave mouths old, and 
 was nearly as large as a full grown wood-chuck or ground-hog, 
 {Arctomys monax.) Its fur was of the usual colour of summer 
 pelage, and it was quite a pretty looking animal. Weconcluded 
 to bring it to New York alive, if possible, and succeeded in doing 
 so after much trouble, it having nearly made its escape more 
 than once. On one occasion, when our boat was made fast to 
 the shore for the night, and we were about to make our 'camp,* 
 the Badger gnawed his way out of the box in which he was con- 
 lined, and began to range over the batteau ; we rose as speedily 
 as possible, and striking a light, commenced a chase after it 
 with the aid of one of the hands, and caught it by casting a buf- 
 falo robe over it. The cage next day was wired, and bits of tin 
 put in places where the wooden bars had been gnawed through, 
 so that the animal could not again easily get out of its prison. 
 After having become accustomed to the box, the Badger became 
 quite playful and took exercise by rolling himself rapidly from 
 one end to the other, and then back again with a reversed move- 
 ment, continuing this amusement sometimes for an hour or two. 
 
 "On arriving at our residence in New ^ork, we had a large 
 box, tinned on the inside, let into the ground about two feet and 
 a half and filled to the same depth with earth. The Badger 
 was put into it, and in a few minutes made a hole, in which he 
 seemed quite at home, and where he passed most of his time 
 
wm 
 
 IIAIJITS OF THE BADGER. 
 
 287 
 
 during the winter, altbou|j;li be always came out to tJike his food 
 and water, and did not appear at all sluggish or inclined to 
 hibernate even when the weather was so cold as to make it 
 necessary to pour hot water into the pan that was placed within 
 his cage, to enable him to drink, as cold water would have 
 frozen immediately, and in fact the pan generally had a stratum 
 of ice on tbe bottom which the hot water dissolved when poured 
 in at feeding-time. 
 
 •' Our Uadger was fed regularly, and soon grew very fat ; its 
 coat changed completely, became woolly and a butfbrown 
 color, and tbe fur hy the month of February had become in- 
 deed the most ellectual protection against cold that can well 
 be imagined. 
 
 " We had an opportunity in Charleston of observing almost 
 daily for a fortnight, the habits of a Badger in a menagerie ; 
 he was rather gentle, and would sutter himself to be played 
 with and fondled by his keeper, but did not appear as well 
 pleased with strangers; he occasionally growled at us, and 
 would not suffer us to examine him without the presence and 
 aid of his keeper. 
 
 " In running, his fore feet crossed each other, and his body 
 nearly- touched the ground. The heel did not press on the 
 ground like that of the bear, but was only slightly elevated 
 above it. He resembled the Maryland marmot in running, 
 and progressed with about the same speed. We have never 
 seen any animal that could exceed him in digging. He would 
 fall to work with his strong feet and long nails, and in a min- 
 ute bury himself in the earth, and would very soon advance to 
 the end of a chain ten feet in length. In digging, the hind, as 
 well as the fore feet, were at work, the latter for tiie purpose of 
 excavating, and the former, (like paddles,) for expelling the 
 earth out of the hole, and nothing seemed to delight him more 
 than burrowing in the ground ; he seemed never to become 
 weary of this kind of amusement ; and when he had advanced 
 to the length of his chain he would return and commence 
 a fresh gallery near the mouth of the first hole ; thus he 
 would be occupied for hours, and it was necessary to drag him 
 away by main force. He lived on good terms with the rac- 
 coon, gray fox, prairie wolf, and a dozen other species of 
 animals. He was said to be active and playful at night, but 
 he seemed rather dull during the day, usually lying rolled up 
 like a ball, with his head under his body for hours at a time. 
 
 
 ,.; ; ' .( 
 
 V ■'■>.' 
 
 ff •;., 
 
 .if , i--' 
 
288 
 
 NORTrt AMERICAX MUSTELID.T:. 
 
 " The IJadj^'tT did not refuse bread, but preferred meat, 
 making two meals during the day, and eating about half a 
 pound at eacli. 
 
 " We occasionally saw him assuming rather an interesting 
 attitude, raising the fore part of his body from the earth, 
 drawing bis feet along bis sides, sitting up in the manner of 
 the marmot, and turning his head in all directions to make 
 observations." 
 
 The assuming of this attitude may have been a result of 
 confinement, as I have not observed it when I have seen the 
 animal in a state of nature, nor does it appear to have been 
 noticed by others. The Badger, above all our other animals, 
 is notable for its flatness ; aven when running it looks broad 
 and flat, and the belly seems to sweep the ground during its 
 rather slow, heavy, and awkward progress. Seen when 
 crouching in fancied security or hoping to escape observa- 
 tion (and it will sometimes remain long motionless in this 
 posture, permitting near approach), the animal might easily 
 be mistaken for a stone or clod of earth ; the very hairs lie 
 flat, as if "parted in the middle", and form a fringe along 
 citlier side, projecting, as one writer has remarked, like the 
 shell of a turtle or the eaves of a house. The peculiar pattern 
 of coloration is then disi)layed to best advantage. Under 
 anger or irritation, the animal bristles up its hair, and appears 
 much larger than it really is. 
 
 The flesh, of tbe Badger, like that of the Skunk, is eatable, 
 and doubtless often eaten by savage tribes, though not to be 
 recommended to a cultivated palate. The specimens I have 
 skinned, even the young one before mentioned in this article, 
 emitted during tbe process such rank and foul odor as to be 
 simply disgusting. The Badger yields a valuable and at times 
 fashionable fur, used for robes, and for mufl's, tippets, and 
 trimmings. Thousands of shaving-brushes are said to be an- 
 nually made from the long bairs, which are also extensively 
 used in the manufacture of artists' materials, one of which is 
 a " badger-blender ". In 1873, tbe London sales of Badger 
 skins by the Hudson's Bay Company were 2,700, at prices 
 varying from one to seven shillings, averaging Is. Qd. The lead- 
 ing American journal of the fur trade in 1876 quoted Badger 
 skins at $1 for prime, 50 cents for " seconds", and 10 cents for 
 " thirds". The colors of the Badger pelt, though not striking, 
 are pleasing, being an intimate and harmonious blending of 
 gray, tawny, black, and white, the colors ringed in alternation 
 
TAXIDEA AMEKICANA BERLANDIERI. 
 
 289 
 
 pray, tawny, black, and wliiti', tlui ctolors rin^jcd in alternation 
 on individual hairs. The {jray pnMloniinatt's, the {icniTal 
 ♦' tone" or effect beinjj a gr'^-^l*'*! H^'^yi wiiieh has given rise 
 to the well known adage, "an gray as a Badger". 
 
 The I?Iv\ican Badger. 
 
 Taixi«l<>n nin«irleaiia berlniMllerl. 
 
 Mrlcs labrndorln, lii-nnctt. V. '/,. S. ISHn, 43 ("Ciilifornia". Vurtfibrnl Btripe contlnuous).- 
 
 nieh. Zool. nueclitw'H Voy. 18;»9, p. 9*. 
 fTuxidea Ubrodorla, Waterh. V. Z. 8. I83H, 1S4. 
 Tax Idea blTlundicrl, liairA, M. N. A. 1857, 905, pi. 39, f. X.—Hd. Mox. V,. Siirv. li. pt. li. 1859, 
 
 Mniiitii. 91. 
 Taxidcii amerlrHim mt. cuHrornicil, Qrayy P. Z. S. 1665, 141 (from Bonuott) ; Cat. Carn. Br. 
 
 MiiH. IbO!), p. — . 
 Taxidea amerlrana ran bcrlandlerl, (Iray, V. Z. S. 1865, 141 (from Bainl); Cat. Cam. Ilr. 
 
 MiiR. le'«9, p. — . 
 Taxidea amerlrana «ut/»p. bcrlandlcrl, AUm, Bull. U. S. Geul. and Geog. Surv. Tdrr. vol. 
 
 11. no. 4, 18:6, y;u. 
 Mf les tiacoyoltf, BtrX. HSS. ined. 
 TIalcoyotI, Aakuatl. 
 Tlaeoyntl, " Fernandez." 
 TIacoyotf, Hex. Vitlg. 
 Texon or Tejou, Mex. (of. Taxus, Taano, Taisann), 
 
 Hau. — Southwestern border of the United States and southward. Llano 
 Ebtacado, Texas, Pope; Canton. Biirj^wyn, N. M., Irwin; Capo St. Lucas, 
 Xantu«. "Interior and Eastern States of Mexico, especially Nuevo Leone 
 and Taraaulipas. — (JierUiiidier, MSS.) 
 
 SuHSPECii'ic CHAHACTKua.— Similar to T. americana, but with a white 
 dorsal stripe, soiuetiuies interrupted, from nose to tail. 
 
 Oeneral remarks. 
 
 The extreme manifestation of this form of Taxiden which I 
 have seen is exemplitted in a specimen in the Smith.sonian 
 Museum, collected at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. John Xantus. 
 Here the white frontal stripe is remarkably broad, nearly 
 eqnall»''nr iu width the dark part of the head, and it continues 
 uniuterrtipted thence to the tail as a sharp white vertebral 
 line. This is a conspicuous character, and, were it constant, 
 there would need be no hesitation in recognizing a second 
 species, even in default of correlated difference from T. ameri- 
 cana. But it is not constant; on the contrary, other speci- 
 mens show various degrees of interruption of the white dorsal 
 line. Thus, the one frojn Texas noticed hy Prof. Baird in the 
 works above cited shows a prolongation of the white frontal 
 
 illl 
 
290 
 
 NORTH AMKRIHAN MTSTEMD.E. 
 
 i 
 
 I 1 
 
 lino past the nape to a point opposite the sliotildera, its intoi- 
 ruption tliere for about tliroe inches, and its reappearance for 
 about four inches at tiie middle of the back. I fail to appre- 
 ciate any other decided peculiarities of this form, thougii it 
 may average rather smaller, and somewhat more heavily col- 
 ored, owinjf to its southern habitat. Certain cranial charac- 
 ters noted by Prof. liaird, according to the material then in 
 hand, are negatived in the later examination I have made of 
 huuth larger series of specimens. 
 
 This is clearly the animal referred to by Bennett, as above, 
 as a Calir»)rnian variety, with darker grotind-color, and a white 
 lino showing in several places along the back, or continuous to 
 the tail. In the United States it has only been noticed, to my 
 knowledge, in the localities alreatly indicate<l; but there is no 
 doubt that this form, more or less decidedly pronounced, ranges 
 over the intermediate groun«l. I find it noticed at considerable 
 length, with an unmistakable description, under the name of 
 ^feles Uacoyotr, in Dr. Berlandier's nianuscripts, wh re it is con- 
 sidered to be the TIacoyotI of IJernindez. The fore cfaws are 
 di'scribed as "blackish"; otherwise the account agrees exactly 
 with the specimens before me named herlandieri by Baird. Dr. 
 lierlandier was evidently familiar with the animal, which he 
 represents as common in Northeastern Mexico, and gives sev- 
 eral biographical notices — nothing, however, to indicate any 
 di Terences of moment in its habits as compared with those of 
 7. americana. The following are his measurements of a female 
 in the flesh : — Nose to end of tail 24 inches ; head o ; tail o.] ; 
 whole fore leg (5; hind leg r>^; stature at shoulders 7. 
 
 . ADDENDUM TO CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Description of the perinwal glands of the European Badger, Meles vulgaris. 
 
 Tlio American nad^or Iioh not, so far an I ntn aware, boon <«xatninu<l ana- 
 tomically with roforonco to tlio peculiar organs of thu puriiuniini and nei^li- 
 boriiij^r partH. Those, however, have Uann Htndied in the European Hpeoies 
 by M. Chatin, whose results may be here reproduced in substance, in default 
 of information respectin^rour own species, as it is improbable tbat any mate- 
 rial diflerence in these respects subsists between the two. It does not appear 
 that the Melvs rulyaris itself had been snillciently studied prior to M. Cha- 
 tin's investiKivtions. The 13ad)<;er is found to. b« peculiar* in the presence 
 not only of anal ^I'^odsof an ordinary character, but also of another, per- 
 
 * But is the anatomy of Mydaiia and Arvtomjx knuwu f 
 
PKRIN/EAL GLANDS OP MELES VULGARIS. 
 
 291 
 
 «<^,l 
 
 foctly (listiiK't Kliin<1> tim socrctioii of whicli is «niiitie(l into a poekot buck of 
 th«t aniiH, jiiHt IxMiiNiitli tlio mot of tlio tail. 
 
 1. Anal fjlaii<l8.—T\\o parts proNeiit, iioar tli« twrmiiiation of tin* reotnm. iiH 
 apputi<]a){(W at itn Hides, two oviil Hli^htly routirvoil inaHS(\s, 'J()">in loii^ and 
 about half uh broa<l in tli« niiddlo. Upon tlio Hli);htet4t pii^NHtiiv, a liijiiid 
 ^uhLoh from tlio two uxcrutory |>oros, which open at tlio HidoH of tlu* iiiiurt at 
 tho bottom of wcll-niark«id roccssoH. TIiIh Hiilistaiico in vory viMcid, of arosy- 
 yollow color, and cxtroincly fetid ; it in almost entirvly Noliiblo in nulidinric 
 ether, and contains nnmoroitH fatty particloH and opitholial reinains. The 
 two glands aro einbeddod In adipimo tissue, and entirely covereil with a 
 miiHciilar tunic arisinj; from th<^ anal mnscdes, especially the retractor. The 
 secretory ]iortion is of the same general charact«H' as in allied species ; the 
 tissue envelo[>ing the ciils-ile-sac is princiiially o. laminated filircs, strength- 
 ened, however, by elastic ones; tim diameter of the ciils-de-sac is from (•.(••! to 
 O.On""". On longitudinal si^ction of the gland, the centre is seen to be occu- 
 pied by a large reservoir lined with a delicate brownish membrane, much 
 as in other Carnivores. The product of si^cretion is turned by a small op(Mi- 
 iiig into a rattier narrow duct, leading to the external uriliuo already indi- 
 cated. 
 
 2. (llandH of the mihraiidal pouch. — In tlio Badger, as in the Porcin atid 
 doir.esticatcd ('arnivonvs, the rectum is attached to the sacrum and tiist coc- 
 cygeal bon<!S by a strong mnsnular band, which, in the present species, leaves 
 the rectum at a point 'i.'>'"'" from the insertion of the anal glands, at an 
 angle of about (iU'-' from the axis of the intestine, and proct^'ds to its inst^r- 
 tion uiioii the sacro-coc(!ygcal bones. At a ptiint in front of (he insertion of 
 this miiHcl<< is Ibund a. dei^fily bilobate mass, apparently formed of two sepa- 
 rate glands, each of oval shape, and appoHtnl along a (hit internal face, the 
 exterior surface being convex and lobate ; but (he organ is really single, as 
 it has but one receptacle for the product of all the follicular portion of the 
 a|iparatus. This is a new glandular organ peculiar to the coccygeal re<rion. 
 Each moiety niiiasurosiil""" in depth with an averag" iireadth of U"""; (or 
 the rest, they are embedded in abundant adipose tissue, and (he siirfiu^e is 
 whitish and papillate. The secretory portion is about "i""" (hick ; it is com- 
 posed of follicles, each comprising a large number of ciils-de-sac, of an aver- 
 age diameter of U.U(i*""', lined with polyhedral epithelial cells. The product 
 of H»(cretion is receiveil in an extremely large central sac, the surface of which 
 is furnished throughout with numerous short, stiff, brownish hairs. Tliissac 
 is distended with a yellowish fetid substance mixed with numerous hairs, 
 like tlll^ viverreuin of the Civet. This central reservoir may be regarded as 
 the beginning of the pocket which opens beneath the tail ; it uomiiuinicales 
 freely, and, in fact, is part of one and the same cavity. 
 
 In the female, it is observed that the end of the genital organs and the rec- 
 tum form, by tlitdr union, a kind of cUiacal vestibule, in fnnit of which is 
 the clitoris, with the urethra immediately below. lieneath this sexual por- 
 tion of the vestibule is the oridco by which the rectum opens ex(eriially, 
 after receiving at its sides the excretory ducts of the anal glands. Finally, 
 back of these parts, is a broad transverse depression, — the Huh(-au*lal pouch ; 
 it measures 2',\""" across. The anal glands are 1H""'< long and about '.'""" 
 broad ; they are club-shaped, and (|uite similar to those of the male. To the 
 Hiibcaudal pouch there is also attacluHl a secretory apparatus like that 
 already described, but smaller; its lutenial structure is the same. 
 
292 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 I I 
 
 Briefly, then, the Badger possesses perinseal glands, remarkally pecnliar 
 not only in their formation, but in their general relations, since the true anal 
 glands are supplemented with another special glandular mass. This lattiM- 
 ib not situated between the genitalia and tlaeanus, as in Fiverra, but between 
 the tail and the anus, so that it is behind the latter and not in "front of it, 
 like the scent-bags of tlie Civets. We cannot, however, deny their analogy, 
 as seen in the central otiVity, clothed with hairs, and the bilobation of the 
 gland ; but they differ in situation, in the nature of the product, and to a 
 certain extent in histological structure, thus warranting, from the present 
 standpoint, recognition of two quite distinct types. 
 
 I 
 
 
 >:-:: f. ( -- \---.\ ^J: 
 
 .\,i:.i^: '.■!,■■■■ ;/.>:. Jv j'>; ■ .' t] :: , u 
 
Wi 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 m 
 
 ■ Subfamily LUTEINS: The Otters. 
 
 General considerations — The genns Lutra — Generic characters and remarks— 
 The North American Otter, Lutra canadensis — Synonymy — Habitat — 
 Specific characters— Description of external characters — Description of 
 the Hkiill and teeth — Variation in the skull — History of the species— Geo- 
 graphical distribution — Habitsof Otters— Extinct species of North Amer- 
 ican Otter. 
 
 m 
 
 ill 
 
 IN the Otters, we encounter a fourth decided raodificatiou of 
 the family characters iu adaptation to a highly aquatic 
 mode of life. Among the true Mustelinw, iudee<l, we found 
 some aquatic species, like the Mink, Piitorius vlson; but in none 
 of the foregoing subfamilies is the structure modified to any 
 great extent with reference to natatorial abilities. The short, 
 broad, fully webbed feet of the Otters, the cylindrical body, the 
 stout tapering tail, aad very turgid blunt muzzle result in an 
 unmistakable physiognomy, as characteristic of the Lutrince as 
 are the more important structural modifications of the skull 
 aiul teeth. 
 
 The Lutrince have been defined as Mustelidcc with the number 
 of teeth equal in both jnws. Tliis expression, however, is 
 equally applicable to the Etihydr'mce, or Sea Otter, iu which, 
 very curiously, lack of one pair of under incisors brings about 
 the same adjustment of total teeth of the two jaws, though the 
 grinders are unequal in number. 
 
 The Lutrince as here limited to the exclusion of Eiihyclris may 
 be recognized as the only Mustelidce in which the number of 
 grinding teeth (molars and premolars together) is the same in 
 both jaws, the formula being J'^-yl^; ^^•^'^TS' '^''^ ^^^^^ 
 of the teeth is \l = 36. The upper molar is large and quadrate 
 iu shape. '■■-'" - .-•s^::-vr- -:-■■<■;.;;. .v -.-^^;:■,;v,. 
 
 After throwing out the very different geuns Enhydris as type 
 of a separate subfamily, the Lutrincv still include a number of 
 well-marked genera. Of these, Lutra is the principal genus, 
 
 293 
 
 f I 
 
294 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 
 E i 
 
 with the greater number of species and most general distribn- 
 tiou, occurring in both hemispheres. !Nearl} Hied genera, by 
 some considered only as subgenera, aio ' d chiefly ujmn 
 modifications of the claws, which, in somt the Old World 
 Otters, are small, rudimentary, or even wanting, as in Lep- 
 ionyx and Aonyx. The most remarkable genus is the South 
 American Pterura or Pteronura, peculiar in the lateral dilata- 
 tion of the tail. 
 
 Lutra itself is the only North American genus of the sub- 
 family, our species having been unnecessarily, if not unwarrant- 
 ably, distiuguis *>y generic name from the European type of 
 Lutra. 
 
 The Genus LUTRA. (Linn.) 
 
 Grxeuic chakacters. — Dental formula: i. 
 
