100 MAMMALIA. 



is more broad than long ; there are only two false molars above and 

 three below. These animals are externally recognised by their 

 muzzle, which is shorter and thicker than that of the Weasel. They 

 all diffuse a most horrible stench. 



Mustela putorius, L., Buff. VII, xiii. (The Common Pole- 

 cat.) Brown; flanks yellowish; white spots on the head ; the 

 terror of poultry-yards and warrens. 



3I.furo, L., Buff. VII, xxv and xxvi. (The Ferret.) Yel- 

 lowish, with rose-coloured eyes, and is perhaps a mere variety 

 of the Polecat. It is only found in France in a domesticated 

 state, and is employed to ferret out the rabbits from their holes. 

 It comes from Spain and Barbary. 



M. sarmatica; The Perouasca ; Pall. Spic. Zool. XIV, iv, 1; 

 Schreb. CXXXII. (The Sarmatian Weasel.) Brown ; every- 

 where spotted with yellow and white. So beautifully is the skin 

 mottled, that it is in high request among furriers. It is found 

 throughout all southern Russia, Asia Minor, and the coast of 

 the Caspian sea. 



M. sibirica, Pall. Spic. Zool. XIV, iv, 2. (The Siberian 

 Polecat.) A uniform light fawn colour ; nose and circumfe- 

 rence of the eyes brown j end of the muzzle and the under part 

 of the lower jaw white. 



It is also to this subdivision that we must refer two small 

 European species: 



M. vulgaris, L., Buff. VII, xxix, 1. (The Weasel.) Of a 

 uniform red, and the 



M. erminea, L., Buff. VII, xxix, 2, and xxxi, 1. (The Stoat.) 

 Red in summer, white in winter ; end of the tail always black. 

 Skin much used by furriers. 



We should also place near it the 



M. lutreola. Pall. Spic. Zool. XI, 1; Leche, Stock. Mem., 

 1739, pi. xi; Schreb. CXXVII. (The Mink or Norek.) It 

 frequents the shores of rivers, &c., in the north and east of Eu- 

 rope from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and lives on 

 frogs and crabs. The feet are slightly palmated at the base of 

 the toes, but the teeth and round tail approximate it nearer 

 to the Polecat than the Otter. It is of a reddish brown ; the 

 circumference of the lips and the under part of the jaw white j 

 it exhales a musky odour, and is much esteemed for its well 

 known fur. 



The above animal is considered by some to be the same as the 

 Polecat of the North American rivers, also called the Mink^ 

 whose feet are likewise semi-palmated ; but the only white 



