PUTORIUS FCETIDUS, VAR. P. SARMATICUS. 157 



be carried in a bag, with drawn string, strung over the shoulder, or in a 

 tightly-buttoned coat pocket. As the animal enjoys its short liberty when 

 hunting and, however tame it may be, does not want to go into the bag 

 again while you move on ; it is always best to let it get ten feet or more 

 from the hole before you attempt to pick it up or it may dodge back and 

 refuse to come out. In 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 a 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 

 under his throat and the last tie on top of his head. 



" In England I believe they use small bells 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*". Yar. eversraaniii.--(Si6erian Polecat. 



Mustela putorius?, LicM. Eversm. Eeise, 23 ; ref. to Pallas, i. Zoog. 89, note, but not Mustela 



sihirica Pall. ibid. p. 90. 

 Mustela putorius var. eversmanui, Fischer, Syn. 1829, 219. 

 Mustela eversuiamil, Less. Man. 1827, 144, no. 319.—Schinz, Syn. 1844, 339. 

 Putorius cversmannl, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 109; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 87. 

 Mustela putorius, Blijth, "J. A. S. B. xi. 281."— (Gray.) 

 Mustela putorius thibetauius, Eodgs. "J. A. S. B. xxiii, 1849, 446."— (Cmy.) 



This is the Asiatic Polecat, which appears to have been iirst noted by 

 Pallas, in text of p. 89 of the Zoographia, from Siberia. This is to be care- 

 fully distinguished from the Musiela sihirica of Pallas, p. 90, a very different 

 animal, elsewhere noticed in the present work. It is apparently but little if 

 any different from P. foctidus, to which Blasius assigns it without query. Cer- 

 tain cranial differences adduced by Gray may require confirmation. I have 

 seen no specimens of the supposed species. 



2. Pntorins sarmaticns.— Spotted Polecat. 

 Mustela sarmatica, Pall. Itin. i. 1771, 453 ; Splc. Zool. 1760, xiv. 79, pi. 4, f. l ; Zoog. E.-A. i. 



1831, 89.— Erxl. Syst. Anim. 1777, 460, no. 6.—Schreb. Saug. iii. 1778, 490, pi. 132 (from 



Giildenstadt). —Zimm. Geogr. Gesell. ii. 1780, 305, no. 201.— Gm. S. N. i. 1788, 97, no. 15.— 



Turt. S. N. i. 1806, eO.—Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 178, no. 204 ; Nouv. Diet. xix. 371 ; Ency. 



Meth. pi. 82, f. i.—Fr. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxix. 1823, 252, no. 9.— is, Geof. Diet. Class, x. 



2l2.—Fisch. Syn. 1829, 220.— ies«. Man. 1827, 145.— Schinz, Syn. 1844, 340.— Gieb. Saug. 



1855, 780. 

 Viverra sarmatica, Shaiv, Gen. Zooi. i. 1800, 430 ("Sarmatia TVeesel "). 

 Fcetorius sarmaticus, Keys. (6 Blas.^Virh. Eur. 1840, 68, no. U2.—Blas. Wirb. Dents. 1857, 226, 

 Putorius sarmaticus. Griff. Cuv, E. A. v. 1827, 121, no. 3i3.— Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 



1843, 64; P. Z. S. 1865, 110; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 88. 

 Mustela pere^usna, Giild. N. Comm. Petrop. xiv. 1769, 441, pi. 10 (peregusina is also found). 

 Mustela prsecincta, Pzaczynski,mst.'S&t.To\. 1136, 328. 

 Vormela, Gesn. Quad. 1551, 768. 



Pereguzna, Perewiaska, PrzcMlaslia, Parjeiasta, Pall. Itin. I. c. 

 Tigeriltis, Gefleckte litis, German. 

 Sarmatier, Milll. Natnrs. Suppl. 1776, 33, 

 Perouasca, Buff. Hist, Nat. xv, 

 Putois de Pologue, Ouv.B.. A. i. 148. 

 Marte h ceiuture. Less. I. c. 



This remarkably distinct species is black, on the upper parts brown spotted 

 with yellow, the ears and a frontal band white. It inhabits Eastern Europe, 

 Poland, and Russia. 