 3-3 , 
 
 j,m. *J^ 
 
 3 — 3 ' ^' 1 — 1 ' J'"" 3_3 
 
 m. ^^;=:Jy='3G. Teeth of ordinary carnivorous pattern. Molar of upper 
 jaw large, quadrate. Back upper premolar with a large internal shelf, mak- 
 ing the contour of the whole crown triangular. Skull much depressed and 
 flattened on top, the dorsal outline more or less nearly straight and hori- 
 zontal ; rostrum extremely short, bringing the foro ends of the nasals nearly 
 opposite the anterior root of the zygoma, the sides of the rostrum erect, the 
 top flat. Cerebral portion of the skull swollen backward, with strongly con- 
 vex lateral outline. Postorbital processes variable (well developed in some 
 species, as in the North American, wanting iu others). Anteorbital foramen 
 very large, bounded above by a slender bridge of bone. Posterior nares 
 throwu into oue conduit." Palate extending far back of molars. Ptery- 
 goids strongly hamulate. Body stout, but lengthened and cylindrical ; 
 muzzle very obtuse; ears very small. Feet short, broad, naked, or partly 
 hairy ou the palm and sole, the digits full-webbed. Tail long, tapering, cylin- 
 dricodepressed, but without special lateral dilatatiou. Claws, though small, 
 well formed. Pelage without striking cc. r-contrasta. 
 
 Many of the foregoing expressions are applicable to the sub- 
 family at large, as well as to the present genus. Particular 
 points of Lutra proper are the presence of perfect claws, iu 
 comparison with their absence or rudimentary condition in 
 some other genera, and the lack of special dilatation of the tail. 
 
 The uniformity of coloration and the great individual varia- 
 bility iu size throughout this genus render the determination 
 of the species difficult. The points which I have found most 
 available in specific diagnosis, when cranial and dental charac- 
 ters fail, are, the size and shape of the nose-pad and the con- 
 
 * In some species, there is an incomplete septum extending further back 
 than iu Mimtdinw, but never, so far as I know, to the very end of the bony 
 palate, us in Mephitinw and Melinm. 
 
SYNONYMY OP LUTEA CANADENSIS. 
 
 295 
 
 (lition of fiirriiiess or nakedness of the soles, together with the 
 special tuberculation of the latter. The various American 
 species may readily be determined by attending to these par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 There is but a single well-determined North American species 
 of this genus. This is so distinct from the European, with 
 which it was long confounded, that 1 am tempted to place it in 
 a different subgenus, grounded on various cranial peculiarities 
 that mijL;ht be enp-:;-c:'ited, and only refrain from so doing 
 in my ignorabce of what intermediate forms of crania other 
 species may present to connect the extremes seen in L. vulgaris 
 and L. canadensis. Other American species agree closely with 
 L. canadensis in cranial characters ; and it is not improbable 
 that the species of this hemisphere may all be subgenerically 
 different from those of the Old World. I shall, however, con- 
 sider them as simply iu^ra. 
 
 Besides L. canadensis, moreover, there is a perfectly distinct 
 Mexican species, Lutra californica of Gray (not of Baird), which 
 is said, and I believe correctly, to extend into the United 
 States along the Pacific side. I think it will be found, as 
 already supposed by some, to be very extensively dispersed 
 along the western shores of North, Middle and South America. 
 It appears to be as distinct from the L. brasiliensis as it is from 
 L, canadensis, and I have no doubt will ultimately be estab- 
 lished as a second good species of Otter of the United States, 
 though under a name long prior to that imposed by Gray. But 
 as I have seen only Mexican skins of this animal, I cannot now 
 introduce it to our fauna. The point is discussed beyond. 
 
 1 ;i\ 
 
 The Mortli American Otter. 
 
 liUtra cnnadensis. 
 
 Plate XVII. 
 
 MuNtela ranadenHls, Turton, S. N. 1. 1806, 57 (not ifiutela eanadensif id. ibid. SP, which 
 is M. pennanti, the I'ekan. Not of Schrobor uor of Brxlebon n' •■ of authors). 
 
 lutra ranadenfilN, "F. Cuo. Diet. So. Nat. xxvii, 18-23, 242.- fn. llfj. Diet. Class, ix. !>20."— 
 J. Sab. App Frankl. Jourii. 1823, (i:>X—Les». Man. 1827, 154, no. 4H.—0rif. An. Kingd. 
 V. 1827, 1.30, no. 3&i.— Finch. Syn. 1829, 225.— TJicft. F. B.. A. i. 1829, 57, no. 20.~Einm(m», 
 "K«'p. Quad. Mass. 183^25"; Uup. Quad. Mass. 1840, 46.— ijicfc. ZoiJl. Voy. Uueehoy, 
 1839, i.— Maxim, lleiso N. Am. i. 1839, 211 ; Arch. Nalnrg. 1861, 236; Verz. N. A. Sauf;. 
 1862, 60, pi. 8, f. 6 (08 penis).- /)« Kay, N. T. Zool. i. 1849, 39, pi. 3, f. 1, pi. 33. f. 
 1, 3, 3 (»knl\}.—Liniiley, Am. Jonrn. Soi. xliii. 1842, —.—Schiiu, Syn. i. 1844, 34!), 
 no. 5.— And. <e Jiach. Q. N. A. il. 1851, 3, pi, 51.— TToodA. SitKreaves's Rep. 18.'i3, 
 Ai.—Kenn. Tr. Illinois ARric. Soc. for 1853-4, 1855, 578.-(?ie6«J, Siiiig. Itf.-i^ 789.— 
 lieenlty, Geol. Capu May, 1«57, Vil.— lid. ?J. N. A. 1857. 184, pi. 38, f. a, b, c, d, e.— 
 killings, Cauad. Nut. and Ueol. i. 1857, iiii.—SainueU, Ninth Ann. Uep. Mass. Aj<rio. 
 
 I 
 
 if 
 
296 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 11 
 
 ■i) 
 
 ^11 
 I 
 
 for IPfil, 1?62, UO.—ITnyd. Tr. Amer. Pliil. Soc. xii. 18fi2, U[i.-Hall, Catmd. Nat. 
 
 and Geol. vi. 1801, Sif?.— iJo«», Caiiad. Nat. and Geol. vi. ISfil, SH.—Barnston, Canad. 
 
 Nat. and Geol. viii. 1863, , f. —.—Oerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 18fi2. \0l.— Allen, Vr. 
 
 Bost. Soc. xiii. 1869, 183.— BuJJ. M. C. Z. i. 1H6'J, 178; ii. 1871, 109 (Florida).— (JiJpin, 
 
 Proc. and Tr. N. Scotia Inst ii. 1870, m.—All. Hull. E»8. Inst. tI. 1874, 46, 63 (Kuiisan 
 
 and Utali).— Ar/ics, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, m.—Oouet <£• Tarrow, Zoiil. Espl. 
 
 W. 100 Morid. v. 1875, 63.— Allen, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr. vol. ii. no. 4, 
 
 1876, 331 (skull). 
 llltra canadciiNiH var., Aud.d Bach. Q. N. A. ill. 1853, 97, pi. 122 (figure of Gray's typo of 
 
 Lalaxina inollin). 
 Lntax canadenHl8, Orai/, P. Z. S. 186.5, 133,- Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, — . 
 Lutra vuleariH var. canadenHis, Wagn. Suppl. Schreber, ii. 1841, 256. 
 MuMtela hiidsoniru, "LacepMe". 
 lutra hiidsonica, F. Cw. Snppl. Biiflfon, 1. 1831, 194. 
 flutra graclliis, Oken, Lebrb. Naturg. Th. iii. Abth. ii. 1810, 986<"Staatenland,Iu8el an 
 
 Anierika boi New- York"). 
 Intra braNlltcnRis, Desm. Manim. i. 1820, 188 (in part).— ITar;. Fn. A.ner. 1825, 71 (in part).— 
 
 Godm. Am. N. H. i. 1831, 222, pi. — , f. 2 (in part).— T/iowip-. N. H. Vermont, 1853, 33. 
 intra lutUXtna, F. Cm. "Diet. Sc. Nat. xxvii. 1823, 242"; Suppl. Button,!. 1831, 203.— "7«. 
 
 Omf. Diet. Class. ix.R-iO."— Griff. An. Killed, v. 1827, 131, no. 364.— Le»«. Man. 1827, 154, 
 
 no. 416 —Fisc;*. Syn. 1829, 226, no. 4.— i>e Eay, N. Y. Zofil. 1. 1842, il.—Schinz, Syn. i. 
 
 1844, 350. 
 latax lalaxina, Gray, Ann. Mag. N. n. i. 1837, 119. 
 
 Lataxina mollis, Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus, 1843, 70 (type figured by Aud. & Bach. I. e.). 
 Lutra amcricana, Wi/man, Pr. Bost. Soc. ii. 1847, 249 (on articulation of mandible). 
 Lutra californica, lid. M. N. A. 1857, Idl.—Xewb. P. R. R. Rep. vi. 1857, 42.— Coop. <£ Suck. N. 
 
 H. W. T. 1860, 115. (Probably not of Gray.) 
 intra destructor, Barnst. Canad. Nat. and Geol. viii. 1863, 147, f. — (Lake Superior). 
 iOUtre du Canada, Buff. "Hist. Nat. xiii. -^, .328, 326, pi. 44 (4to ed.); ed. Pillot. xv. p. 
 
 SQ".—Fr.Ouv.l.c. 
 iontre de la Caroline, F. Cuv. l.e. 
 
 ioutre d'Am^rlqne, Cuv. (in part; unites the Braz.ilian species). 
 Common Otter, Pennant, Arct. Zoill. i. 1784, 86, no. 34 (in part; unites the European). 
 land Otter, Warden, United States, i. 1819, 206. 
 American Otte?*, Godman, I. c, Baird, I. c, and of authors. 
 Canada Otter, Sabine. Rich. I. c, Aud. & Bach. I. c, and of autliors. 
 (Otter, see Martens, Zool. Gart. xi. 1870, 279 ; philological.) 
 Neekeek, Oree Indiana. ■ 
 
 Hab. — North America at large, being rather sparingly distributed over 
 most of the waters of the continent. Said to occur iu Central America 
 (Costa Rica, v. Frantzius). 
 
 Specific ciiaractkhs.* — Orbits well defined by prominent conical post- 
 orbital processes, the distance between the tips of which is one-half or more 
 of the intermastoid width of the skull. Inner depressed moiety of posterior 
 upper premolar as large and nearly as long as the main outer moiety ; gen- 
 eral dentition strong. Naked nasal pad large (upward of an inch long or 
 broad iu full-grown individuals), extending back above the nostrils in a 
 /^-shaped outline, reaching below the nostrils with a straight transverse 
 border, which sometimes sends a slight spur part way down the median line 
 of the lip. Palms hairy between the digits, isolating the individual bald 
 digital bulbs, and having an isolated patch or carpal peninsula of hair 
 posteriorly. Soles hairy between the digits, isolating the individual digital 
 bulbs, much encroached upon by hair from behind, aud having three or four 
 peculiar small circular elevated callosities arranged around the posterior 
 
 * Drawn up with special reference to antithesis with L, vtilgarit of Europe. 
 
■n 
 
 EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF LUTRA CANDADENSIS. 297 
 
 border of the main bald plautar surface. (Form, stature, and coloration not 
 diagnostic.) Finally attaining a total length of four feet or more; liver- 
 brown, with purplish gl^ss, i.a)er on the under surface of the head, throat, 
 and breast. 
 
 Description of external characters.* 
 
 This Otter shares the well-known form common to most 
 species of the genus — the massive columnar body, without con- 
 striction of neck, small globose head, small eyes and ears, long 
 taper tail, short stout limbs, and broad webbed feet, with close- 
 set glossy fur and abundant woolly under-fur. Externally, the 
 special form of the nose-pgd and the state of furring of the 
 palms and soles are the chief, if i.^ot the sole, characters dis- 
 tinguishing the species from several of its congeners. 
 
 The nose-pad is remarkably well developed — almost as much 
 so as in Mnhydris — perfectly bald, and in adult life tessellated 
 by subdivision into very numerous small flat-topped papilhe. 
 In general shape, it is an equilateral penta- 
 gon, with one side inferior, horizontal, and 
 straight Rcross, the next side on either hand 
 irregular, owing to the shape of the nasal 
 apertures, the two remaining sides coming 
 togethc r obliquely above to a median acute 
 angle, ligh above a line drawn across the 
 tops of the nostrils. It somewhat resembles 
 the ace of spades.t The lov dr horizontal 
 border is below a line drawn across the bottom of the nos- 
 trils; it sometimes sends down a small naked spur vertically 
 towards the tip, sometimes not ; either of the borders not oc- 
 cupied by the nostrils may be a little convex or a little con- 
 cave, or sigmoidal. (In Lutra vulgaris, the uosepad is very 
 small, and entirely contined between the nostrils. In a com- 
 mon species of Mexico, said also to inhabit California, and in 
 fact to extend from Chili to Kamtschatka, the nose-pad is con- 
 siderably more developed than in L. vulgaris, yet much less so 
 than in canadensis; the upper outline is deeply double-concave, 
 like w^, and the lower outline, which does not reach below the 
 nostrils, is concave, like ^. In the Saricov.ienne, Lutra hrasilien- 
 
 * From various specimens in the National Museum from different portions 
 of North America. 
 
 tThe figure, coi>ied from Baird, is perhaps rather too near an ace-of-clubs 
 shape; according to the dried specimens from which I drew my text, the 
 top of the figure should be more pointed, and the lines thence rather less 
 curved. 
 
 Nose-pad of L. eanadenais, 
 Nat. size. 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 li i:tr 
 
 m 
 
 II 
 
298 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 sis, with which ours used to be confounded, the nose-pad isde- 
 scribed as divided by a line of hair coming down from above.) 
 
 The upper border of the nostrils is in L. canadensis repre- 
 sented by a ])roniinent overhanging bulb. The whiskers are 
 short, stout, stift" bristles, arranged in numerous series ; others 
 equally long and stiff grow from the sides of the chin near the 
 angle of the mouth, and in front of the ears; others again 
 spring over the eyes, and at the point of the chin. The eyes 
 are small, far forward, nearer to the muzzle than to the ear. The 
 ears are comparatively minute, with a thin, obtusely pointed 
 conch, about as long as the surrounded fur, though they project 
 somewhat, since the hairs lie flat ; the entrance of the meatus 
 is completely occluded with fur. 
 
 The tail is about half as long (more or less) aa the head and 
 body ; regularly tapering from base to tip, elliptical in trans- 
 verse section. 
 
 The short fore limb is succeeded by a stout wrist and broad 
 flat hand. The fingers are very short, and when divaricated 
 their tips describe nearly a semicircle around the centre of the 
 palm. The toes are almost completely webbed by membranes 
 reaching out to about the middle of the conspicuous digital 
 bulbs — the median digit is a little freer than the rest, the lateral 
 ones most completely united. The hand is entirely hairy above; 
 below, the bulbs of the digits are perfectly bald, but the con- 
 necting membranes are more or less completely hairy, separat- 
 ing the naked bulbs from each other an4 from the main palmar 
 surface. After this hairy membranous surface comes the single 
 large palmar pad, naked for the most part, but having poste- 
 riorly a scant patch of hair, either isolated or connected by a 
 hairy isthmus with the fur upon the wrist. In life, this main 
 pad has no decided subdivision, though it sometimes shows cer- 
 tain lines of impression which in the dried state may be exag- 
 gerated into partitions. All the bald parts of the palm and the 
 digital bulbs are tessellated with minute papillsB. 
 
 The soles, in general, resemble the palms in the webbing of 
 the toes by a hairy membrane, and encroachment from behind 
 of hairs upon the main plantar pad ; but the shape of the hind 
 foot is quite different. The 4th digit is much elongated, the 
 3d a little shorter, the 2d and 1st rapidly much graduated, with 
 the 5th intermediate between the 3d and 2d. The terminal 
 bulbs of the toes are naked and papillate, and completely iso- 
 lated, by the hairiness of the iuterveuing membrciue, bjth from 
 
EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF LUTRA CANADENSIS. 299 
 
 m 
 
 each other and from the main plantar pad. This last la per- 
 fectly naked and papillate for a broadly crescentic space, there 
 being a central furry projection from behind. But the most 
 remarkable feature, peculiar to this epeoles, as far as is known, 
 is the presence of three or four small, definite, circular, elevated 
 papillte, arranged along the posterior border of the naked space. 
 I do not understand these singular structures, the appearance 
 of which almost forces the presumption that they are the excre- 
 tory pores of glandular organs beneath the integument. 
 
 The claws are similar on both fore and hind feet. They are 
 short, stout, compressed, much arched, rapidly contracted from 
 the thick base to an acute point. Those iu front are rather 
 larger, sharper, and more arched than the hinder ones. 
 
 The fur of the Otter is of great beauty, very thick, close, 
 short, and shining, an exaggeration, in correspondence with the 
 completely aquatic habits of the animal, of that of the Mink or 
 Muskrat. The longer hairs are stout and glistening ; the very 
 copious under fur is lanuginous and lustreless. The sheen is 
 only visible in its perfection when the pelt is viewed with the 
 lay of the hairs; from the other direction the color is plain. As 
 in most other species, the color is a rich dark liver-brown, or 
 deep chestnut-brown above, more or less blackish or with a 
 purplish gloss ; paler below, especially anteriorly, on the under 
 l)art8 and sides of the head, the throat, and breast. This pale- 
 ness is very variable, from a slight lightening of the general 
 tone to a pale dull brownish or grayish, or even muddy white. 
 The change is insensible, and there are no special markings 
 anywhere. The roots of the hairs, even on the darkest parts 
 of the pelage, are quite light brown, or often even dingy white, 
 but the fur is so close that this does not appreciably affect the 
 tone of the surface. The top of the tail is ordinarily the darkest 
 part of the animal. The whiskers are partly colorless, partly 
 brown. The nasal pad, palms, and soles are dark-colored. 
 
 Beneath the root of the tail are two glandular eminences. 
 
 Few animals vary more in stature than the Otter. Some 
 individuals are, in round terms, twice as large and heavy as 
 others apparently equally mature, and, at any rate, capable of 
 reproduction. An average total length of full-grown individu- 
 als is 4 to 4i feet ; some specimens, however, touching 5 feet, 
 while others fall short of the first-named dimension. The spe- 
 cies appears to grow several years after puberty. Nose to 
 loot of tail 3 feet; tail 1^ feet; nose to eye I5 to 2 inches; nose 
 
 ir 
 
 
 -'f 
 
 
 -4 
 
 M 
 
 mf 
 
300 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 to ear 3^ to 4 inches; etu* leas than an inch hij^h, and about as 
 broad; fore foot trom wrist 3J inches; hind foot 4 inches; girth 
 of body about 1 J feet; stature a foot or less; weight ordinarily 
 20 to 25 pounds. I have recognized no particular sexual dif- 
 fereiices, though the female may, as usual in this family, aver- 
 age smaller than the male. 
 
 Comparison with allied species. (See plates XVII, XVIII.) 
 
 The difterences between the present species and L. vulgaris 
 of liJurope are decided and unmistakable, in fact much stronger 
 than those usually subsisting in this intricate group, where 
 recognition of species is rendered difficult by similarity in form 
 and color. Some of the characters of L. vulgaris have been 
 already noted. It is a much smaller animal ; the nasal pad is 
 reduced to a small bald spot strictly confined betwixt the nos- 
 trils ; and there is uo hair on the soles or palms. The cranial 
 characters are still stronger. A great many details of differ- 
 ence that might be adduced may be summed in the stat<'ment 
 that the skull of L. vulgaris is less massive, narrower for its 
 leagth, and with weaker dentition. The prominent peculiari- 
 ties are these : There are no decided postorbital processes 
 defining the orbit above. The postorbital constriction is 
 great, the skull being at this point less than one-fourth as 
 broad as it is across the mastoids, instead of nearly one-third 
 such measurement, as in L. canadensis. The zygomatic width 
 is contained one and four-fifth times in the total length, instead 
 of only about one and two-fifths, as in L. canadensis. The ros- 
 trum is decidedly more produced and narrower, and the nasal 
 bones are of a correspondingly different shape. The inner 
 spur of the posterior upper premolar in L. vulgaris is a semi- 
 circle, only about half as long as the tooth ; in L. canaden- 
 sis, the same part of this tooth is developed along the whole 
 inner border of the main moiety. There are other minor den- 
 tal peculiarities. (Compare Plates XVII and XVIII.) 
 
 A skull of the Mexican Otter above mentioned as entirely 
 distinct from L. canadensis, and which is probably the species 
 named L. cali/ornica by Gray (but certainly not the one so 
 called by Baird), is of the same general character £vs that of 
 L, canadensis, in fact presents no very strong points of differ- 
 ence. The inner part of the back upper premolar, however, is 
 rather triangular than quadrate, lacking the bulge of the pos- 
 terior part, conspicuous in L. canadensis, which causes the part 
 
COMPARISONS OP OTTERS. 
 
 301 
 
 to be closely apposed to the succeeding molar, wberetis in this 
 ^Mexican example there is a decided angular interval at the 
 .same place. The point is difficult of expression on paper, but 
 is readily perceived when the specimens are laid together. 
 The whole skull is rather broad and massive. 
 
