THE MUSEUM. 



335 



Murex palma-rosas. 

 Vermetuslumbricalis, Worm Shell. 



Murex tenui spina, Spiney Murex. 

 Fusus pacifica, Fusus. 



with great effort, and therefore does 

 not destroy large quantities of birds' 

 eggs as some naturaHsts would have 

 us believe. 



The skunk does not support a good 

 character among the farmers. He 

 will sometimes find his way into the 

 poultry house and make some havoc 

 with the setting hens; he is especially 

 fond of eggs, and is not very particu- 

 lar whether they are fresh or contain 

 pretty large rudiments of the spring 

 chicken, yet he is so slow and clumsy 

 in his movements, and creates such a 

 disturbance in the poultry house, that 

 he is easily detected, and the farmer 

 can blame himself if he does not stop 

 the career of his nocturnal visitor. 

 The poultry have far more formidable 

 enemies than the skunk; the weasel, 

 fox, mink and hawk are rivals with 

 which his awkward powers cannot 

 compete. Pre-eminently an insect 

 eater, the skunk destroys more grass- 

 hoppers, coleoptera and other insects 

 injurious to vegetation than all other 

 mammals combined, and in addition 

 he destroys large quantities of mice 

 and frogs. On dissecting a specimen 

 he obtained from South Carolina, Au- 

 dubon discovered that the skunk had 

 been a more successful entomologist 

 than himself, for he had devoured on 



the previous night a greater number of 

 a rare and beautiful beetle {Scarabociis 

 tityiis)\.\i2Si. the great naturalist had been 

 able to find in a search of ten years. 



Sir John Richardson once said: "One 

 may soon become familiar with the 

 odor, for notwithstanding the disgust 

 it produces at first, I have managed to 

 skin a couple of recent specimens by 

 recurring to the task at intervals." 

 The knowledge of a proper method of 

 killing the skunk would have rendered 

 such a statement unnecessary. If 

 caught in a deadfall, or killed with a 

 club or shotgun before it has time to 

 discharge the fluid, the task of skin- 

 ning a skunk is no harder than that of 

 skinning a raccoon or opossum. 



The fur of the skunk is a valuable 

 article of commerce when dressed, be- 

 ing known as Alaska sable; although, 

 being coarser, it is less sought after 

 than that of the beaver and sable. It 

 is valuless in summer, and is at its 

 best in October and November. The 

 value is regulated by the color, con- 

 dition and quality of the fur, and by 

 the supply and demand. A jet black 

 pelt is worth more than one contain- 

 ing more or less white. 



The flesh is said to be sweet and 

 well flavored. The meat is white and 

 fat, and is oronounced to be much su- 



