sii NATURAL HISTORY. 



A pair kept for the purpose of watching the changes of their fur, threw off their 

 winter dress during the first week in June ; the female a few days earher than the male. 

 Towards the end of September the brown fur of summer gradually became of an ash 

 colour, and by the middle of October was perfectly white : from that period it con- 

 tinued rapidly to increase in thickness until the end of November, when the last of the 

 two died, having lived in confinement nearly ten months. » 



The flesh of the young Fox is white, and well flavoured. Dr. Richardson says, 

 " Captain Franklin's party agreed with Hearne in comparing the flavour of a young 

 Arctic Fox to that of the American Hare." Captain Lyon considered it to " resemble 

 the flesh of the kid ;" whilst those of our party, who were the first to taste them, named 

 them " lambs," from their resemblance in flavour to very young lamb. The flesh of the 

 old Fox is by no means so palatable ; and the water it is boiled in becomes so acrid as 

 to excoriate the mouth and tongue. During our late expedition, they constituted one 

 of the principal luxuries of our table, and were always reserved for holidays and great 

 occasions. We ate them boiled — or more frequently after being parboiled, roasted in a 

 pitch kettle. 



They were taken by us in considerable numbers,^ and formed a valuable addition to 

 our provisions when meat was very scarce. 



The females are somewhat smaller than the males, and generally in poorer condition. 



The average weight of twenty males being 7 lb. 4 oz. ; of twenty females, 5 lb. 11 oz. 



Males. Females. 



Length from snout to insertion of tail . 22.4 inches . 21.8 inches 

 to end of vertebrae of tail .35 . 33.5 



Length of fur in each 2.7 inches beyond the vertebrae of the tail. 

 Length of the head measured with callipers 5.5 inches 



Mean length of the alimentary canal . . 86.7 

 of the intestinum ctecum . 4.5 



6.— CANIS LAGOPUS (Var. p. Fuligimsm). 



Canis Lagopus Fuliginosus. — Rich: Faun. Bor. Amer. — p. 89. 



This variety of the Arctic Fox is much more rare than the preceding, only three 

 individuals having been captured out of fifty of the pure white kind. Indeed in a. 