 The same characters of skull and teeth are witnessed in a 
 large series of Otters' skulls before me from the coast of Alaska 
 and some of the adjacent islands. The skulls, unfortunately, 
 are unaccompanied by skins; but they lead me to suspect that 
 thej' may be those of an animal the same as the Mexican 
 species. This would accord with the ascribed range of the 
 species (from Chili to Eamtschatka); but the point cannot be 
 determined until skins are examined from this region, as the 
 skulls alone do not furnish grounds for separation. The Mex- 
 ican animal is entirely distinct, as already noted, in the smaller 
 and differently shaped nose-pad, perfectly naked palms and 
 soles, and absence of the peculiar callosities seen on the latter 
 in L. canadensis. If the ascribed range of this Otter prove to 
 hold, we have, in North America, a second perfectly good 
 species, the characters and supposed synonymy of which are 
 presented in the accompanying foot-note.* 
 
 *"lulrii feUna. Molina, Hist Nat. Chili." 
 
 "Lutra Chllensis, Bennett, Proc. Zoiil. S. ii, 1832, p. l."—Tschudi, Fn. Peru. 1844-46, 113. 
 
 "Lfitra plateiisis, WaUrh. Zoiil. Voy. Beagle, i. 2i.—D'0rbig. Voy. Amur. M6iid." 
 
 Liitra californira, Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. i. 1835, 580, nee Baird. 
 
 Kutria feUna, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 128. 
 
 Description (No. 9435, Mus. Smiths. Inst. $ , Jan. 15, 1869, Santa Efijj^enia, 
 Tebuantepec, F. Snmichrast). — Of abont the size and with much the general 
 appearance of L. canadensis. Tail very long, at least i the bead and body. 
 Feet notably small. Nose-pad contracted, broader than deep, not deeper 
 than the length of nostril, the lower border lightly concave, the upper 
 border strongly doubly concave, with a central pointed projection upward, 
 and similar acute produced lateral upper corners. Soles and palms naked, 
 the palmar pad divided into^ posterior circular part and a larger anterior 
 portion, the latter subdivided by several lines of impression. Soles without 
 peculiar circular callosities, with several well-marked subdivisions by lines 
 of impression. Color above a lighter and more chocolate-brown than in L. 
 canadensis; below, decidedly paler and grayer brown than usual in L. cana- 
 densis, becoming dingy whitish anteriorly. Estimated length 2^ feet to root 
 of tail ; tail about 1| feet ; nose to ear perhaps 3^ inches ; fore foot, measured 
 from beginning of the naked part, only 2^ inches ; hind foot about the same. 
 Additional specimens from the same locality, with others from Orizaba and 
 Central Guatemala, appear to be identical. A skin from Buenos Ayres is 
 not materially diflerent, though the upper outline of the nose-pad is less de- 
 cidedly double-concave above ; the size is less, the coloration lighter, and of 
 a peculiar yellowish-brown on the under parts; the whole pelage is remark- 
 ably harsh and hispid. 
 
 
 
 
 ifl 
 
302 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.T:. 
 
 Dt'Hcription of the skull and teeth, (See Plato XVII.) 
 
 The Irtti'ial view of the skull shows its most cluiracteristic 
 shape ill its f^eneral depression, the tlatnesaon top, and the short- 
 ness of the blunt muzzle. In the adult, the dors.il profile, from 
 oceipiit to end of imsals, approximates to a straight line; in 
 .younger examples, the frontal outline is also about straight, but 
 the cranial ixution arches a little, and then curves (Town to the 
 occiput. The profile of the nasal orifice is sinuous, convex 
 abtive, concave below. The rostrum is only about one-fifth of 
 the total length of the skull. The anteorbital foramen is widely 
 open, obliquely elliptical iu shape, and only bridged over by a 
 slender process of the root of the zygoma ; its obliquity of posi- 
 tion is so great that, viewed from above, it presents within the 
 orbit instead of before it. The orbit is small, subclrcular, and 
 well defined, not only by an acuie malar process of the zygoma, 
 but by a very prominent supraorbital process, these two to- 
 gether completing more than two-thirds of the circumference 
 of a circle. The zygoma is not very strong; it is moderately 
 arched upward, with quite an abrupt rise near the middle, rather 
 than a regular general curve. The glenoid appears rather far 
 forward on its posterior root, i'he orifice of the meatus audi- 
 torius is small, and high up in a deep recess between the glenoid 
 and mastoid ; the latter is notably large and prominent. 
 
 Viewed from above, the skull displays the great brevity and 
 obtuseuess of the rostrum already mentioned. This seems to 
 be due, in a measure at least, to the anterior position of the 
 orbits, and the forward encroachment of the broad flat anterior 
 roots of the zygoma; other topographical points are less dif- 
 ferent from an ordinary Musteline type. The sides of the ros- 
 trum are about parallel, its width is fully equal to its length. 
 Just in front of the orbital brim, at its upper corner, is seen a 
 well-marked depression. The interorbital area is a broad ele- 
 vated tablet, perfectly smooth and flat, bounded behind by the 
 forks of the sagittal crest, proceeding in curved lines from the 
 termination of the sagittal crest to the supraorbital processes. 
 All the surface of the skull behind these is roughened by 
 muscular impressions. Supraorbital processes are much more 
 largely developed than usual, acute, directly transverse. The 
 skull is nery narrow just behind these, the point of greatest 
 constriction being decidedly in advance of the middle of the 
 skull. From this point backward, the skull bulges considvirably, 
 
'^m 
 
 SKULL OF LUTRA CANADENSIS. 
 
 303 
 
 with a goneral ovoidal contour. The occipital crest ia iiioder' 
 atdy developed ; the line of contour it repre8ent.s is eniargi'iate 
 on the middle line, then strongly convex on eattli side, thence 
 about straight to itH teruiiiuition at the nuiHtnidH. There is 
 rarely, if ever, even in the oldest skulls, a decided sagittal crest, 
 the median line being in fact rather a groove, at least behind ; 
 in front, however, there is a slight raised lino. In young 
 animals, there are several parallel grooves and stria; uloug the 
 median line. . 
 
 The occipital face of the skull is in general flat, with various 
 muscular irregularities, curving around laterally to the mastoid 
 region. It is bounded above by the occipital crest, the general 
 contour of which, in this view, resembles the dorsal profile of 
 a military chapoau. The condyles are large, and the region 
 around the foramen magnum is prominent; it descends far below 
 the level of the slight obtuse paroccipitals, the apices of which 
 fall on the level of a line drawn from the mastoid to the middle 
 of the foramen magnum. The articular surfaces of the con* 
 dyles are obliquely oval, with no outward prolongation, but, on 
 the contrary, an extension toward the median line till ihey 
 nearly meet each other beneath the foramen magnum. This 
 aperture, in general outline, is transversely elliptical, broader 
 than deep, with a strong emarginatiou posteriorly. 
 
 The zygomatic width of the skull, best viewed from below, 
 is seen to be not much less than three-fourths the total length 
 (2.90 X 4.2U inches for example) ; the intermastoid width is 
 about three-fifths the leugth. The zygomata are widest apart 
 behind, thenco approximately moderately in a nearly straight 
 line. The alveolar borders of the palate are about parallel 
 anteriorly, and, though divergent behind, this is mostly due to 
 the size of the back teeth themselves, the general palatal mar- 
 gins inside the teeth being parallel. The palate extends far 
 back of the last molars (not so far, however, as in Taxidea), 
 ending about halfway to the ends of the pterygoids. The 
 incisive foramina, very short and broadly oval, are directly be- 
 tween the canines. The emarginatiou between the pterygoids 
 is broad, and ends with a rounded outline (with a median process 
 or median emarginatiou indifferently); these bones are laminar, 
 smooth inside, thickened with various muscular ridges outside, 
 end in long hamular processes. The glenoid fossa is deep; it 
 develops a broad overlapping shelf at its inner back corner, 
 and a similar but slighter one at the outer anterior corner, 
 
 
304 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 ii! 
 
 ■:. 
 
 together frequently sufficient, in old individuals, to lock the 
 jaw. The posterior 'lares are only separated by a vertical 
 median septum for a short distance ; they debouch together at 
 the edge of tlie bony palate as a single orifice, as in Afustelidw 
 generally, but not as in Taxidea (q. v.). The bullfe osscjb are 
 tiattish, about as in Mephltincc, strongly contrasting in this re- 
 s[)ect with Miistelinw and Melincc. They are most vaulted at 
 the apteroiuternal angle ; exteriorly they are produced into a 
 Jong slender tubular meatus. The basilar space betwixt these 
 periotic bones is very broad, with its sides little convergent 
 anteriorly. The foramen hicerum posterius sometimes appears 
 as several distinct circular foramina through which the cranial 
 nerves respectively emerge separately, a state I have not noticed 
 elsewhere in the family, though it may occur ; it is analogous 
 to the division of the auteorbital foramen frequently seen in 
 the Skunks. This state of the lacerate fissure is usuallj' un- 
 symmetrical; that is, it is not alike on both sides cf the same 
 skull. 
 
 The bones of the skull are early confluent in Lutra. Thus 
 even the nasal sutures, usually among the most persistent in 
 ]i[usteUda\ are obliterated at an age when the skull is still thin 
 and i)apery. In a very young specimen in which the bones are 
 still mostly distinct, I observe the following disposition of the 
 sutures: The nasals are received behind in a shallow semi- 
 circular recess of the frontal; their sides are approximately 
 parallel; the intermaxillary and maxillary form each about 
 half of the rest of the nasal boundary. The maxillary ends 
 about opposite the middle of the orbit ; there is but a begi,nning 
 of wedging of a process of the frontal between the nasal and 
 superior maxillary (cf. Taxidea). The coronal suture is ex- 
 extremely irregular; it lies altogether back of a line drawn 
 across the apices of the ccronoid processes when the jaw is in 
 hHu. Nearly all the dome of the cranium is parietal, the 
 squamosal forming only a low irregular border along the side, 
 not a fourth of au inch above the root of the zygoma, though it 
 occupies much surface beneath the skull. Owing to the width 
 of the glenoid, it is entirely separate from the sphenoid. Tlie 
 occipital crest is also chiefly parietal, as the lambdoidal suture 
 passes across it to gain the back aspect of the skull at a point 
 nearer tc the median line than to the mastoid. The latter is a 
 sizable element, wedged between the parietal and squamosal 
 above, periotic below and in front, and a small piece of the 
 
SKULL OF LUTRA CANADENSIS. 
 
 305 
 
 oc'Mpital behind; it is already partly contUieiit with the periotic. 
 The basilar suture is distinct, directly transverse, near the an- 
 terior end of the bulhe. Sijnilarly, the spheno-vomerine suture 
 is open ; it appears back of the end of the palate. The ptery- 
 goids arc already lost in the sphenoid, but the pterygo palatal 
 suture is evident, ojjposite the spheno-vomerine. The contour 
 of the palatine bones may be traced all around, though their 
 p datal plates are fused with each other. The niaxillopalatine 
 suture is opposite the anterior portion of the last premolar. The 
 palatal plate extends far backward, as already twice indicated 
 la noticing other points, and its orbital portion curves over into 
 the temporal fossa, though it forms but an insignificant portion 
 of the orbit i)roper, being only prolonged by a slight i)rocess 
 fairly into the orbit. The orbito sphenoid remains instruct- 
 ively distinct from all surroundings, bounded Jibove and in 
 front by the frontal, behind and partly below by the alisj)he- 
 noid, for the rest below by the palatal. The lachrymal is 
 similarly distinct, except anteriorly. The malar is seen to form 
 most of the zygomatic arch ; though the pointed process of the 
 squamosal overlies it nearly- halfway, its bevelled posterior 
 extremity reaches almost to the glenoid fossa ; its anterior ex- 
 tremity runs along on top the maxillary to the lachrymal, form- 
 ing an upper layer of the bridge over the anteorbital foi-amen. 
 The palatal plates of the intermaxillaries extend in a V past 
 the canines to a point on the median line opposite the second 
 premolar; the incisive foramina are not pierced entirely in these 
 bones, their posterior periphery being completed by a nick in the 
 corresponding border of the palatal plate of the superior 
 maxillary. 
 
 Keturning to the adult skulls for examination of the mandi- 
 ble, we find that this bone has a stout thick ramus, with long 
 slanting symphysis, an irregular continuous curve froui incisors 
 to angle, with a slight emarginatiou just in advance of the 
 latter, an«l a rather low broad obtuse coronoid, the front border 
 of which is nearly straight and verti(!al, the posterit)r border 
 curving forward with quite an elbow to the apex. The condyle 
 is wide across, but narrow in the other direction; it slants 
 oblique both to the horizontal and vertical plane, its inner end 
 being both higher and further back than the other. There is 
 a deep notch between the condyle and angle of the jaw, which 
 last is not exllected. The miiscular impression on the outside 
 of the jaw is, as usual, well marked ; it ends below in a rounded* 
 outline beneath the list molar. 
 20 M 
 
 .it. 
 
 ■if 
 
 li 
 
 ', M 
 
30G 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 For tbe deutitiou, a .voung subject is preferably selected, iu 
 which the teeth are fully formed but entirely unworn. The 
 back upper molar is quadrate in general contour, as in Mephi- 
 iimv {cf. Melbuvj Mustcllncv), but rather lozenge-shaped, the inner 
 posterior and outer anterior corners being less than a right 
 angle, while the opposite ones are obtuse. All the corners are 
 rounded ott". The tooth is, if anything, a little smaller than the 
 next one. Its face presents an exterior, narrow, longitudinal, 
 raised portion, in the closed jaw wholly external to the anterior 
 lower molar. The exterior moiety is divided across by a sulcus ; 
 its inner border is deeper and more trenchant than the outer ; 
 its front part is also deeper than its back part. The rest of the 
 face of the tooth is depressed, and presents a general slight 
 excavation, with a very prominent acute tubercle antero-inte- 
 riorly, and a general raised border; this portion is applied against 
 the similar depressed back part of the anterior lower molar. 
 The back upper premolar is essentially triangular iu contour, 
 but with a bulge of the postero internal border, which nearly 
 gives it a trapezoidal shape. It consists of the outer deep por- 
 tion, made up of a single very prominent acute cusp, connected 
 by a trenchant edge with a smaller posterior cusp, which ends 
 the tooth behind, and of an inner low portion presenting a 
 general slightly excavated surface marked with a slight central 
 prominence and bounded by a well-developed sharp edge. The 
 great develoi»ment of this inner moiety along the whole of the 
 tooth is the strongest dental character of the species in com- 
 parison with L. vuJffaris. The cuspidate part of the anterior 
 lower molar abuts against this portion. The next upper pre- 
 molar is a stout two-rooted conical cusp, with .\ cingulum and 
 well-developed heel fore and aft, and, in addition, a postero- 
 internal depressed part, against which the apex of the posterior 
 lower premolar is apposed. The next premolar is altogether 
 similar, but smaller. The anterior premolar is single-rooted, 
 very small, and in peculiar position, altogetaer internal to the 
 canine, with Mhich it is in close apposition; both of the ante- 
 rior premolars, in fact, are in close relation with the canine ; the 
 first one being thrown entirely to one side of the general dental 
 axis. This small tooth not seldom aborts on one side ; but I 
 have not happened to find it absent, altogether. The upper 
 canines are not peculiar ; they are jjerhaps shorter and stouter 
 for their length than usual in this family. The lateral pair of 
 f incisors moderately surpass the rest iu size ; the others are on 
 
CRANIAL VARIATION IN LUTRA CANDENSIS. 
 
 ;507 
 
 a par with each otlier ; the euds of all are obtusely rounded, 
 without obvious lobation. 
 
 The back lower molar is small aud circular, as usual ; it shows 
 no special points. The front lower molar consists of an anterior 
 tricuspidate half and posterior depressed portion. The three 
 cusps are very prominent, subequal in size, forming a triangle, 
 with one angle anterior and median, the two others posterior 
 and lateral ; the posterointernal cusp is rather smaller than the 
 two others, the ridge connecting which forms the trenchant 
 edge of the tooth. The back part of tlie tooth is a simple de- 
 pression, with raised periphery, which, at its outer part, is twice 
 nicked, with slight marginal cusps as a consequence. The pos- 
 terior premolar is a stout conical cusp, well heeled fore and 
 aft, with a secondary cusp half-way up its back border, as in 
 Taxldea. The next premolar is smaller, but similar, except in 
 lacking the secondary cusp. The front premolar is again simi- 
 lar, but smaller still, and w ithout an anterior heel, being closely 
 apposed to the canine. The latter is short, very stout, aud 
 much curved. The inferior incisors are much crowded and very 
 irregular, even more so than in Mmtclinw, offering an interesting 
 approach to the condition which culminates in Enhydris in the 
 disappearance of one pair. The outer pair are moderately larger 
 than the rest ; the next pair — the middle tooth on each side — 
 set almost entirely back of the general incisor plane ; they are 
 quite deep, though little of their face appears in front. The 
 middle pair are narrow, and closely approximated. The ends 
 of the outer pair are lobate ; of the others, not appreciably so. 
 
 Vfiriations i>i the alcidl of the Otter. 
 
 As in other cases, I present under this head Mr. J. A. Allen's 
 measurements and comments, extracted from the paper above 
 cited in the synonymy : — 
 
 " Specimens of this species from northern and southern locali- 
 ties do not differ materially in size ; skulls from Newfoundland, 
 Maine, Lake Superior, Washington, and Georgia agreeing very 
 closely in dimensions. In a series of eighteen (mainly from 
 northern localities), nine attain or exceed a length of 4.25, and 
 three reach 4.50, while two only fall as low as 4.00. Seven speci- 
 mens from the vicinity of Lake Umbagog, Maine, (in Mus. 
 Corap. Zoiil.) average 4.28 in length and 2.93 in width ; two of 
 these reach 4.50 in length and two fall slightly below 4.00 (3.90 
 and 3.97). Two specimens from Washington, D. C, have a 
 
 ■!. l 
 
308 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 length respectively' of 4.45 and 4.50; oue specimen from Saint 
 Simon's Island, Georgia, is nearly as large (4.32), while a Fort 
 Cobb specimen has a length of 4.22. These four are the only 
 ones from very southerly i)oints. Four other specimens, from 
 as many localities, range from 4.05 to 4.15; while three speci- 
 mens from Newfoundland range from 4.03 to 4.25. While these 
 specimens are too few to warrant positive conclusions as to 
 geographical variations, they seem to point to a great constancy 
 of size throughout a wide range of latitude." 
 
 Menaiirements of eii/hteen skulls of Luru.i canadkxsis. 
 
 
 Locality. 
 
 s 
 
 4.20 
 4.03 
 4.15 
 4.33 
 4.40 
 4.27 
 4.50 
 3.97 
 3.96 
 4.50 
 4.15 
 4.25 
 4.05 
 4.06 
 4.22 
 4.50 
 4.45 
 4.32 
 
 
 501 
 
 498 
 
 Newfoundlan'il 
 
 do 
 
 2.75 
 2. 53 
 
 500 
 
 do 
 
 2 57 
 
 490 
 
 do 
 
 2 90 
 
 555 
 
 Umbazos Lake, Maine 
 
 3.00 
 
 556 
 
 do 
 
 2. 85 
 
 557 
 
 do 
 
 2.00 
 
 559 
 
 do 
 
 2.7(1 
 
 558 
 
 do 
 
 2. 7(1 
 
 489 
 
 do 
 
 3.00 
 
 4446 
 
 Lake Superior 
 
 2. 85 
 
 11H39 
 
 2247 
 
 13671 
 
 Fort Bertlwld, Dak 
 
 Saranac Lake, N . Y 
 
 Bayfield, Wis. 
 
 2. Hi 
 2. 57 
 
 2.8-2 
 
 8097 
 
 Fort Cobb, Iiid. Ter 
 
 2.87 
 
 
 Washington, 1). C 
 
 2. 95 
 
 433 
 
 do , 
 
 
 3142 
 
 Saint Simon's Island, Georgia 
 
 2. 7o 
 
 
 
 
 History of the species. 
 
 The existence of a true Otter in North America was known 
 to the earliest systematic writers. Thus, Buflfou described an 
 Otter from Canada, noting its larger size in comparison with 
 the European species, and a difference in the color of the fur. 
 But all the authors of the last century i)ersisted in confounding 
 it with either the European L. vulf/aris, or with the South Amer- 
 ican Carigueibeju, Sarigovion, or Saricovienne, both totally 
 distinct. Pennant had also a certain "Slender Otter" of North 
 America, which became a Lutra gracilis* of authors, and may 
 
 ' lu establishing, in 1816, tlie {^emis I'lisa for the Sea Otter, afterward 
 called Enhydra by Fleming, Oken has two species (Lehrb. Naturj;. ISKi, 
 p. 98G) : one of these, which he calls Pusa orientalis, is Enhydra marina of 
 authors ; iu the other, L. gracilis, we see the old " Slender Otter " of Pen- 
 nant, Luira gracilis Shaw, referred by Fisclier with a query to his genus 
 Enydris {^^Enliydra Flem.). Pennant's beast came from "Statenland"; Oken 
 says "Staatenlaiid, Insel an Anierika hd New-York". If he means by thi.s 
 iivhat is known now as Staten Island, New York, it would make his animal 
 to be Lutra (anadensis ; perhaps, however, his geography was at fault. 
 
HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN OTTER. 
 
 309 
 
 or may uot have been the present species. The error of con- 
 founding the species witli that of Europe was refuted before 
 the history of our species had been disentangled from that of 
 lie Brazilian Otter, with which ours was confounded by vari- 
 ous French, and even American, writers, until a comparatively 
 late period. 
 
 The first binomial name I have found tor this species is the 
 Mustela canadensis of Turton, p. 57.* This name, which ap- 
 pears to have been overlooked, I consider undoubtedly based 
 upon the North American species; it consequently anticipates 
 the name Lutra canadensis bestowed in 1823 by Sabine, who is 
 usually quoted as tbe authority for our species. In the same 
 year, Fr. Cuvier is said to have separated the Canada Otter from 
 that of South America, and to have also described as distinct a 
 second North American species, under the name of Lutra la- 
 tajoina, which became current with several writers. A Lataxina 
 mollis was described by J. E. Gray in 1843, and his type-speci- 
 men was afterward figured by Audubon and Bachmau as a 
 variety of L. canadensis. But it is certain that neither of these 
 nataes indicates anything different from the common North 
 Amercan species. Of a certain ^'Mustcld hudsonica Lact'pede", 
 quoted by some autliors as pertaining to our Otter, I know 
 nothing. 
 
 Prof. Wyman; in an article on the articulation of the jaw, 
 above cited, named our species Lutra americana in 1847. 
 
 * In (luoting Sabiue as the authority for the naiiio "canarfews/s", previous 
 compilers of the synonymy of this species appear to liave altogether over- 
 looked the much earlier "Miwtela cunadensia" of Turton's English version of 
 the Systema Xdturw, p. Tu. As Turton gives no references, I ara uncertain 
 whether or not he is the originator of the name, as the animal was known 
 before his time; but this is the earliest nse of the name in binomial nomen- 
 clature that I have found, Turton, like Pennant and others of his prede- 
 cessors, refers to the American Otter in connection with the European 
 species; but this '' MmteJa caiiadennin" of his (p. 57) is additional to his 
 other notice of Mmtda lutra as an Inhabitant of Europe, Asia, and America. 
 The diagnosis is merely "black; fur smooth; tail long, taper; inhabits 
 North America", which would do very well for the true Mnsfela canadensis or 
 M. pennanti (Pekan, Fisher) ; but it is as pertinent as many of his diagnoses, 
 and further fixed by its coming under his section "A. Hind feet palmate. 
 Otters", as opposed to his " B. Feet cleft. Weasels". Undor head of the 
 latter, he has, on page 59, another "J/«s^t7(( caiiudensh ", which is the animal 
 so named by Schreber, the Pekan, Turton's double employ of the same 
 name for two entirely different animals is to be carefully noted to prevent 
 confusion of ([notations. '^Mimlela ranadcnuts, Turton, p. .')7 " is Littra cana- 
 densis. " Mnstela Cfinadensis, Tnrton, \^. it'J" is Mnxlela cunndemtis. 
 
 ■' 
 
 I ■ 
 
 ,i:h" 
 
 ■m 
 
 m 
 
310 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTKLID.E. 
 
 Two lately introduced names require special notice : these 
 are Lutra californica Baird {nee Gray) and Lntra destructor 
 Barnston. The specimen which Prof. Baird referred incor- 
 rectly to L. californica of Gray, taken by Dr. Newberry in the 
 Cascade Mountains of Oregon, is now before me. The palms 
 and soles are rather less hairy than is usual in L. canadensis; 
 still they are decidedly furred between the digits of both feet ; 
 the soles show the curious callosities diagnostic of L. canaden- 
 sis, and the characteristic large nasal pad of L. canadensis is 
 well exhibited. Other Otters from the same region show as 
 fully furred feet as any from the Eastern States, and the pecu- 
 liarities of tlie one from the Cascade Mountains can only bo 
 regarded as those of an individual, within the normal range 
 of variation of L. canadensis, to which it must unquestionably 
 be referred. Prof. Baird indeed separated it with much evi- 
 dent hesitation, and mainly because it was supposed (though 
 erroneously) to represent a species already instituted by an- 
 other author {of. op. cit. p. 188). /Ilie true californica of Gray 
 is elsewhere discussed. 
 
 The Lntra destructor is represented in the National Museum 
 by specimens received from Mr. Barnston as typical examples of 
 his supposed species. They are rather smaller than usual, and 
 perhaps not full-grown, even though already in breeding condi- 
 tion ; but they possess all the essential specific characters of 
 L. canadensis, to which I have not the slightest hesitation in 
 referring them. L. canadensis is so strongly marked a species 
 in certain respects, already fully detailed, that there is no diffi- 
 culty in recognizing it, notwithstanding its great variability in 
 non-essential particulars. The skin and skull of L. destructor 
 exhibit nothing beyond the normal range of variation of L. 
 canadensis. 
 
 Geographical distribution. 
 
 The Otter is generally distributed over North America, ap- 
 parently nowhere in great abundance, yet absolutely wanting in 
 few, if any, localities adapted to its habits. Being a shy and 
 rather solitary animal, it is among those that decrease rapidly in 
 numbers with the settling of a country ; but its very wildness, 
 together with its wariness and sagacity, stands between it and 
 total extirpation, even in populous districts; while the nature 
 of its haunts further conduces to its persistence. Writing 
 about twenty-five years ago, Mr. Audubon speaks of the Otter 
 as being no lonj;er found abundantly in many parts of the 
 
'li-i 
 
 DISTRIBUTIOX OF THE AMERICAN OTTER. 
 
 311 
 
 country where it was formerly numerous, and as having beea 
 nearly extirpated in the Atlantic States east of ^Maryland. 
 Such statement, however, seems stronger than the facts 
 would warrant ; for Mr. Allen speaks of the animal as still 
 "not rare" in Massachusetts as late as ISGD, he having 
 known of some half dozen specimens which were taken near 
 Springfield during the ten preceding years. The "Eastern 
 Shore "of Maryland appears to have always been a favorite 
 locality with the Otter; Audubon specially mentions this 
 region, and specimens are still taken there or in other spots 
 along the Potomac, not far from Washington City. The last 
 one I saw from this region was brought freshly killed to the 
 Smithsonian Institution in 1874. Northerly the Otter extends, 
 according to llichardson, nearly to the Arctic Ocean, along the 
 Mackenzie and other rivers; and it also inhabits the northern- 
 most system of lakes. In the times of the author just men- 
 tioned, some seven or eight thousand pelts* were annually ex- 
 ported from British America to England, and the trade does 
 not appear to have decreased to this day, for I find among the 
 quotations of sales of Otters within two or three years by tie 
 Hudson's Bay Company, in London, over eleven thousand set 
 down for 1873. If the skulls, unaccompanied by skins, which 
 I have examined from Alaska, are really of this species, the 
 Otter is abundant in that new portion of United States ter- 
 ritory. According to Messrs. Gibbs and Suckley, writing in 
 1859, the Otter, called by the Yakima Indians nooJcshi, in- 
 creased in abundance in Oregon and Washington with the 
 decline of the fur trade, and were numerous in the waters of 
 the Cascade Kange. Dr. J. S. Newberry (1857) attests the 
 presence of the Otter " on all parts of the Pacific coast, both 
 on the sea shore and in the inland streams and lakes. In the 
 Cascade Mountains, where neither otter nor beaver had been 
 much hunted, and where both were abundant, we found the 
 beaver in the streams, but the otter in great abundance in the 
 mountain lakes where the streams take tlieir rise. There they 
 subsist on the western brook-trouts and a Corcgonus with a 
 
 'This stateiimnt, liowever, it should l)e obsorveil, is widely discrepant 
 frim some others, iinlens only some special lines of importation are here re- 
 ferred to hy the .uithor. Accordii)jr to Rell, there were imported into Eng- 
 land, of the skins of the North American Otter, 713,115 in 1^30, 494,067 in 
 l'*31, 'i'2'i,iO:\ in lH3i», thonjrh only 'r.\fi>ii) in 1833. "After September 1, 1K!3, 
 the dnty was reduced from ^d. each to In. per hnndred, since which I believe 
 the importation has <;rndnally increased."— (/)Vi^!s/i QuadrupcdK, lH37,p. 130).) 
 
 II'! 
 
 if 
 
 
 ;?fe 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 ,i| 
 
 P 
 
 1 
 
312 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE 
 
 craytisli, Astaciis Klamathcnm ... lu Klaiuath lakes the 
 otter is quite eoinmoii .... their food is a la''P"» sucker 
 {CatastomuH occidentaUs) and a species of Gila, both r slug- 
 
 gish fish, and such as would be easily caught" — uni" i very 
 
 active Salmonidw just mentioned. At the tirar .lich the 
 
 writer refers, the i)elts were much more in dem uan those 
 
 of the Beaver, $2.50 being paid in goods by the ludson's Bay 
 Company at Vancouver, while Beaver brought only one-fifth 
 as much. 
 
 In the muddy waters of the Missouri Basin, not overstocked 
 with fish, the Otter seems to exist but sparingly. Audubon only 
 "observed traces" of their presence in his journey up to the 
 Yellowstone, llayden includes the species among the animals 
 observed in the Upper Missouri country, where, however, it does 
 not appear to have come under Mr. Allen's observation. North 
 of this area, in the region of the lied Kiver and other streams, 
 thence westward to the llocky Mountains, I ascertained the 
 general, though probably not abundant, occurrence of the spe- 
 cies. Mr. Allen found the Otter to be, in Jowa, "common on 
 the Baccoon Rivers, and generally more or less so throughout 
 the State"; — "occasional along the streams" of Kansas; — and 
 " more or less frequent in Salt Lake Valley, and in the adjoining 
 mountains". Drs. Coues and Yarrow give the species as found 
 sparingly in various portions of the Southwestern Territories. 
 My recent exploration of portions of Colorado did not reveal the 
 presence of the Otter, but I do not on this account deny its ex- 
 istence, perhaps in abundance, in the numerous mountain lakes 
 and streams of that State, which harbor countless Beavers, 
 and seem in every way suited to the requirements of the Otter.* 
 
 In Audubon's time, the Otter was "still abundant in the riv- 
 ers and reserve-dams of the rice fields of Carolina", and was 
 "not rare in Georgia, Louisiana and Texas", According to 
 Mr. Allen, it is still "abundant" in Florida, where it is little 
 hunted, its fur being, in this southern region, of comparatively 
 little value. But the southern limits of the distribution of the 
 species remain to be determined. A Mexican Otter is certainly 
 of a diiferent species from ours, whether or not the latter also 
 exists in that country; and I am not aware of any unquestion- 
 able citation of true canadensis as Mexican. I am therefore 
 much surprised at Dr. von Frantzius's recent citation of this spe- 
 
 *Siuce this paragraph w.xs i)eDnu(1, 1 havo seen a speciuieii In Mrs. Max- 
 well's collection, from the vicinity of Honldcr, Colorado. 
 
i 
 
 HABITS OF OTTERS. 
 
 313 
 
 cies from Costa liica,* which is considerably beyond the usually 
 recognized range of true canadensis, the actual occurrence of 
 which so far south may possibly be still open to question. 
 With this single exception, I do not know of, at least I do not 
 recall at present writing, any special indication of the presence 
 of L. canadensis proper south of the United States, though in a 
 general way it has been often accredited with a range coexten- 
 sive with the continent of North America, and has even been 
 ascribed, with a query, to South America. 
 
 Habits of Otters. 
 
 Although I have observed the " seal " of the Otter and its 
 curious " slides" in various parts of our country during the years 
 I have been a student of our animals, I cannot truly aver that 
 I have ever laid eyes upon a living individual ; and to speak 
 of its habits, I must give information at second hand. Pre- 
 suming upon the reader's knowledge of the thoroughly aquatic 
 and highly piscivorous nature of the animal, 1 turn to the vari- 
 ous histories at our disposal in further elucidation of its habits. 
 
 According to Richardson, one of the earliest authors giving 
 accounts of the species with precision, "the Canada Otter re- 
 sembles the EuropeJin species in its habits and food. In the 
 winter season, it frequents rapids and falls, to have the advant- 
 age of open waterj and when its usual haunts are frozen over, 
 it will travel to a great distance through the snow, in search 
 of a rapid that has resisted the severity of the weather. If 
 seen, and pursued by hunters on these journies, it will throw 
 itself forward on its belly, and slide through the snow for sev- 
 eral yards, leaving a deep furrow behind it. This movement is 
 repeated with so much rapidity, that even a swift runner on 
 snow-shoes has much trouble in overtaking it. It also doubles 
 on its track with much cunning, and dives under the snow to 
 elude its pursuers. When closely pressed, it will turn and de- 
 feud itself with great obstinacy. In the spring of 182G, at Great 
 Bear Lake, the Otters frequently robbed our nets, which were 
 set under the ice, at the distance of a few yards from a piece of 
 open water. They generally carried otf" the heads of the fish, 
 and left the bodies sticking in the net. 
 
 "The Canada Otter has one litter annually about the middle 
 of April of from one to three young." 
 
 -,\m 
 
 Will, 
 
 *Aicl), liir Niiturg. 1869, p. gr-y. 
 
314 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 In tlie Middle and Southern States, Audubon says they are 
 about one month earlier.* 
 
 The slidingof the Otter, which Sir John describes, is not alone 
 resorted to in the endeavor to avoid pursuit; and again, it is 
 something more than simply an easy way of slipping down a 
 wet sloping bank into the water. It seems to be a favorite 
 amusement of this creature, "just for fun''. Godman speaks 
 of the diversion in the following terms:— "Tlieir favorite sport 
 is sliding, and for this purpose in winter the highest ridge of 
 snow is selected, to the top of which the Otters scramble, where, 
 lying on the belly with the fore-feet bent backwards, they give 
 themselves an impulse with their hind legs and swiftly glide 
 headforemost down the declivity, sometimes for the distance 
 of twenty yards. This sport they continue aj)parently with the 
 keenest enjoyment until fatigue or hunger induces them to 
 desist." 
 
 Statements of similar import are made by various writers, 
 and accord with Audubon's personal observations, as rendered 
 by him in the following language: — 
 
 " The otters ascend the bank at a place suitable for their 
 diversion, and sometimes where it is very steep, so that they 
 are obliged to make quite an effort to gain- the top; they slide 
 down in rapid succession where there are many at a sliding 
 place. On one occasion we were resting ourself on the bank 
 of Canoe Creek, a small stream near Henderson, which empties 
 into the Ohio, when a pair of Otters made their appearance, 
 and not observing our proximity, began to enjoy their sliding 
 pastime. They glided down the soap-like muddy surface of 
 the slide with the rapidity of an arrow from a bow, [t] and we 
 counted each one making twenty-two slides before we dis- 
 turbed their sportive occupation. 
 
 "This habit of the Otter of sliding down from elevated 
 places to the borders of streams, is not confined to cold coun- 
 tries, or to slides on the snow or ice, but is pursued in the 
 Southern States, where the earth is seldom covered with snow, 
 or the waters frozen over. Along the reserve-dams of the rice 
 fields of Carolina and Georgia, these slides are very common. 
 
 ' According to Bell, the European Otter goes with young nine weeks, and 
 produces tbreo to live young ones iu March or April (Brit. Quad. 1837, 130). 
 The period of gestation of our species, it' diit'erent, probably remains to bo 
 ascertained. 
 
 t [A statonient certainly too figurative for literal acceptiitiou,] 
 
HABITS OF OTTERS. 
 
 315 
 
 From the fact that this occurs in most cases diuiu'^ winter, 
 about the period of the rutting season, ve are inclined to the 
 belief that this propensity may bo traced to those instincts 
 which lead the sexes to their periodical associations.'' 
 
 The food of the Otter, and the manner in which it is pro- 
 cured, are noted by the same author in the following terras: — 
 
 "The Otter is a very expert swimmer, and can overtake 
 almost any fish, and as it is a voracious animal, it doubtless 
 destroys a great number of fresh water fishes annually. We 
 are not aware of its having a preference for any particular 
 species, although it is highly probable that it has. About 
 twenty-five years ago we went early one autumnal morning to 
 study the habits of the Otter at Gordon and Spring's Ferry, 
 on the Cooper River, six miles above Charleston [S. C], where 
 they were represented as being quite abundant. They came 
 down with the receding tide in groups or families of five or six 
 together. In the space of two hours we counted forty-six. 
 They soon separated, ascended the dift'erent creeks in the salt 
 marshes, and engaged in capturing mullets {Mugil). In most 
 cases they came to the bank with a fish in their moiith, des- 
 patching it in a miiuite, and then hastened back again after 
 more prey. They returned up the river to their more secure 
 retreats with the rising tide. In the small lakes and ponds of 
 the interior of Carolina, there is found a favourite fish with the 
 Otter, called the fresh-water trout {Grystes sahnoicles). 
 
 "Although the food of the Otter in general is fish, yet when 
 hard pressed by hunger it will not reject animal food of any 
 kind. Those we had in confinement, when no fish could be 
 procured were fed on beef, which they always preferred boiled. 
 During the last winter we ascertained that the skeleton and 
 feathers of a wild duck were taken from an Otter's nest on the 
 banks of a rice field reserve-dam. It was conjectured that the 
 duck had either been killed or wounded by the hunters, and 
 was in this state seized by the Otter, .... 
 
 " On throwing some live fishes into a small pond in the 
 Zoological Gardens in London, where an Otter [presumably, 
 however, of another species] was kept alive, it immediately 
 plunged off the bank after them, and soon securing one, rose 
 to the surface holding its prize in its teeth, and ascending the 
 bank, rapidly ate it by large mouthfuls, and dived into the 
 water again for another. This it repeated until it had caught 
 and eaten all the fish which had been thrown into the water for 
 
 W 
 
 m 
 
 f,:i| 
 
31fi 
 
 NORTH AMEUIC'AN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 its use. When thus euyaged in (levouriiig the luckless fishes 
 the Otter bit throngU them, crushing the boues, which we could 
 hear snapping under the pressure of its powerful jaws." 
 
 The nest of the European Otter is said to be formed of grass 
 and other herbage, and to be usually placed in some hole of a 
 river's bank, protected either by the overhanging bank or by 
 the projecting roots of some tree. Its fossorial ability, and the 
 general intelligence it displays in the construction of its re- 
 treats, have been greatly exaggerated by some writers, to judge 
 by the more temperate language used by the distinguished 
 author of the History of BritiHh Quadrupedn. " ^V'e read of its 
 excavating a very artidcial habitation," says Bell, " burrowing 
 under ground to a considerable distance ; making the aperture 
 of its retreat always under water, and working upwards, form- 
 ing here and thei:e a lodge, or dry resting-place, till it reaches 
 the surface of the ground at the extremity of its burrow, and 
 making there a breathing-hole, always in the middle of a bush 
 or thicket. [*] This statement is wholly incorrect. The Otter 
 avails itself of any convenient excavation, particularly of the 
 hollows beneath the overhanging roots of trees which grow on 
 the banks of rivers, or any other secure and concealed hole 
 near its fishing-haunt; though in some cases it fixes its retreat 
 at some distance from the water, and when driven by a scanty 
 supply of flsh, it has been known to resort far inland, to the 
 neighbourhood of the farm-yard, and attack lambs, sucking 
 pigs, and poultry, — thus assuming for a time the habits of its 
 more terrestrial congeners." I am not aware that such extrav- 
 agant statements have been made, with any authority at least, 
 respecting the American Otter; and indeed one has only to 
 regard the general configuration of the animal, and particu- 
 larly the shape of the fore limbs and condition of the claws, to 
 become convinced that the mining operations of the animal 
 are necessarily limited. It does not appear that the under- 
 ground retreats of the Otter are constructed with the skill and 
 ingenuity of even those of the Muskrat. A retreat examined 
 by Audubon has been thus described by this author: — 
 
 " One morning we observed that some of these animals re- 
 sorted to the neighbourhood of the root of a large tree which 
 
 * [The author remarks the similarity of such an account with that given 
 by Mr. George Bennett in describing the retreats of the Ornithorhtfnvhtta of 
 Australia, though tlio former is found in books published long prior to the 
 discovery of the latter animal.] 
 
TIAHiTS OF OTTKRS. 
 
