90 THE RABBIT 



domestic pet. He was a very large specimen, and 

 my sister taught him a number of tricks such as 

 begging for food, which he did quite as well and 

 patiently as any terrier, leaping over sticks, &c. He 

 became a very affectionate animal, delighting much in 

 being petted and following like a dog when taken out 

 for a walk. He would, however, only follow those 

 persons whom he well knew. That his memory was 

 exceedingly good wr.s shown by the fact that after an 

 absence of many months during which he was never 

 required to beg, or to perform any of his tricks, he 

 went through all his paces perfectly the first time that 

 we again tried him.' 



It is perhaps not generally known that other 

 animals of the weasel kind, besides the ferret, are 

 capable of being tamed, and make very pretty and 

 engaging pets. 



Mademoiselle de Faister described her tame 

 weasel to Buffon as playing with her fingers like a 

 kitten, jumping on her head and neck, and if she 

 presented her hands at the distance of three feet, it 

 jumped into them without ever missing. It distin- 

 guished her voice amidst twenty people, and sprang 

 over everybody to get at her. She found it impossible 

 to open a drawer or a box, or even to look at a paper 

 without his examining it also. If she took up a paper 



