32 On the Fur-hearing Animals 



neck and shoulders. From the fore-leg a stripe of yellowish brown, 

 about 3 inches broad, sweeps round each side, and grows lighter 

 as it proceeds, passes over the tops of the thighs and ends at the 

 root of the tail, giving the back of the animal almost the appear- 

 ance of an Eskimo's tunic or shirt : and it is possible that these 

 people may have borrowed their fashion from the Wolverine, 

 whose fur is greatly in request among them. The colors of the 

 head are thus arranged. From the nose to between the eyes and 

 around them the hair is very short and is almost quite black. 

 The forehead, ears, cheeks, and nape are of a brownish grey shade 

 which gradually changes as it meets the darker tints and longer 

 fur of the body. From the chin to the fore-legs along the throat, 

 a black stripe of varied breadth extends, broken with large blotches 

 of white or orange yellow. The belly is of the same shade as the 

 back until near the anus, where a spot of bright orange yellow 

 hairs extends to about four inches. The root half of the tail is 

 light yellowish brown, and the top mostly black without any 

 mixture of white hairs. 



The legs and feet are black. There is a yellowish spot on the 

 inner side of the fore-legs about half way down, and the fur of 

 the soles is of a light brown tint. The summer pelage is of a 

 light color, course and thin. 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. 



In examining the skull of the Wolverine, the most striking 

 points are the shortness and broadness of its muzzle, and the 

 roundness of the cranium, giving promise of a certain quantity of 

 reasoning powers, which the nature and habits of this animal do 

 certainly not belie. The entire structure is massive, the skull 

 and bones are thick and ponderous, and the muscles of the neck 

 and limbs of immense volume. Indeed every requisite is appar- 

 ently united to form a beast of extraordinary strength, and I do 

 not wonder now at the almost fabulous feats, considering its size, 

 that it has performed. The first measurements of the following 

 table are taken from Prof. Baird's work on North American 

 Mammals, and are inserted for comparison. He does not mention 

 whether the specimen was measured before or after skinning, 

 or whether it was an ordinary " case " skin, or purposely prepar- 

 ed for a Natural History specimen. If it be a common trading 