 317 
 
 Stood OH the side of the pond opposite to us, and witli its over- 
 hanging branches shaded the water. After a fatiguing walk 
 through the tangled cane-brake and thick under-wood which 
 bordered the sides of this lonely place, we reached the opposite 
 side of the pond near the large tree, an<l moved cautiously 
 through the mud and water to its roots: but the hearing or 
 sight of the Otters was attracted to us, and we saw several of 
 them hastily make otf at our approach. On sounding the tree 
 with the butt of our gun, we discovered that it was hollow, and 
 then having placed a large stick in a slanting position against 
 the trunk, we succeeded in reaching the lowest bough, and 
 thence climbed up to a broken branch from which an aperture 
 into the upper part of the hollow enabled us to examine the 
 interior. At the bottom there was quite a large space or cham- 
 ber to which the Otters retired, but whether for security or to 
 sleep we could not decide. Next morning we returned to the 
 spot, accompanied by one of our neighbours, and having ap- 
 proached and stopped up the entrance under water as noise- 
 lessly as possible, we cut a hole in the side of the tree foar or 
 five feet from the ground, and as soon as it was large enough 
 to admit our heads, we peeped in and discovered three Otters 
 on a sort of bed composed of the inner bark of trees and other 
 soft substances, such as water grasses. We continued cutting 
 the hole we had made, larger, and when sufficiently .widened, 
 took some green saplings, split them at the but-end, and man- 
 aged to fix the head of each animal firmly to the ground by 
 passing one of these split pieces over his neck, and then .press- 
 ing the stick forcibly downwards. Our companion then crept 
 into the hollow, and soon killed the otters, with which we 
 returned home." 
 
 Their structure being identical, the American and European 
 Otters cannot difi'er in their general movements and attitudes. 
 In speaking ot the conformation of the latter species, Bell 
 remarks that evidently every facility cojisistent with the preser- 
 vation of its structural relations with the rest of the group is 
 given to the Otter for the pursuit and capture of its proper 
 food. " It swims and dives with great readiness and with pecu- 
 liar ease and elegance of movement; and although its action 
 on land is far from being awkward and difficult, yet it is cer- 
 tainly- in the water that the beautiful adaptation of its structure 
 to its habits is most strikingly exhibited. It swims in nearly 
 a horizontal position, and dives instantaneously after the fish 
 
318 
 
 NOliTJI AMEKICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 that may glide beneath it, or pursues it under water, changing 
 its course as the tisli darts in various directions to escape from 
 it, and when the prey is secured, brings it on shore to its retreat 
 to feed." 
 
 Yielding a pelt of great beauty and value, from the ex(jui- 
 site softness and rich warm color of the fur, as well as from 
 the size of the animal, the American Otter is .systematically 
 pursued by professional trappers. I hf.re alrert<ly given some 
 figures showing the thousands annuaily destroyed, and will 
 condense from Mr. Gibson's work, already olten quoted, the ac- 
 count of the various methods employed — for every trapper has 
 his own notions and ways of doing things, and in the pursuit 
 of so valuable and so wary a creature as the Otter there is 
 room for large and varied experience. The animal seems to be 
 taken in this country usually, if not invariably, with the steel 
 trap, a special size and make of which, with two springs, goes 
 by the name of " Otter trap". Searching for a " slide ", or place 
 where the animal habitually crawls from the water up the 
 bank, the hunter sets the trap on the spot, a few inches under 
 water. No bait is here required ; and devices are used in se- 
 curing the trap l)y which the animal may be led into deep 
 water when caught, or lifted upward, the design in either case 
 being to prevent the animuFs escape bj' gnawing off the im- 
 prisoned lim'\ The trap may also be placed at the top of the 
 slide, two or three feet back of the slope, in a place hollowed 
 to receive it, and covered with snow. Under such circum- 
 stances, care is taken not to handle the trap with the bare 
 hands. It is scented with various animal odors, and, to fur- 
 ther insure success, a " way " is made to the trap by means of 
 parallel logs. The trap is sometimes simply set in the beaten 
 track made in the snow, carefully hidden ; or at the entrance 
 of the burrow ; or at the base of a slanting log with one end 
 under water, the Otter being attracted by bait or odor placed 
 beyond on the other end; or a ),ock which projects over a 
 stream is utilized in the same way. In all these methods, the 
 utmost care is necessary to obliterate traces of the trapper's 
 presence, as the sight and smell of the Otter are acute, and hit, 
 wariness, caution, and sagacity at a very high rate. " In win- 
 ter when the ponds and rivers are frozen over the otters make 
 boles througli the ice at which they come up to devou" their 
 l)rey. Where the water is a foot deep beneath any of these 
 boles the trap may be set in the bottom, the chain being se- 
 
HABITS OF OTTERS 
 
 319 
 
 cured to a heavy stone. When the otter endeavors to emerge 
 from the hole he will press his foot on the trap and thus be 
 caught. If the water is deep enough beneath the hole the 
 trap may be baited with a small tish attached to tliC pan, and 
 then carefully lowered with its chain and stone to the bottom. 
 For this purpose the Xowhouse, No. 3, is b«st adapted, as the 
 otter is -in this cavse caught by the head." Audubon speaks of 
 the latter method as one very commonly employed in Carolina. 
 Ilis flgure of the Otter represents the animal as caught by the 
 fore foot in a trap, baited with a tish on the pan, i)laced on a 
 slanting log just out of the water. IJut traps baited on the pan 
 are not set by experts in this mode of trapping. Audubon 
 has also drawn his animal as coming down the log from the 
 upper end, which the animal could not have reached without 
 passing over the trap in the other direction. Though drawn, 
 furthermore, "to represent the pain and terror felt by the 
 creature when its foot is caught by the sharp saw-like teeth of 
 the trap", the Otter is nevertheless holding its foot quietly la 
 the trap, and resting very composedly upon the log, as if it 
 feared to displace the trap. In reality, however, an Otter so 
 caught would be off the log and into the water, trap and all, in 
 a fraction of a second after the jaws snapped. In writing the 
 text to this fancy sketch, moreover, Audubon appears to have 
 forgotten that the trap had no '' sharp saw-like tee<^h ": it is 
 correctly drawn with slraight-edged jaws, as usually manufac- 
 tured. 
 
 For commercial purposes, the skin of the Otter is removed 
 by a cross-slit down the hind legs, and withdrawn whole, with- 
 out splitting along the belly, the tail, however, being slit its 
 whole length along the under side. The skin is stretched with 
 the hair inside, the tail alone being spread out flat. 
 
 The hunting of the Otter for sport does not appear to be 
 practiced in this country, at least to any extent, and the gun 
 is only incidentally and rarely used for its destruction. The 
 mode of hunting the European aninml has been graphically 
 described by Bell, to whom I return for this portion of the 
 subject: — 
 
 "Otter-hunting, formerly one of the most interesting and 
 exciting amusements of which the English sportsman could 
 boast, has of late years [1837] dwindled into the mert ''ase of 
 extirpation. It was in other days pursued with much oi ^ho 
 pomp and circumstance of regular sport : the Dogs were chosen 
 
 
320 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 
 
 for tlit'ir perseverance and resolution ; ' good Otter-hounds/ 
 says an old sportsman, . . . ' will come chaunting and trail- 
 ing along by the river side, and will beat every tree-root, every 
 osier-bed, and every tuft of bulrushes: — nay, sometimes they 
 will take the water, and beat it like a Spaniel.' The huntsman 
 and others of the party carried Otter spears, to strike the Otter 
 when driven within their reach; horsemen and footmen joined 
 in the chase ; and the whole company formed a cavalcade of no 
 inconsiderable extent and importance. These scenes are now 
 no longer w'lnessed, or but rarely, in England ; but in WaleJi 
 the chase of the Otter is still kept up with some spirit, in cer- 
 tain romantic districts of that roniantic country . . . In beat- 
 ing for an Otter, it is necessary to mark the character and 
 direction of his 'seal,' or footmark in the mud or soil, as well 
 as the recent or older appearance of his ' spraints,' or dung. 
 These signs of his having been either remotely or more recently 
 on the spot will afford a tolerably certain indication whether 
 the animal be still in the neighbourhood, or whether a further 
 search must be made for later marks of his presence. When 
 the Otter is found, tiie scene becomes exceedingly animated. 
 He instantly takes the water, and dives, remaining a long time 
 underneath it, and rising at a considerable distance from the 
 place at which he dived. Then the anxious watch that is kept 
 of his rising to ' vent,' the steady purpose with which the dogs 
 follow and l)ait him as he swims, the attempts of the cunning 
 beast to drown his assailants, by diving whilst they have fast- 
 ened on him, the baying of the hounds, the cries of the hunters, 
 and the fierce and dogged resolution with which the poor hope- 
 less quarry holds his pursuers at bay, inflicting severe, some- 
 times fatal wounds, and holding on with unflinching pertinacity 
 even to the last, — must altogether form a scene as animated 
 and exciting as the veriest epicure in hunting could desire. 
 The return from such a day's sport as this in the county of 
 CarK arthen is thus described by a correspondent of the Sport- 
 ing Magazine: — 'Sitting near the window, I beheld approach- 
 ing the bridge a cavalcade, and found it was Squire Lloyd of 
 Glansevin, escorted by the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, 
 returning t, )m Otter-hunting. The gentlemen in the front rank 
 were mounted ; and next the horsemen were three men neatly 
 dressed in scarlet coats a»ul white trousers, with long spears, 
 on which were suspended three hnge Otters. Now the hunts- 
 man appeared with his well disciplined hounds; and then fol- 
 
I 
 
 :,i.j; 
 
 HABITS OF OTTERS. 
 
 321 
 
 lowed the cart, with nets, spears, and other paraphernalia, and 
 an old ballad-singer appeared in the rear, who sung the praises 
 of the high-bred hounds and their worthy master.' " 
 
 The general intelligence of the Otter is of a high order, and 
 his docility is such that he may not only be thoroughly tamed, 
 but taught to work for his master. Audubon speaks of four 
 American Otters which a gentleman had tamed so completely 
 that they never failed to come like dogs when whistled for, 
 crawling slowly with apparent humility toward their master ; 
 and also gives his own experience in domesticating several 
 Otters, which became so tame that they would romp with him 
 'I his study. These, he says, were taken when quite young, 
 ana became as gentle as puppies in two or three days ; they 
 preferred milk and boiled corn-meal, refusing fish or meat till 
 luey were several months old. On this subject I shall once 
 more quote the attractive page of Bell, and conclude this 
 lengthy compilation with some quaint and interesting para- 
 graphs respecting the use of the Otter as food ; the actual refer- 
 ence being, it will be understood, to the European species : — 
 
 " That the Otter may not only be readily and easily tamed and 
 domesticcated, but taught to catch and bring home fish for its 
 master, is a fact which is so well known, and has been so often 
 proved, that it is surprising it should not have been more fre- 
 quently acted upon. From Albertus Magnus down to the late 
 excellent Bishop Heber, instances have been continually nar- 
 rated, some of which have gone no further than the domestica- 
 tion of pet Otters, while in others the animal has been rendered 
 a useful purveyor of fish for the family table. Amongst other 
 writers who have attested similar facts, honest Izaak Walton 
 says, ' I pray, sir, save me one [young Otter], and I'll try if I can 
 make her tame, as I know an ingenious gentleman in Leicester- 
 shire, Mr. Nicholas Seagrave, has done; who hath not only made 
 her tame, but to catch fish, and do n\uuy other things of much 
 pleasure.' Albertus Magnus, Aldrovandus, Gesner, and others, 
 had asserted it ; yet Buffon, losing for once his accustomed 
 credulity, and running to an opposite extreme, refuses to be- 
 lieve in the susceptibility of the Otter to be brought to a state 
 of domesticity. The former of these writers states that, in 
 Sweden, Otters were kept in the houses of the great for the ex- 
 press purpose of catching fish, which they would do at a signal 
 from the cook, and bring home their provender to be dressed 
 for dinner. Numerous instances have been recorded in later 
 21 M 
 
 iJ'Siiil 
 
 
322 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 times, by Daniel, Bewick, Shaw, and others ; in one of which 
 an Otter had been known to take eigi-t or ten salmon in a day : 
 and the following passage in the journal of Bishop Heber con- 
 firms some previous statements, that one of the Asiatic species, 
 probably Lutra nalr, (Fr. Cuv.) may be rendered similarly use- 
 ful : — ' We passed, to my surprise, a row of no less than nine 
 or ten large and very beautiful Otters, tethered with straw 
 collars and long strings to bamboo stakes on the banks (of the 
 Malta Colly). Some were swimming about at the full extent of 
 their strings, or lying half in and half out of the water; others 
 were rolling themselves in the sun on the sandy bank, uttering 
 a shrill whistling noise, as if in play. I was told that most of 
 the fishermen in this neighbourhood kept one or more of these 
 animals, who were almost as tame as Dogs, and of great use 
 in fishing; sometimes driving the shoals into the nets, some- 
 times bringing out the large fish with their teeth. I was much 
 pleased and interested with the sight. It has always been a 
 fancy of mine that the poor creatures whom we waste and per- 
 secute to death, for no cause but the gratification of our cruelty, 
 might by reasonable treatment be made the sources of abun- 
 ant amusement and advantage to us.' This interesting account 
 justifies the conclusion drawn by the good prelate from the 
 scene that so much delighted him, that * the simple Hindoo 
 shows here a better taste and judgment than half the Otter 
 hunting and Badger baiting gentry of England.' With such 
 instances as these before us, there seems to be no reason why 
 this animal, so tractable and docile as it is proved to be, should 
 not be very generally domesticated for the purposes of sporr, 
 or employed by fishermen as a means of assisting them in their 
 calling. 
 
 " The method which has been recommended to train them for 
 this purpose is as follows : — They should be procured as young 
 as possible, and they are at first fed with small fish and water. 
 Then bread and milk is to be alternated with the fish, and the 
 proportion of the former gradually increased till they are led 
 to live entirely on bread and milk. They are then taught to 
 fetch and carry, exactly as Dogs are trained to the same trick ; 
 and when they are brought to do this with ease and docility, a 
 leather fish stuffed with wool is employed for the purpose. They 
 are afterwards exercised with a dead fish, and chastised if they 
 diMtliey or attempt to tear it ; <tnd finally, they are sent into the 
 water after living ones. In this way, although the process is 
 
EXTINCT NORTH AMERICAN OTTER. 
 
 323 
 
 somewhat tedious, it is believed that the Otter maybe certainly 
 domesticated, and rendered subservient to our use 
 
 " The habits of the Otter, and its rank fishy taste, have pro- 
 cured for it the distinction of being permitted by the Church 
 of Eome to be eaten on maigre days. The quiet humour of good 
 old Izaak Walton could not rest without a sly hit at this fact: — 
 
 " Piscator. I pray, honest huntsman, let me ask you a pleasant 
 question: do you hunt a beast, or a fish ? 
 
 " fftmt. Sir, it is not in my power to resolve you ; yet I leave 
 it to be resolved by the College of Carthusians, who have made 
 vows never to eat flesh. But I have heard the question hath 
 been debated among many great clerks, and they seem to diflfer 
 about it ; yet most agree that her tail is fish, and if her body 
 be fish too, then I may say that a fish will walk upon land (for 
 an Otter does so), sometimes five or six or ten miles in a night. 
 
 "Now, were we to adopt the reference recommended by 
 honest Izaak, the description of this animal would have fallen 
 within the proviuce of my good friend Mr. Yarrell rather than 
 mine; for, says Pejinant, 'in the kitchen of the Carthusian 
 Convent near Dijon, we saw one preparing for the dinner of the 
 religious of that rigid order, who, by their rules, are prohibited 
 during their whofe lives the eating of flesh.' " 
 
 |i^ if' 
 
 .t. 
 
 JCxtiiict species of North American Otter. 
 
 fjiitra piMciiiarin. fjr,!dif. 
 
 hum . Leldn. (Jon t rib. Extinct. Vert. Fn. of the Western Xerr. (4to Rep. TJ. S. Geol. 
 
 S'irr. viil. 1 I i7.<, |>. 33(1. 
 Lu*.r.l piSCiaiJ*!!, id. ibU p. J16, pi. xsxi, f..4 (tibia, { nat. size, from Idaho). 
 
 B ised on a tibiji submitted to Dr. Leidy's inspection by the 
 S iiithHotiidii Institution, procured by Clarence King on Sinker 
 Oieek, lduh<>, iii association with remains of Eqtms excelsus and 
 MofttodiUi mirijictu. 
 
 "Tiie tibia pertains to a c<arnivore, and resembles that of an 
 otter more than that of any other animal with which I have 
 had an opp(utnnity of comparing it. Its ditterenoes, excepting 
 dzo, are trifling. The tubercle ice insertion of the quadriceps 
 extensor is less prominent, so as to give the head of the bone 
 proportionally less thickness in relation with its breadth. Th» 
 ridge fot the attachment of the interosseous membrane at tlio 
 lower part of the bone is more prominent and sharper. The 
 
 
324 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDJE. 
 
 distal end in front just above the articulation is flatter, and 
 the groove lor the flexor tendons behind is deeper. 
 
 Lines. 
 
 " Length of the bone internally 59 
 
 "Widthof thehead 15 
 
 " Thickness at the inner condyle 10 J 
 
 " Width of the distal end between the most prominent 
 
 points , 11 
 
 " Thickness at the inner malleole . - 8" 
 
 
 fM- ' -filis-p: 
 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 Subfamily ENHYDRIN^: Sea Otter. 
 
 General considerations — The genns Enhydris — Generic characters — Enhydria 
 lutri8, the Sea Otter — Synonymy— Habitat — Specific characters — Descrip- 
 tion of external characters — Description of. the skull and teeth — History 
 of the species — "The Sea Otter and its hunting" — ^The habits of the Sea 
 Otter. 
 
 LASTLY, we come to consider a particular modiflcation of 
 the Musteline type of strncture, which may be regarded as 
 an exaggeration of various features characterizing the Lutrinas^ 
 with the superposition of others not elsewhere found in the 
 family. With the general aspect of an ordinary Otter, the 
 JEnliydrinw present a special modification of the limbs, more 
 particularly of the hind limbs, which are developed into flipper- 
 like organs, not very dissimilar to those of some Seals. There is 
 also a special condition of the pelage. The cranium, in gen- 
 eral, is like that of the Liitrince, but the teeth are unlike any- 
 thing else seen in the family Mustelidce. One pair of incisors 
 is wanting, which makes the dental formula unique. Moreover, 
 the whole dentelure is modified in adaptation to a piscivorous 
 regimen. The sectorial teeth are defunctionalized as such; if 
 the teeth of ordinary carnivorous quadrupeds be likened to 
 fresh-chipped, sharp and angular bits of rock, those of the 
 Enhydrinie are comparable to water- worn pebbles. 
 
 The Enhydrinm are represented, as far as known, by a single 
 genus and species, inhabiting the coasts and islands of the 
 North Pacific. It is the only thoroughly marine species of the 
 family ] it furnishes one of the most valuable of all pelts in a 
 commercial point of view, and its chase is an important indus- 
 try. 
 
 The Genus ENHYDRIS. (Fleming.) 
 
 < MUHteia ep. Linnmus, Syst. Nat. 1758-86. v 
 
 < PhOCft up. PaUa«, Zoog. R.-A. 1831. 
 
 < Lutrn sp. of various authors. 
 
 -■ Pusa, Oiken, Lehrb. Naturg. 1816. (Not of Scopoli.) 
 
 — Rnhydra,* Fleming, Philos. Zool. 1822. (Also written Enhydris, Enydris.) 
 
 — Latax, atoger, N. Act Nat. Cur. 1897. (Not of Gray.) 
 
 * Etyin. — See anteA, p. 29, for discussion of the philological bearings of this 
 word. 
 
 325 
 
 i H 
 
 1 ?:■ 
 ' ii' 
 
326 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 Generic ciiakacters. — Dental formula: i. ^~', o, j^', pm. g£g ; 
 m. ^ly = \ y =32.* Grinding teeth very peculiar in Hhape, without trench- 
 ant edges or acute angles, all being bluntly tuberculous on the crown, and 
 rounded off in contour. Molar of upper jaw irregularly oval. Last upper 
 premolar not dissimilar in shape, and but little smaller ; others abruptly 
 less in size. Anterior under molar much the largest of the lower teeth ; 
 posterior premolar and posterior molar next in size. Skull generally as in 
 Lutrince, in straight upper outline, very short rostrum, truncate in fi'ont 
 and flat on top, backwai'd production of palate, size and shape of ante- 
 orbital foramen, &.O., but much broader for its length ; thus, the interptery- 
 goid emargination is, if anything, broader than deep. Sagittal and occipital 
 crests and mastoid processes very salient. Glenoid not locking condyle. 
 Coronoid of mandible sloping backward with convex fore and straight or 
 slightly concave posterior border, its bluntly rounded apex in the veVtical 
 line over condyle. 
 
 General external aspect of Lutrinw, but limbs modified. Fore legs short, 
 with small paws ; digits webbed ; palms naked. Hind feet with elongated 
 digits, flipper-like, webbed, and furry both sides; claws small, hidden in 
 the fur. Habits aquatic ; habitat marine. 
 
 The character of the genus is so fully exhibited in the fol- 
 lowing account of the only species that further remark is not 
 required in this connection. 
 
 Tlie Sea Otter. 
 
 EnbydrlM Intris. 
 
 Plates XIX, XX. 
 
 Intra mitrtna , SUUer, N. C. Petrop. ii. 1751, 367, pi. I&.—Erxh Syst Anim. ITH, 445 (desorip- 
 tioD pertinunt, but aynouymy mixed with that of another species).— iScAreb. Saug. ill. 
 1776, 465, pi. 138 (SteUer).— 2imm. Geog. Gesch. U. 1780, 313, no. 1tn.—8haio, Gen. Zool. 
 1. 1800, 444, pi. 101.— De«m. Manim. i. 1820, 189, no. 291 ; " Nonv. Diet, xviii, 216 ; Ency. 
 M6th. pi. 79, f. 3."— Harlan, Fn. Amer. 1835, n.—Ologer, N. Act. Nat. Cnr. xiiL pt ii- 
 1827, 510 (proposes Latax as a better name than Puia), 875 seq.; " Isis, ii. 1839, 132 leq.; 
 Sdmas. Ball. XV. 136 yeg."- 6odm. Am. K H. i. 1831, 228. pi. — , f. i.—Wagn. Arch. f. 
 Natnrg. ii. 183S, 281. 
 
 Btttra [»ie] marina, H. W. Elliott, Amer. Sportsman, Sept. 12 and 19, 1814 (biogtaphy; 
 nnder pseudonym of "Alaska"). 
 
 Intra (Enhydra) marina, Rich. F. B.-A. i. 1829, S9, no. 21 ; Zo51. Beechey's Toy. 1839, 5. 
 
 Enhydra marina, Flem. Philos. Zo«l. ii. 1822, IffJ.—Orif. An. Kingd. v. 1827, 133, no. 369.- 
 JilarHn, P. Z. S. iv. 1836, 59 (osteology).— Awd. <£• Bach. Q. N. A. Hi. 1853, 170, pi. 137.- 
 Newb. P. R. R. Kep. vi. 1857, 43.— Bd. M. N. A. 1857, 189.— Ooop. <6 Suck. N. H. "Wash. 
 
 <■ Terr. 1860, Il5.—Dall., Alaska and its Res. 1870, 489 (habits).— S^, W. Elliott, Condition 
 of Affairs in Alaska, 8vo ed. chap. v. 1875, pp. 54-62 (history, habits, the chase, eco- 
 nomic and commercial relations). 
 
 ^ , like all other Muatelidai. 
 Prof. 
 
 * It is said that the young Sea Otter has t. | 
 The middle pair of incisors are those that are wanting in the adult, 
 Baird (M. N. A. 1857, 189), overlooking the peculiarity of the incisor formula 
 of the adult, but correctly noting the one less jiremolar than in Lutrinw, 
 gives a wrong total of 34 teeth in all, instead of 32. 
 
n 
 
 SYNONYMY OF ENHYDRIS LUTRIS. 
 
 327 
 
 Enydrls inarlnn, Licht. Darstoll. Sitng. 1837, 34, pla. 49, SO.—Ennan, Reiae, , — , pL 11, 
 
 12.— " iraj/rt. Gelohrte Anzeigen, i. , 555; Siippl. Sclireber, ii. 1811, 274." 
 
 EnhydrlH marina, Sehim, Syn. 1844, 'i51.—Giebjl. Siiug. 1855, TJi.—aervaia, Journ. de Zool. 
 iv. 1875, pp. 200-206 (osteology). 
 
 Latax marina. Less. Nouv. Tabl. K. A. 1842, 71. 
 
 MUMtCia liitrls, L. S.N. i. 1758, 4,5, no. 1 (ex Act. I'etrop. 1749, 267) ; 1766, 66, no. l.-8ehreb. 
 Stiug. iii. 1777, pi. 128 (name on plato).— Om. S. N. i. 1788, 93, no. 1 (exul. var. B, which 
 = brniiilien8is}.—Turt. S. N. i. 1606, 57. 
 
 Phoca lutriti, PaU. Znog. S.A. i. 1831, 100, no. 34. 
 
 Llltra lutrls Less. Man. 1827, 155, no. 419.— Fr. Ow>. "Diet. Sol. Nat. xxvil. 245"; Suppl. 
 Buir. i. 1831, 204.—/*. Oeof. "Diet Class, i.x. 5l»".-Fisch. Syn. 1829, 227, no. 7. 
 
 EnhydrlH lutrls, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 136, pi. 7 ; Cat. Cain. Br. Mas. 1889, — . 
 
 Knhydra lUtrlN, De Kay, N. Y. Zool. 1842, 41.— Gray, Cat. Mamm. Br. Moa. 1843, li.—Qerr. 
 Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 102. 
 
 PUSK orientaliH, Oken, Lehrb. Naturg. Tli. iii. Abth. ii. 1816, p. 966. 
 
 Lutril fttellerl, Less. Man. 1827, 156, no. 423. ' 
 
 Enydris stellcri, FUch. Syn. 1820, 229. 
 
 TLutra gracilis Shaw, G. Z. i. 1800, 447 (baaed on "Slender Otter" of Pennant Quad. ii. 83., 
 North America, Staten Laud). 
 
 TLutra gracilis (sub Piisa), Oken, Lehrb. Naturg. Th. iii. Abth. ii. 1806, 986. 
 
 rEnydris gracilis, Fisoh. Syn. 1839, 229 (from Shaw, {. c). 
 
 Meerotter, SteUer, " Hamb. Mag. xl. 460, with &g."—MuU. Natura. i. 1773, 359. 
 
 Beeotter, Hallen, "Naturg. vierf. Th. 1757, 567 ". 
 
 Seebiber oder Seeotter, "SUUer, Kamtsch. 1774, 97 ". 
 
 Seebiber, MUU. " Samml. iii. , S44 ". 
 
 KamtHchatltische Bieber, id. "ibid. 529". 
 
 Hea Otter, Pmn. Syn. Qnad. 1771, 341, no. 175 (In part) ; Hist Quad. 17S1, — , no. 330| Arct. 
 Zool. i. 1784, 88, no. 36.— Ooo*, " Third Voy. 1874, ii. 895, pi. 43 ; Mearea'a Voy. 1790, pp. 241 , 
 260."— flttwK <f. Mtmi4», Phil. Trana. 1796, 38.5 Seammon, Am. Nat Iv. 1870, 65 (de- 
 tailed biography); "Overland Monthly", iv. 85 (biography); Marine Mamm. 1874, 
 ohap. vi. pp. 169-175, woodoata, pL xxiL lower flg. (biography, etc.). 
 
 Sea Beaver, KroMoh. "Hist Eamts. (Grieve's transl.), 1764, 131." 
 
 Eamtschatskoi Bobr or Bobr morskoi Rwsian. 
 
 Kalko, Aliq. 
 
 Kaian, SteUer, I. c. Gray, I. e. 
 
 C astor marin, Krasoh. " Hiat Eamtach , 444 ". 
 
 loutre de mer, Oook, "Third Toy. (French transl.), pi. 43." 
 
 Loutre marine, Desm. I. e.. Ft. Guv. I c 
 
 Loutre du Kamtciiatka, Geoffr. "Collect Mus. d'Hiat Nat"; Lesson, I e. 
 
 Loutre marine k t£te blanche, "DiotSc.Natfaac.TiLpl.l9,f.3 '.— .penn.{.e. 
 Tar. L. marina with a white head. Earl op. eit 74. 
 
 Lo utre de Stel ier. Less. I. e. 
 
 Sarlcovienne, Buff. " Suppl. vL 4to, 287 " (in part). 
 
 HAB.--The North Pacific. On the American side, south to Lower Califor- 
 nia. 
 
 Specific charactebs. — Hind feet broad, like a Seal's u.^pers, the soles 
 furry ; fore feet small, like a Cat's paws, the palina naked ; tail terete, obtuse, 
 about i the length of head and body. Form massive. Color dark liver* 
 brown, bleaching on the head, everywhere silvered with hoary ends of tho 
 longer hairs. Length overall about 4 feet, of which the tail is a foot or less ; 
 hind foot about 6 inches long by 4 broad. Qirth about 3^ feet. 
 
 Description of external characters.* 
 
 In general superficial aspects, the Sea Otter is not unlike a 
 Seal — a resemblance increased by the flipper-like hind feet. The 
 
 * From No. 9457, Mus. Smiths. Inst., Alaska, Dr. Minor. 
 
 ,!3 
 
 m 
 
 W 
 
328 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 body is a swollen cylinder, abrupt behind, tapering before to a 
 small globose head without notable constriction of neck ; the 
 limbs are short ; the tail is short, terete-tapering, obtuse ; there 
 is a remarkable disparity in size and shape between the fore 
 and hind feet, not seen in any other species of Mmtelidce. In 
 life, the skin is remarkably loose and "rolling"; the pelt of an 
 individual four feet long readily stretches to six feet ; and when 
 the animal is lifted up by the skin, a foot or so of "slack" 
 gathers. The pelage is notable for the preponderance of the 
 woolly under fur, the longer stitfor hairs being very scanty. It 
 is of the same general character all over the body ; but on the 
 head, feet, and tail consists chiefly of a finer fur, with little or 
 no admixture of bristly hairs. The only naked parts are the 
 muffle and palms. 
 
 The naked mufile, an inch broad, and deeper than this, is 
 lozenge-shaped, with acute superior and inferior angles, obtuse 
 lateral angles, straight or slightly sinuous uppBr sides, the 
 lower sides somewhat irregular for most -*' their length, owing 
 to the nostrils ; these open quite broadly upon the surface. The 
 face of the nasal pad is minutely papillate, and divided part 
 way by a vertical line of impression. The eyes, of moderate 
 size, are high up, forming a nearly equilateral triangle with 
 the apex of the muzzle. The ears are situated remarkably low 
 down — far below the eyes, and in fact little above the level of 
 the commissure of the mouth ; they are very small, flat, obtusely 
 pointed, sparsely and very shortly pilous outside, only partially 
 furry inside. The whiskers are few, short, extremely stout and 
 stiff, directed downward for the most part ; there are a few 
 other bristles over the eyes, but none are noted on the chin or 
 cheeks. 
 
 The fore feet are remarkably small, giving the limb an appear- 
 ance which suggests amputation at the wrist ; the digits are 
 very short and much consolidated ; the very small, short, and 
 much arched claws are almost entirely hidden in the fur. The 
 general contour of the foot is circular in front. The palm is 
 naked, and minutely granular, with small roughened tubercles. 
 The baldness reaches up to the wrist on the outer side in a nar- 
 row space. The hind feet, on the contrary, are notable for their 
 expansion and flattening into strong effective oars. The gen- 
 eral shape is trapezoidal — the longest side exterior, the side 
 represented by the ends of the digits next longest ; the inner 
 border shorter, while the angle represents the fourth and much 
 
DESCRIPTION OP ENHYDRI8 LUTRIS. 
 
 329 
 
 the shortest side. The digits are entirely webbed by membranea 
 stretching from tip to tip of all the toes. When widespread, 
 the ends of the toes describe a slight curve, the inner one being a 
 little shorter than the next, the rest regularly graduated. The 
 claws are short, stout, arched, and rather obtuse, hidden in the 
 dense fur, which completely invests the foot above and below. 
 The tail is short, stout, and terete, with a slight taper through- 
 out, at the end rather abruptly contracting to an obtuse tip. 
 
 The coloration varies greatly with age and season. When 
 the animal is in good state, like the specimen now under par- 
 ticular consideration, it is deep liver-brown, about the same 
 above and below, everywhere silvered or "frosted" with the 
 hoary tips of the longer stiff hairs. These colorless hairs are 
 rather more numerous below than above, giving a lighter tone 
 to the under parts, the body of which, however, is of much the 
 same color as the back. There are fewer or none such lijht- 
 tipped hairs on the tail and limbs, which consequently appear 
 of a more uniform liver-brown. On the fore part, just in advance 
 of the shoulders, the color lightens rather abruptly into a gray- 
 ish or light muddy brown, and the bleaching increases on the 
 head, which is of a brownish-white. The whiskers are color- 
 less ; the muffle black ; the claws dark. 
 
 Among the numerous specimens examined, including some 
 not " in condition", great variation is es^hibited in the extent to 
 which the ground color is overlaid with the hoary. The longer 
 hairs are sometimes so numerous and so extensively bleached 
 that the animal appears mostly grizzly, completely bleached 
 upon the neck and head. The light hairs, instead of being 
 purely hoary, are frequently of a yellowish tint, as if soiled. 
 The variations in the ground color are chiefly due to presence 
 or absence of a "red" shade, which, in the best specimens, pro- 
 duces the rich liver-brown hue or chocolate-shaded color, and 
 the absence of which leaves the brown of a plain dark charac- 
 ter. There is often a noticeable blackish area between the 
 fore-legs.* 
 
 The variability of this species in size, though great, is only 
 on a par with that of its allies. The dimensions may be gath- 
 ered from the measurements already given ; but, though these 
 are incomplete, they are not here supplemented with others, 
 
 * The tendency to special particoloration on the throat and breast is strong 
 in Mnstelidce. It is fully carried out in Gulo, Afustela, Putorius vison, Ac, 
 and even indicated here in Enhydris. 
 
 m 
 
 Ml 
 
 f| 
 
330 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 siuce suck as could be ^Wqu from the dried skins before me 
 would be only approximate. Tlie ear is about an inch long, 
 measured from the notch in front, and about two-thirds as wide. 
 
 Young (a very young individual, under two feet long, also 
 collected by Dr. Minor in the Aleutian Islands). — The coat is 
 comparatively much longer than that of the adult, loose, 
 rather harsh, and of a peculiar iiutt'y character, with kinky 
 fibre. The naked muffle is much as in the adult, but quite 
 smooth ; the ears are entirely hidden in the abundant wool of 
 the parts ; the hind feet scarcely show their proper shape ; the 
 tail is clubbed, rather thicker at the abrupt end than at the 
 base ; a decided constriction of the neck appears in the speci- 
 men as mounted. The feet are quite blackish ; otherwise the 
 animal is dull grayish-brown, everywhere strongly frosted 
 with hoary, lighter, and more uniformly brownish-white on the 
 head and neck, bleaching to dingy white underneath the head 
 and before the shoulders. 
 
 To sum the salient external peculiarities of this species in 
 comparison with Lutra, it is only necessary to mention the 
 more massive form, the much shorter, more uniformly terete 
 and obtuse tail, and wholly peculiar structure of the feet. To 
 exhibit the characters of the species in the clearest light, I add 
 to the foregoing technical description the following account 
 from Meares's Voyage (1790), showing how the appearance of 
 the animal would strike an unscientific observer : — 
 
 " The Sea Otter is furnished with a formidable set of teeth ^ 
 its fore paws are like those of the Biver Otter, but of much 
 larger size, and greater strength ; its hind feet are skirted with 
 a membrane, on which, as on the fore feet, there grows a thick 
 and coarse hair. The fur varies in beauty according to the age 
 of the animal. The young cubs, of a few months old, are 
 covered with a long, coarse, white hair, which protects the fine 
 down that lies beneath it. The natives often pluck off this 
 coarse hair, when the lower fur appears like velvet, of a beau- 
 tiful brown colour. As they increase in size, the long hair falls 
 off, and the fur becomes blackish, but still remains short. When 
 the animal is full grown, it becomes of a jet [?J black, and in* 
 creases in beauty; the fur then thickens, and is thinly sprinkled 
 with white hairs. When they are past the age of perfection, and 
 verge towards old age, their skin [furj changes into a dark 
 brown, dingy colour, and of course diminishes in value. The 
 skins of those killed in the winter are of a more beautiful 
 
^^ 
 
 SKULL AND TEETH OF ENHYDRIS LUTRIS. 
 
 331 
 
 black, and iu every respect more perfect thau those which are 
 taken in the summer and autumn. The male Otter is beyond 
 all comparison the more beautiful than the female and is dis- 
 tinguished by the superior jetty colour, as well as velvety 
 appearance of his skin ; whereas the head, throat and belly of 
 the female, are not only covered with fur that is white, but 
 which is also of a very coarse texture. The skins in the highest 
 estimation are those which have the belly and throat plentifully 
 interspersed with a kind of brilliant silver hairs, while the 
 body is covered with a thick black fur of extreme tlneness, and 
 a silky gloss." 
 
 Among other earlier descriptions, that of Dr. Pallas, mod- 
 estly styled "ad complementum Stelleriauo)", in delicate com- 
 pliment to the previous traveller, may be cited in illustration 
 of some of the more infrecpient variations. Pallas speaks of a 
 specimen from Kodiak, which was yellowish-white, shaded on 
 the back with gray (e flavescentialba, medio dorso grysea nebula 
 enumbrato). The old animal, he says, is glossy black, with 
 somewhat reddish unuor fur, and often over five feet long; the 
 young are rather dark grayish. 
 
 Description of the sTcull and teeth.* (See Plates XIX, XX.) 
 
 With a general resemblance to that of Lutra^ the skull of the 
 Sea Otter differs not only in its superior size, but in its massive- 
 ness, depth, breadth behind, truncation anteriorly, and several 
 details which will appear in the sequel. There is a general 
 condition which would suggest, in common parlance, such terms 
 as "huge", "bulky", "misshapen", and a superficial likeness to 
 the skulls of some of the Pinnipedia, with which the Sea Otter 
 is intimately associated in its mode of life. 
 
 As evidenced by the sutures in some very young skulls before 
 me, the disposition of the several bones is much as in Lutra^ 
 but there are some peculiarities. The malar bone is, as it were, 
 shifted bodily backward ; it reaches to the glenoid fossa, and, 
 in fact, just misses a share in the articulation of the lower jaw, 
 while in front it stops altogether short of the bridge over the 
 anteorbital foramen, which is thus circumscribed only by a very 
 slender rod from the maxillary. The intermaxillary bones are 
 so short and deep as to be almost vertical; their apices merely 
 
 'The osteology of this species has been specially studied by Martens (P. Z. 
 S. 1836, 59) and Gervais ( Journ. de Zool. iv. 1875, 200-206). Gerrard gives the 
 vertebral formula as C. 7; D. 14; L. 6; S. 3 ; Cd. 18. 
 
 i 
 
 .h*\ 
 
332 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 meet the extiemity of the nasals. More than a third of the in- 
 cisive foramen is maxillary, not intermaxillary. The orbito- 
 sphenoid recedes deeply in its surroundings. Other points will 
 appear in a topographical account of the skull. 
 
 Viewed from above, the cranium differs from that of Lntra in 
 greater inflation of the cerebral walls, especially anteriorly, 
 where the encroachment upon the temporal fossse is decided. 
 Supraorbital processes are not so well developed (about as in 
 a Badger or Marten; the development in Lutra is exceptional). 
 The nasal orifice is greatly foreshortened in this view, owing 
 to the abrupt truncation of the mandible. It is difficult to say 
 how long the rostrum is, owing to the configuration of the parts, 
 but it may be estimated at about one-sixth of the total length 
 of the skull. Owing to its verticality, the anteorbital foramen 
 is scarcely seen in this view (it comes into sight inside the orbit 
 in Lutra). In old specimens, there is a strong sagittal crest 
 wanting in Lutra; in young ones, an irregular elevated tablet. 
 The top of the rostrum and adjoining interorbital space is a 
 smooth, flat tablet, as in Lutra. The occipital contour is much 
 as described in Lutra. 
 
 In profile, the skull shows the same flatness on top as is seen 
 in Lutra., with the additional feature of an almost vertical an- 
 terior truncation from the ends of the nasals, at little more than 
 a right angle, and almost straight down to the incisors. Such 
 contour is highly characteristic, and reminds one of the same 
 part in a Walrus. Owing to the slight supraorbital process and 
 little marked malar protuberance, the orbit is not well defined; 
 no*^ so well as it is in the other subfamilies, excepting MepMtmce. 
 The zygomatic arch rises abruptly behind. Its upper border 
 is then about straight and horizontal to the orbit ; its lower 
 border is a strong regular curve throughout. Other matters to 
 be noted in the profile view are much as in Lutra. 
 
 From below: The zygomatic width is about three-^^urths the 
 length; the intermastoid diameter but slightly less. The palate 
 reaches back of the molars about half-way to the ends of the 
 pterygoids. The emargination between these bones is extremely 
 wide and shallow. Perhaps here only in the family, the depth 
 of the emargination is no greater, or less than, its width. The 
 recess is sometimes almost semicircular, though the sides are 
 usually more nearly parallel, and the end transverse. In detail, 
 the shelf of the palate is altogether irregular. The walls of the 
 glenoid fossje are rarely, if ever, so much developed as to lock 
 
SKULL AND TEETH OP ENHYDRI8 LUTRIS. 
 
 333 
 
 the jaw. I have not witnessed such case. The back wall, in- 
 stead of overlapping strongly at its outer angle, is regularly 
 produced into a border all along. The inflation of the bullae is 
 about as in Lutra. The posterior foramen lacerum is a large 
 circular hole. The articular surfaces of the condyles differ from 
 those of Lutra in not being produced toward each other; they 
 are simply oval. The great foramen is irregularly circular 
 rather than transversely elliptical, having a strong median supe- 
 rior as well as inferior emargination. In the under jaw, the 
 symphysis is shorter and apparently less solid than usual. I 
 find the union incomplete in some middle-aged specimens. The 
 ramus of the under jaw is deep and thick, and has a decided 
 twist, scarcely or not recognizable in other genera, by which the 
 lower part is exflected posteriorly. The coronoid is very broad 
 to the rounded end ; the hind border rises straight and a little 
 obliquely backward, so as to overhang the condyle ; the front 
 border is strongly, somewhat irregularly, curved. The muscu- 
 lar impression on the outside of the coronoid is deep and exten- 
 sive, roaching below to the very edge of the jaw, and forward 
 to a point below the last molar. 
 
 The dentition of Enhydris is peculiar in several respects. As 
 in Lutrinw, but not as in any other subfamily of Mmtelidw, there 
 is the same number of teeth in both jaws (16) ; but this equality 
 is brought about in a curious way, loss of the upper anterior 
 premolar being rectified, so far as preserving equality of teeth 
 in the two jaws is concerned, by lack of one pair of inferior 
 incisors. Thus there are four fewer teeth than in Lutrinw (|| 
 instead of jf ). This is the only instance in the family of less 
 than six incisors below, or of an unequal number of incisors in 
 the two jaws. In the presence of an equal number of premolars 
 above and below, ^nAv^m agrees with all the other North Amer- 
 ican genera excepting Lutra (^) and normal Conepatus (|^) ; in 
 the presence of three premolars above and below, it agrees with 
 all but Lutra, Conepatus, Mu^tela, and Gulo (the two last having 
 ~); in the presence of three premolars below, it agrees with all 
 excepting Mustela and Oulo. 
 
 In thQ physical character of the teeth, as well as in the dental 
 formula, Unhydris is peculiar in its family. All the grinders are 
 of a singularly massive, tubercular, almost bulbous character, 
 with no trenchant edges, acute cusps, or even angular edges. 
 This is in evident adaptation to the piscivorous regimen^of the 
 animal. The teeth of even the youngest specimens^have an 
 
334 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 appearance of being greatly worn, as is not, however, the case. 
 In fact, there is less difference with age here than elsewhere in 
 the family. The back upper molar is the largest tooth of all, 
 being as wide as, and much longer'than, the sectorial tooth. It 
 is irregularly oval in shape, its long axis oblique; its face is 
 studded with obtuse tubercles in a manner scarcely admitting 
 of detailed Jdescription. The back upper premolar is squarish, 
 with rounded-oflf angles, and presents outwardly a pair of large 
 obtuse tubercles, whereof the anterior one is the larger, sepa- 
 rated by a groove from an interior lower portion of the tooth 
 occupied by a single large, blunt, conical tubercle. The next 
 premolar is a blunt cone with a heel behind. The apterior pre- 
 molar is entirely similar, but much smaller, and crowded inward 
 from the general axis of dentition. It has but one fang; the 
 tooth behind it is two-rooted; the sectorial tooth roots by three 
 fangs, two external, one internal; the upper molar is set in 
 three irregular shallow sockets. The back lower molar is trans- 
 versely elliptical rather than circular; its face is smooth and 
 flattened, with a crosswise central depression. The anterior 
 lower molar is completely and bluntly tuberculous, showing only 
 traces of its likeness to the same tooth elsewhere in the family 
 in a slightly elevated, tri-tuberculous, anterior part, and a flat- 
 tish, depressed hind part. The back lower premolar is an irreg- 
 ular, low, blunt cone, with a secondar;, eminence part way up 
 its inner aspect. The other premolars are successively smaller 
 and simpler. The front premolar and back molar are single- 
 rooted; the anterior molar has four roots; the nt'xt tooth three; 
 the next two. The canines, both above and below, are rather 
 small, comparatively; the latter is not much curved. Of the 
 superior incisors, the lateral pair are moderately larger than the 
 rest, and taper somewhat toward the end from an elbow near 
 the base. The others are smaller, especially nnrrow, and some- 
 wha*: club-shaped; none are obviously lobate. Of the inferior 
 incisors, it is seen to be the median pair that are missing, for 
 the next pair (here the middle pair) have the backward set, which 
 usually distinguishes them in other genera. These incisors are 
 all strongly clubbed at their extremities, which are irregularly 
 nicked. 
 
 Ei%tory of the species. ■■. v.m - «>r ij ^ 
 
 The history of this species may be considered to have begun 
 ia the middle of the last century. C of the earliest ac- 
 
HISTORY OF THE SEA OTTEK. 335 
 
 « 
 counts, if not the first one of any scientific pretensions, was 
 that of the celebrated navigator Steller, who described the 
 animal, in 1751, under the name of Lutra marina, a term not 
 yet wholly obsolete, though untenable under the rules of nomen- 
 clature. This may have been the first introduction of the spe- 
 cies to the notice of civilized, or at least of scientific, men, 
 though the animal had, of course, long been known to the na- 
 tives of the countries along the shores of which it was found. 
 It was known to the Kussians as the Sea or Kamtschatkan 
 Beaver (Bobr morskoi and Kamtschatskoi Bobr), and to the 
 Kamtschatkans themselves as the Kalan ; while other barbar- 
 ous nations had their own equivalent terms, or several such, to 
 indicate ditl'erent ages or states of pelage. Notwithstanding 
 the accuracy of Steller's account, which is quoted and some- 
 times consulted to the present day, and in spite of the numer- 
 ous striking peculiarities which the animal offers upon the 
 most casual inspection, the compilers of various systematic 
 treatises soon suffered under a confusion of ideas, and perpe- 
 trated blunders that were not for many years eradicated. 
 LinnfBUs confounded it with the Saricovienne or Brazilian Ot- 
 ter, Lutra hrasiUensis; and the same iriistake was even made 
 by several much more accomplished therologists, like Brisson 
 and Pennant. It would be presumed that its remarkable fea- 
 tures would have prevented this; instead, however, we find 
 that the singular couHtructiou of the hind feet, general aspect, 
 and mode of life have caused it to be classed among the 
 Seals — Pallas indeed, an emiuetit naturalist and observing 
 traveller, calU it a Phom: and in the latest publication upon 
 the snbjt'ct, Capt. 0. M. Sv^amnion's Marine Mammals (1874), it 
 is lo<;ated again in the midst of Vinnipedia. It is, of course, 
 unueuussary to scr ously dttscuss a procedure which, like this, 
 is indefensible u\utn any but rhe most superficial and unscien- 
 tiflo condidomtloiis, drawn tVuin rhe aquatic habits of the ani- 
 mal, and the modificatiouM required for this end. Its relation- 
 ships with the Pinnii>edH aiv entirely those of analogy. 
 
 LinnaBUH was right, according to the terms of classification 
 of his day, in placing it in the genus Mustela, a group nearly 
 equivalent to tliPi family Mmtelidw as now understood. Over- 
 looking or igunoring Steller's name of Lutra marina, which j 
 though biDomial in the letter, was merely a Latin translation 
 of a vernacular term, and not binomial ui>on any system, he 
 called the species Muntela lutris, a name the specific portion of 
 
 >i 
 
 111 
 
 t i», 
 
336 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 which must stand, even though, as already intimated, it in- 
 cludes an altogether different animal, Liitra brasiliensis ; for 
 the Stellerian name marina was not used by any binomial 
 writer until after Linn^us had applied lutris. Steller's more 
 obviously appropriate designation of marina was, nevertheless, 
 adopted by Erxleben, Schreber, Desmarest, and other distin- 
 guished naturalists of various countries, and became generally 
 current. In consequence, doubtless, of the very marked char- 
 acters which the species affords, only two or three nominal 
 species have been based upon it. The first of these, instituted 
 by Oken, the famous anatomist and naturalist, is, in fact, 
 scarcely a nominal species in the usual acceptation of the 
 term, being merely, like the Mustela lutris of Liunieus, a re- 
 naming of the well-known animal, without intention of sep- 
 arating from it a second species. Oken called it Pusa orien- 
 talis, in 1816,* in the work above cited, apparently inventing 
 both the generic and specific term, in this application at least. 
 E.-P. Lesson is responsible for another synonym, having, in 
 1827, renamed the species Lutra sMleri, a compliment to the 
 distinguished navigator who gave us the early account, but one 
 which the rules of nomenclature forbid us to adopt, however 
 we might incline to such course. Lesson appears to have fan- 
 cied that the Kamtschatkan Otter, Lutra or Mustela lutris of 
 authors, and Lutra marina of Erxleben, was a true Lain Otter, 
 different from Steller's animal, and, in fact, such was partly the 
 case. We have yet to consider a very problematical animal, 
 the Slender Otter of Pennant, which became the Lutra gracilis 
 of Shaw, the Enydris gracilis of Fischer, and is mentioned 
 under Pnsa by Oken, said to be from Staaten-Land, Nord- 
 Amerika. It is impossible to determine what this is, owing to 
 the imperfection of the description, but it was probably based 
 upon a Sea Otter ; Pennant himself appears to have given it 
 up, as it does not figure in his later work, "Arctic Zoology ". 
 Oken speaks of " Staaten-Land, hei yew-York^, evidently hav- 
 ing what is now known as Staten Island in view ; but it is 
 safer to presume upon a geographical error here than to refer 
 the animal to Lutra canadensisj which, as is well known, is the 
 only Otter of the Eastern United States, where the Sea Otter 
 certainly does not occur. t 
 
 These specific names are the only ones I have come upon in 
 
 * De Blainville gives the date of the name as ltil4, but I have not been 
 able to trace it back of 1816. 
 
11 
 
 HISTORY OF THE SEA OTTER. 
 
 337 
 
 searching the literature of the species; but we have still to 
 consider the several designations resulting from their combina< 
 tion with various generic designations, some of which sre old, 
 and belong to other groups, while others were newly iD<rented 
 for this particular species. The former are, in the order of 
 their successive use, Lutra, Muatela, and ^hoca, after Steller, 
 LinniBus, and Pallas respectively ; these need not detain us. It 
 was three-quarters of a century, nearly, from its original intro- 
 duction to the system, before the strongly marked characters 
 of the species were made typical of a new genus — Pusa of Okeu, 
 already mentioned, being the first-named of this sort. Pusa 
 had, however, already been used by another writer in connection 
 with a genus of Seals now commonly known as Ralichcerusy 
 but in such a peculiar way as to raise one of those technical 
 questions of synonymy which authors interpret difterc ntly, in 
 absence of fixed rule. Scopoli based his Pusa upon a figure of 
 Salomon MUUer's, recognizable with certainty as Halichceru8j»nil 
 gave characters utterly irreconcilable with those of this animal. 
 This is the whole case. Now it may be argued that there being 
 no such animal whatever as Scopoli says his Pusa was, his 
 name drops out of the system, and Pusa of Oken, virtually au 
 entirely new term, is tenable for something else, namely, for 
 the Sea Otter. On the other hand, Scopoli's quotations show 
 exactly what he meant, in spite of his inept diagnosis ; his name 
 Pusa therefore holds, and cannot be subsequently used by Oken 
 in a different connection. This is the view I take in this and 
 all similar cases, when a name can be identified by any means 
 whatsoever, intrinsic or circumstantial, no matter how wide of 
 the mark the ascribed characters may be. And even if it be not 
 the first tenable name of a genus — in other words, if it be only 
 a synonym of a prior name — it cannot be used again as a tenable 
 name for a different genus. This name Pusa thus disposed of, 
 another to be similarly treated is Latax of Gloger. Though 
 applied by some authors, particularly J. E. Gray {more «tto, with 
 little regard for the obvious requirements of the case), to species 
 of Lutra proper, Latax was nevertheless based by its founder 
 upon the Sea Otter, Lutra marina, in the xiiith vol. (1827) of 
 the N. Act. Nat. Curios, p. 511 (reprinted in the Isis for 1829, 
 and in F^russac's Bulletin). This well-identified name* is, how- 
 
 * It is, however, doubtful whether Latax oaa be considered aa eetabliahed 
 at all ; for Gloger, treating of the Sea Otter under the name Lutra marina, 
 simply takes occasion to criticise the fitness of Oken's term Pu«a, and to 
 suggest that Latax might be a more apt designation. . ^ 
 
 22 M 
 
 w 
 
338 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 ever, an UDquestionable synonym of Enhydra of Fleming, insti- 
 tuted in|1822, in that author's "Philosophy of Zoology", and 
 which, under its various i'oTmsofEnhydris, Enydris, and Enhydra, 
 has been most generally employed of late years. 
 
 Besides the technical accounts of very numerous authors 
 who never saw the animal alive, there are many other notices 
 of more general interest, in unscientific works, giving informa- 
 tion upon its h{>bits and manners, and various figures, more or 
 less true to life, are extant. The famous navigator Cook 
 treats of the Sea Otter, and gives a fair representation. The 
 description from Meares's Voyage, accurate, though nntechnical, 
 is frequently quoted. Meuzies's article in the Philosophical 
 Transactions for 1796 may be noted in this connection. Pen- 
 nant, as usual, has an extended biographical notice. Probably 
 the first anatomical article of any note is Martins's, upon the 
 osteology of the species ; that of M. Gervais is specially im- 
 portant. In late times, detached notices of its habits have 
 Biultiplied, from the pens of a number of naturalists who have 
 visited the northwest coast, and largely contributed to a com- 
 plete history. Capt. Scammon's several articles above quoted, 
 all to much the same eflfect, are specially noteworthy, though 
 certain points may require to be scrutinized and checked by the 
 observations of others. The author last mentioned also repro- 
 duces the figure by Wolf, which accompanied Dr. J. E. Gray's 
 paper on the Mustelidce, in Zoological Society's Proceedings for 
 1865 ; this is probably the most life-like representation of the 
 species extant. J. W. Audubon's plate, t)ubli8hed in the work 
 of his father and Dr.Bachman,is afinished drawing of unmistak- 
 able character, probably the best one generally accessible to 
 American students. Neither Sir John Richardson nor Audu- 
 bon had met with the species alive, and their biographies, the 
 principal ones which until lately had appeared in works upon 
 American Mammals, are necessarily at second hand. The only 
 American biographies, indeed, at all approaching completeness 
 are those of Mr. Elliott and Capt. Scammou, already cited. 
 
 .; ^^ The Sea- Otter audits Hunting J"* 
 
 [By H. W. Elliott.] 
 
 ' " The sea-otter, like the fur-seal, is another illustration of au 
 animal long known and highly prized in the commercial world, 
 
 * iiaviDg DO original iuforinatiou to offer respectiug the commercial bii»- 
 tory, the chase, or the habits of the Sea Otter, I extract an aooount which 
 there is reason to believe to be the roost complete, accurate, and reliable at 
 
"the sea-otter and its hunting." 
 
 339 
 
 i\ 
 
 yet respecting the habits and life of which nothing definite has 
 been ascertained or published. The reason for tbis is obvious, 
 for, save the natives who hunt them, no one properly qualified 
 has ever had an opportunity of seeing the sea-otter so as to 
 study it in a state of nature, for, of all the shy, sensitive beasts, 
 upon the capture of which man sets any value, this creature is 
 the most keenly on the alert and difficult to obtain ; and, like 
 the fur-seal in this Territory, it possesses the enhancing value 
 of being principally confined to our country. A truthful ac- 
 count of the strange, vigilant life of the sea-otter, and of the 
 hardships and perils encountered by its hunters, would surpass 
 in novelty and interest the most attractive work of fiction. 
 
 " When the Russian traders opened up the Aleutian Islands, 
 they found the natives commonly wearing sea-otter cloaks, 
 which they parted with at first for a trifle, not placing any 
 especial value on the animal, as they did the hair-seal and the 
 sea-lion, the hair and skin of which were vastly more palatable 
 and serviceable to them ; but the offers of the greedy traders 
 soon set the natives after them. During the first few years the 
 numbers of these animals taken all along the Aleutian Chain, 
 and down the whole northwest coast as far as Oregon, were 
 
 uur Hervice. The ioUowiug uiatter coustitutes Chap. V, pp. 54-62, of^Mr. 
 Henry W. Elliott's " Report on the Condition of Affairs in the Territory of 
 Alaska", 8vo, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1875. Mr. Elliott 
 has proven a trustworthy observer and zealous naturalist, and had excellent 
 opportunities of studying the whole subject during his long residence in 
 Alaska as special agent of the Treasury Department, charged with the Gov- 
 ernment interests in the Fur Seal Fisheries. 
 
 A quotation from Sir John Richardson (Fn. Bor.-Am. p. 59), touching the 
 early aspects of the Sea Otter business, will not be here out of place : — 
 
 " The fur of the Sea Otter being very handsome, was much esteemed by 
 the Chinese, and, nntil the market at Canton was overstocked, prime skins 
 brought extraordinarily high prices. The trade for a considerable period 
 was in the hands of the Russians, who soon after the discovery of the north- 
 west coast of America, by Beering [sic-] and Tschirikow, sent mercantile 
 expeditions hither. Captain Cook's third voyage drew the attention of 
 English speculators to that quarter, and vessels were freighted both by 
 private adventurers and the India Company, for the purpose of collecting 
 furs and conveying them to Canton. Pennant, alluding to this traffic, says, 
 ' What a profitable trade (with China) might not a colony carry on, were it 
 possible to penetrate to that part of America by means of rivers and lakes.' 
 The event that Pennant wished for soon took place. Sir Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie having traversed the continent of America, and gained the coast of 
 the Pacific, his partners in trade followed up bis success, by establishing fur 
 posts in New Caledonia, and a direct commerce with China; bat the influx 
 of furs into that market soon reduced their price." 
 
340 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 very great, and compared with what are now captured seem 
 perfectly fabulous; for instance, when the Prybilov Islands were 
 first discovered, two sailors, Lukannon and Ka^ekov, killed at 
 St. Paul's Island, in the first year of occupation, jftre thousand, 
 the next year they got less than a thousand, and in six years 
 after not a single sea-otter appeared, and none have appeared 
 since. When Shellikov's party first visited Cook's Inlet, they 
 secured three thousand; during the second year, two thousand ; 
 in the third, only eight hundred; the season following they 
 obtained six hundred; and finally, in 1812, less than a hundred, 
 and since then not a tenth of that number. The first visit made 
 by the Bussians to the Gulf of Yahkutat, in 1794, two thousand 
 sea-otters were taken, but they diminished so rapidly that in 
 1799 less than three hundred were taken. In 1798 a large party 
 of Bussians and Aleuts captured in Sitka Sound and neighbor- 
 hood twelve hundred skins, besides those for which they traded 
 with the natives there, f !y as many morej and in the spring 
 of 1800 a few America ad English vessels came into Sitka 
 Sound, anchored off the small Bussian settlement there, and 
 traded with the natives for over two thousand skins, getting 
 the trade of the Indians by giving firearms and powder, ball, 
 &c., which the Bussians did not dare to do, living then, as they 
 were, in the country. In one of the early years of the Bussian 
 American Company, 1804, Baranov went to the Okotsk from 
 Alaska with fifteen thousand sea-otter skins, that were worth 
 as much then as they are now, viz, fully $1,000,000. 
 
 " The result of this warfare upon the sea-otters, with ten 
 hunters then where there is one to-day, was not long delayed. 
 Everywhere throughout the whole coast-line frequented by 
 them the diminution set in, and it became difficult to get to 
 places where a thousand have been as easily obtained as twenty- 
 five or thirty. A Bussian chronicler says : ' The numbers of 
 several kinds of animals are growing very much less in the 
 present as compared with past times ; for instance the Company 
 here (Ounalashka) regularly killed more than a thousand sea- 
 otters annually ; now (1835) from seventy to a hundred and 
 fifty are taken ; and there was a time, in 1826, when the returns 
 from the whole Ounalashka district (the Aleutian Islands) were 
 only fifteen sMns.^ 
 
 " It is also a fact coincident with this diminution of sea- 
 otters, that the population of the Aleutian Islands fell off almost 
 in the same proportion. The Bussians regarded the] lives of 
 
" THE SEA-OTTER AND ITS HUNTING." 
 
 341 
 
 these people as tbey did those of dogs, and treated them accord- 
 ingly ; they took, under Baranov and his subordinates, hunting- 
 parties of five hundred to a thousand picked Aleuts, eleven or 
 twelve hundred miles to the eastward of their homes, in skin- 
 baidars and bidarkies, or kyacks, traversing one of the wildest 
 and roughest of coasts, and used them not only for the severe 
 drudgery of otter-hunting, but to fight the Koloshians and 
 other savages all the way up and down the coast ; this soon 
 destroyed them, and few ever got back alive. 
 
 '^ When the Territory came in our possession, the Bussians 
 were taking between four and five hundred sea-otters from the 
 Aleutian Islands and south of the peninsula of Alaska, with 
 perhaps a hundred and fifty more from Kenai, Yahkutat, and 
 the Sitkan district ; the Hudson's Bay Company and other trad- 
 ers getting about two hundred more from the coast of Queen 
 Charlotte's and Vancouver's Islauds, and oflf Gray's Harbor, 
 Washington Territory. 
 
 ** Now, during the last season, 1873, instead of less than seven 
 hundred skins, as obtained by the Bussians, our traders secured 
 not much less than four thousand skins. This immense differ- 
 ence is not due to the fact of there being a proportionate 
 increase of sea-otters, but to the organization of hunting-par- 
 ties in the same spirit and fashion, as in the early days above 
 mentioned. The keen competition of our traders will ruin the 
 business in a comparatively short time if some action is not 
 taken by the Government; and to the credit of these traders 
 let it be said, that while they cannot desist, for if they do others 
 will step in and profit at their expense, yet they are anxious 
 that some prohibition should be laid upon the business. This 
 can be easily done, and in such manner as to perpetuate the sea- 
 otter, not only for themselves, but for the natives, who are 
 dependent upon its hunting for a living which makes them 
 superior to savages. 
 
 " Over two-thirds of all the sea otters taken in Alaska are 
 secured in two small areas of water, little rocky islets and reefs 
 around the island of Saanach and the Chernobours, which 
 proves that these animals, in spite of the incessant hunting all* 
 the year round on this ground, seem to have some particular 
 preference for it to the practical exclusion of nearly all the rest 
 of the coast in the Territory. This may be due to its better 
 adaptation as a breeding-ground. It is also noteworthy that 
 all the sea-otters taken below*the Straits of Fuca are shot by 
 
 II' ," 
 
342 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 the Indians and white hunters oflf the beach in the surf at Gray's 
 Harbor, a stretch of less than twenty miles ; here some fifty to 
 a hundred are taken every year, while not half that number 
 can be obtained from all the rest of the Washington and Oregon 
 coast-line; there is nothing in the external appearance of this 
 reach to cause its selection by the sea-otters, except perhaps 
 that it may be a little less rocky. 
 
 "As matters are now conducted by the hunting-parties, the 
 sea-otters at Saauach and the Ghernobours do not have a day's 
 rest during the whole jear. Parties relieve each other in succes- 
 sion, and a continuous warfare is maintained. This persistence 
 is stimulated by the traders, and is rendered still more deadly 
 to the sea-otter by the use of rifles of the best make, which, in 
 the hands of the young and ambitious natives, in spite of the 
 warnings of the old men, must result in the extermination of 
 these animals, as no authority exists in the laud to prevent it. 
 These same old men, in order to successfully compete with their 
 rivals, have to drop their bone-spears and arrows, and take up 
 fire-arms in self-defense. So the bad work goes on rapidly, 
 though a majority of the natives and the traders deprecate it. 
 With a view to check this evil and to perpetuate the life of the 
 sea-otter in the Territory, I offer the following suggestions to 
 the Department : 
 
 " 1st. Prohibit the use of firearms of any description in the 
 hunting of the sea-otter in the Territory of Alaska. 
 
 "2d. Make it unlawful for any party or parties to hunt this 
 animal during the months of June, July, and August, fixing a 
 suitable penalty, fine, or punishment. 
 
 " The first proposition gives the sea-otter a chance to live ; 
 and, with the second, may possibly promote an increase in the 
 number of this valuable animal. 
 
 "The enforcement by the Government of this prohibition 
 will not be difficult, as it is desired by a great majority of the 
 natives and all the traders having any real Interest in the per- 
 petuation of the business. A good deputy attached to the 
 customs, whose salary and expenses might be more than paid 
 by a trifling tax on each otter-skin, say $1, could, if provided 
 with a sound whale-boat, make his headquarters at Saanach 
 and Belcovski and carry the law into effect. The trade of the 
 Kodiak district centers at the village of that name, and the 
 presence of the collector or his deputy will exert authority, and 
 cause the old native hunters 'and many of the younger who 
 
HABITS OF THE SEA OTTER. 
 
 343 
 
 have reflectiou to complj with his demands. The collector 
 theu being provided with the small revenue-steamer spoken of 
 in my chapter upon the duty of the Government toward the 
 Territory, can insure compliance with the instructions given 
 him, and punish violations. 
 
 "This proposed action on the part of the Government is 
 urgent and humane, for upon the successful huntijig of the 
 sea-otter some five thousand christianized nati\ es are entirely 
 dependent for the means to live in a condition superior to bar- 
 barism. 
 
 ^^ The habits of the sea-otter. {Enhydra marina.) 
 
 "I have had a number of interesting interviews with several 
 very intelligent traders, and an English hunter who had spent 
 an entire winter on Saanach Island, shooting sea-otters, and 
 enduring, while there, bitter privation and hardship; and 
 chiefly from their accounts, aided by my own observation, I 
 submit the following: 
 
 ^^Saanach Island, Islets, and Eeefs, is the great sea-otter 
 ground of this country. The island itself is small, with a coast- 
 line circuit of about eighteen miles. Spots of sand beach are 
 found here and there, but the major portion of it is composed 
 of enormous water-worn bowlders piled up by the surf. The 
 interior is low and rolling, with a ridge rising into three hills, 
 the middle one some 800 feet in height. There is no timber 
 on it, but abundant grass, moss, &c., with a score of little 
 fresh- water lakes, in which multitudes of ducks and geese are 
 found every spring and fall. The natives do not live upon the 
 island, because the making of fires and scattering of food- 
 refuse alarms the otters, driving them off to sea ; so that it is 
 only camped upon, and fires are never built unless the wind is 
 from the southward, for no sea-otters are ever found to be 
 uorth of the island. The sufferings to which the native hunt- 
 ers subject themselves every winter on this island, going for 
 many weeks without fires, even for cooking, with the ther- 
 mometer down to zero, in a northerly gale of wind, is better 
 imagined than described. 
 
 '• To the southward and westward, and stretching directly out 
 to sea, some five to eight miles from Saanach Island, is a suc- 
 cession of small islets, bare, most of them, at low water, but 
 with numerous reefs and rocky shoals, beds of kelp, &c. This 
 is the great sea-otter ground of Alaska, together with the 
 
 '^i 
 
344 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^.. 
 
 CberDobour Islets, to the eastward about thirty wiles, which 
 are similar to it. The sea-otter rarely lands upon the main 
 island, bat it is found just out of water on the reef-rocks and 
 islets above mentioned, in certain seasons, and at a little dis- 
 tance at sea during calm and pleasant weather. The adult 
 sea-otter is an animal that will measure from three and a half 
 to four feet at most, from nose to tip of tail, which is short and 
 stumpy. The general contour of the body is closely like that 
 of the beaver, with the skin lying in loose folds, so that when 
 taken hold of in lifting the body out from the water, it is as 
 slack and draws up like the hide on the nape of a young dog. 
 This skin, which is taken from the body with but one cut made 
 in it at the posteriors, is turned inside out, and air-dried, and 
 stretched, so that it then gives the erroneous impression of an 
 animal at least six feet in length, with girth and shape of a 
 weasel or mink. There is no sexual dissimilarity in color or 
 size, and both inanifest the same intense shyness and aversion 
 to man, coupled with the greatest solicitude for their young, 
 which they bring into existence at all seasons of the year, for 
 the natives get young pups every month in the year. As the 
 natives have never caught the mothers bringing forth their off- 
 spnug on the rocks, they are disposed to believe that the birth 
 takes place on kelp-beds, in pleasant or not over-rough weather. 
 The female has a single pup, born about fifteen inches in length, 
 and provided during the first mouth or two with a coat of coarse, 
 brownish, grizzled fur, head and nape grizzled, grayish, rufous 
 white, with the roots of the hair growing darker toward the 
 skin. The feet, as in the adult, are very short, webbed, with 
 nails like a dog, fore-paws exceedingly feeble and small, all 
 covered with a short, fine, dark, bister-brown hair or fur. From 
 this poor condition of fur they improve as they grow older, 
 shading darker, finer, thicker, and softer, and by the time they 
 are two years of age they are ' prime,' though the animal is 
 not full-grown until its fourth or fifth year. The white nose 
 and mustache of the nup are not changed in the adult. The 
 whiskers are white, short, and fine. The female has two teats, 
 resembling those of a cat, placed between the hind limbs on 
 the abdomen, and no signs of more ; the pup sucks a year at 
 least, and longer if its mother has no other; the mother 
 lies upon her back in the water or upon the rooks, as the case 
 may be, and when she is surprised, she protects her young by 
 clasping it in her fore-paws and turning her back to the danger 
 
HABITS OF THE SEA OTTER. 
 
 345 
 
 they sbed their fur just as the hair of inan grows and fdlls oat; 
 the reason is evident, for they must be ready for the water at 
 all times. 
 
 " The sea otter mother sleeps in the water on her back, with 
 her yonng clasped between her fore-paws. The pup cannot lite 
 without its mother, though frequent attempts have been made 
 by the natives to raise them, as they often capture them alive, 
 but, like some other species of wild animals, it seems to be so 
 deeply imbued with fear of man that it invariably dies from 
 self-imposed starvation. 
 
 '^ Their food, as might be inferred from the flat molars of 
 dentition, is almost entirely composed of cl.ims, muscles, and 
 sea-urchins, of which they are very fond, and which they break 
 by striking the shells together, held in each fore-paw, sucking 
 out the contents as they are fractured by these efforts ; they 
 also undoubtedly eat crabs, and the juicy tender fronds of kelp 
 or sea- weed, and fish. 
 
 '* They are not polygamous, and more than an individual is 
 seldom seen at a time when out at sea. The tiesh is very un- 
 palatable, highly charged with a rank smell and flavor. 
 
 " They are playful, it would seem, for I am assured by several 
 old hunters that they hav^e watched the sea-otter for half an 
 hour as it lay upon its back in the water and tossed a piece of 
 sea- weed up in the air from paw to paw, apparently taking great 
 delight in catching it before it could fall into the water. It will 
 also play with its young for hours. 
 
 '^ The quick hearing and acute smell possessed by the sea- 
 otter are not equaled by any other creatures in the Territory. 
 They will take alarm and leave from the effects of a small fire, 
 four or five miles to the windward of them ; and the footstep 
 of man must be washed by many tides before its trace ceases 
 to alarm the animal and drive it from landing there should it 
 approach for that purpose. 
 
 " There are four principal methods of capturing the sea-otter, 
 viz, by surf'ShooUngf by spearingsnrrounds, by cltthhing, and by 
 net8. 
 
 *' The surf-shooting is the common method, but has only been 
 in vogue among the natives a short time. The young men have 
 nearly all been supplied with rifles, with whioh they patrol the 
 shores of the island and inlets, and whenever a sea-otter's head 
 is seen in the surf, a thousand yards out even, they fire, the 
 great distance and the noise of the surf preventing the sea- 
 
346 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. 
 
 Otter from takiug alarm until it is bit; and in nine times out 
 of ten, when it is bit, in the bead, which is all t: "t is exposed, 
 the shot is fatal, and the hunter waits until the surf brings bis 
 quarry in, if it is too rough or him to venture out in his 
 ♦ bidarkie.' This shooting is kept up now the whole year 
 round. 
 
 "The spearingsurround is the orthodox native system of cap- 
 ture, and reflects the highest credit upon them as bold, hardy 
 watermen. A party of fifteen or twenty bidarkies, with two 
 men in each, as a rule, all under the control of a cbief elected 
 by common consent, start out in pleasant weather, or when it 
 is not too rough, and spread themselves out in a long line, 
 slowly paddling over the waters where sea-otters are most 
 usually found. When any one of them discovers an otter, 
 asleep, most likely, in the water, he snakes a quiet signal, and 
 there is not a word spoken or a paddle splashed while they are 
 on ilio hunt, lie darts toward tbe animal, but generally the 
 alarm is taken by the sensitive object, which instantly dives 
 before the Aleut can get near enough to throw his spear. The 
 hunter, however, keeps right on, and stops his canoe directly 
 over the spot where tlie otter disappeared. The others, tak- 
 ing note of the position, all deploy and scatter in a circle of 
 half a mile wide around the mark of departure thus made, and 
 patiently wait for the reappearance of the otter, which must 
 take place within fifteen or thirty minutes, for breath ; and as 
 soon as this happens the nearest one to it darts forward in the 
 same manner as his predecessor, when <all hands shout and 
 throw tlieir spears, to uiake the animal dive again as quickly 
 as possible, thus giving it scarcely an instant to recover itself. 
 A sentry is placed over its second diving- wake as be' ~^, and 
 the circle is drawn anew ; and the surprise is often retreated, 
 sometimes for two or three hours, until the sea-otter, from 
 interrupted respiration, becomes so tilled with ai^ or gases 
 that he cannot sink, and becomes at once an easy victim. 
 
 " The coolness with which these Aleuts will go far out to 
 sea iu their cockleshell kyacks, and risk the Jipproaoh of 
 gales that are as apt to be against them as not, with a mere 
 handful of food and less water, is remarkable. They are cer- 
 tainly as hardy a set of hunters, patient and energetic, as can 
 be found in the world. 
 
 " The clubbing is only done in the winter-season, and then 
 at infrequent intervals, which occur when tremendous gales of 
 
HABITS OF THE SEA OTTER. 
 
 347 
 
 wind frotti the northward, sweeping down over Saauach, have 
 about blown themselves out. The natives, the very boldest of 
 tUem, set out from Saanach, au^ skud down on the tail of the 
 gale to the far outlying rocks, just sticking out above surf- 
 wash, where they creep up from the leeward to the sea-otters 
 found there at such times, with their heads stuck into the beds 
 of kelp to avoid the wind. The noise of the gaio is greater 
 than that made by the stealthy movements of the hunters, 
 who, armed each with a short, heavy wooden club, dispatch 
 the animals, one after another, without alarming the whole 
 body, and in this way two Aleuts, brothers, were known to 
 have slain seventy-eight in less than an hour and a half. 
 
 " There is no driving these animals out upon land. They 
 are fierce and courageous, an«l when surprised by a man be- 
 tween themselves and the water, they will make for the sea, 
 straight, without any regard for the hunter, their progress, by 
 a succession of short leaps, being very rapid for a small dis- 
 tance. The greatest care is taken by the seaotter hunters on 
 Saanack. Tliey have lived in the dead of a severe winter six 
 weeks at a time without kindling a fire, and with certain 
 winds they never light one. They do not sujoke, nor do they 
 scatter or empty food-refuse on the beaches. Oi all this I am 
 assured by one who is perhaps the first white eye-witness of 
 this winter-hunting, as he lived on the island through that of 
 1872-'73, and could not be induced to repeat it. 
 
 "The hunting by use of nets calls up the strange dissimilar- 
 ity existing now, as it has in all time past, between the prac- 
 tice of the Atka and xVttou Aleuts and that of those of Ouna- 
 lashka and the eastward, as given above. These people cap- 
 ture the sea-otter in nets, from 10 to 18 feet h)ng and (5 to 1(> 
 feet wide, with coarse meshes made nowadays of twine, but 
 formerly of sinew. 
 
 *' On the kelp-beds these nets are spread out, and the na- 
 tives withdraw and watch. The otters come to sleep or rest 
 on those places, and get entangled in the meshes of the net.s, 
 seeming to make little or no eft'ort to escape, paralyzed as it 
 were by fear, and fall in this way easily into the hands of the 
 trappers, who tell me that they have caught Jis many as six at 
 one time in one of these small nets, and fre«iuently get three. 
 They also watch for surf-holes or caves in the MulVs, and, 
 when one is found to which a sea-otter is in the liabit of re- 
 
u 
 
 348 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 
 
 sorting, they set tbis net by spreading it over the entrance, 
 and usually capture the animal. 
 
 " No injury whatever is done to these frail nets by the sea- 
 otters, strong animals as they are ; only stray sea-lions destroy 
 them. The Atka people have never been known to hunt sea- 
 otters without nets, while the people of Ounalashka and the 
 eastward have never been known to use them. The salt-water 
 and kelp seem to act as a disinfectant to the net, so that the 
 smell of it does not repel or alarm the shy animal." 
 
U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLATE I. 
 
 44iilo IiiNt'iiot. <H«-i\ucfil.) 
 
•M 
 
U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 MnsteUdsB. PLATE II. 
 
 if 
 
 ITIiistela peiinnnti. (Nnt. nlze.) 
 
U. 8. Geolojiical Snrvey. 
 
 MiuteUdflB. PLATE III. 
 
 : I ii 
 
 MnHteln martmi. (Xat. size.) 
 
u. 
 
U. 8. Geological Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLATE IV. 
 
 1 1' 
 
 Sin itela f eina, (Kat. size.) 
 

 :m 
 
 ^V''" 
 
U. 8. Oeologieiil Survey, 
 
 MttitelidsB. PLATE V. 
 
 MiiMtela aiiierlcHiia. (Nat. size.) 
 
I 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 4fj 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 2.0 
 
 Ki 
 
 114 
 
 1.8 
 
 U 11.6 
 
 ^y^"^"^^ 
 
 

ki^r- 
 
 -m 
 
 m 
 
U. S. Gteological Survey. 
 
 MusteUdse. PLATE VI. 
 
 PatoriHS erininen. 
 PntorluM vnlnnris 
 
 . Figa 1. 3, 5, fi. ) ^^^ ^i,, ) 
 
 I. FiRB. 9, 4. y 
 
 : m 
 
#; 
 
 •^v. 
 
 u. s 
 
 .';?%»- 
 
U. S. Geolojjical Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLATE VII. 
 
 •*utoriii« nlffrlpett. (Nat. size.) 
 
u. 
 
 ■-« 
 
 ,^ .„-.•"<.„, 
 
 !%■ 
 
U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLAIE VIII. 
 
 Fntorini* t'oetldn*. (Nat. size.) 
 
ifif*,. 
 
 ,v- i 
 
U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 MusteUdsB. PLATE IX. 
 
 Hntorlus viaon. (Nat. size.) 
 
u, 
 
 '•'1^;; 
 
 ^■•^i'- 
 
 M 
 
U. 8. Geological Survey. 
 
 MniteUdflB PLATE Z. 
 
 Mepliitls mepblticn. (Nat. size) 
 
 
u 
 
U. 8. Oeological Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLATE XI. 
 
 Mei»hltl« meplil (Nat. size.) 
 
\ 
 
 
U. 8. Geological Survey. 
 
 Mustelids. PLATE XII. 
 
 Mephitis (Spllovale) pntorlas. (8kin«, greatly redaoed.) 
 
u 
 
 4 ' 
 
 :;«?■%; 
 
U. S. Geol()}!ical Survey. 
 
 MnstelidsB. PLATE XIII. 
 
 m 
 
 Till 
 
 Mephitis (M|illovMle) putvrlNS, (Nat. size.) 
 
u. 
 
 
 ^B^ 
 
U. S. Qeological Snrvey. 
 
 HnstelidsD. PLATE XIV. 
 
 Mephitis (Spllovalc) pntorlan. (Nat. size.) 
 
U. 8. Geological Survey. 
 
 Mustelids. PLATE XV. 
 
 Conepatns mapurlto. <Xat. size.) 
 
i-^'ViiS^*- 
 
U. S. Geological Siirver. 
 
 MusteUdsB. PLATE XYI. 
 
 'I'Hxiden Biuerlcnua. (UvUuued.) 
 
U. S. Geological .Sntvey, 
 
 Mustelidse. PLATE XVII. 
 
 I^uira canadensiM. (Nat. size.) 
 
U. 8. Oi'olonicttl Survey. 
 
 MuBtelidee. PLATE XVIII. 
 
 l^ntra valKaris* <Nat. size.) 
 
U. S. Geolofjical Survey. 
 
 MustelidsB. PLATE XIX. 
 
 
 '^^^^ 
 
 iffi^ 
 
 mm 
 
 ^^ 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 r^'^'-— ji^'^g'I'll iiin 
 
 
 "^^ 
 
 ^1 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ^W^ 
 
 
 «^3 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^mi 
 
 
 ^^p'^lR 
 
 ^S9 
 
 
 :: ^**^,-^^ 
 
 m^jr 
 
 
 
 '■ ■-■-' ■■ ■■ • 
 
 Enhydrls Intrfs, (Keduoed.) 
 
U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 Mustelidse. PLATE XX. 
 
 Enbydrla IntrlH. (Upper fig. reduced. Lower &g. nat. size.)