344 WEASELS. 
which signifies a Weasel. Their extremely long bodies and very short legs, together 
with the astonishing perfection of the muscular powers, give them the capability of 
winding their little bodies into the smallest possible crevices, and of waging successful 
battle with animals of twenty times their size and strength. 
There are many species which are known to be ranged under the banners of this 
family,-all of which are remarkable for their boldness and their ferocity, and many 
of which have gained much fame from their agility. Some of them, such as the badger 
and the ratels, are plantigrade in their manner of walking; ¢.e. they place the whole 
of the foot flat on the ground when they walk. Others, such as the stoats, polecats, 
and otters, are digitigrade, 7. e. they only place the tips of the toes on the ground in 
walking. Nearly all the Weasels are excellent climbers, beg able to run up the 
perpendicular trunks of trees with perfect ease, and to pervade the branches in search of 
their prey. They can also leap to a considerable distance; a circumstance which is 
worthy of notice, because their short legs would seem to be very httle adapted for such 
an accomplishment. 
In the engraving on page 343, the various British members of the Weasel tribe are 
depicted. 
In the foreground is seen a group of common Weasels, one of them emerging from a 
cleft in the earth, Just above them a stoat is represented as having killed a hare, 
and engaged in drinking the blood as it flows from the fatal wound. Another stoat 
is ascending the tree. On the branches of the tree several martens are crouching. In the 
river a pair of otters are engaged in the capture of their finny prey, and a badger is 
standing on the river-bank. 
The teeth of the Mustelide are eminently predaceous in their character: the canines 
being long, sharp, and slightly curved backwards, while the molars are studded with 
points and edges in a manner somewhat similar to those of the cat. 
Still, the teeth are not so exclusively carnivorous as those of the cats, as in the molar 
teeth there is a slight approach to the structure which permits vegetable-feeding animals 
to masticate their food. Although their outer sides are furnished with the sharp-cutting 
edges that distinguish the carnivorous from the herbivorous teeth, their inner sides are 
supplied with more or less rounded ridges, resembling in some degree the corresponding 
portions in the teeth of the vegetable- feeding animals. This modification of the erinding 
teeth is most conspicuous in the last molar tooth of the upper jaw, which presents a 
tolerably wide and smooth surface to the action of the teeth that meet it in the lower jaw, 
and causes the substances that are subjected to their action to be crushed, as by the 
molar teeth of vegetable-feeding animals, and not only to be cut or lacerated, as would 
be the case if the teeth were wholly of the carnivorous nature. 
The skull of every member of the Weasel tribe presents a peculiarity by which it 
may be distinguished, without much difficulty, from that of a feline or viverrine animal. 
The space between the orbit of the eye to the “ occipital foramen,” as the large aperture at 
the base of the skull is termed, is extremely large in proportion to the size of the skull 
itself, and gives to that portion of the structure a peculiar and characteristic aspect. The 
hinder portion of a Weasel’s skull appears to be so elongated, when compared with the 
similar portion of a cat or a genett, that there is but little difficulty in distinguishing 
them. 
In absolute size, they are not very formidable ; but their nature is so fierce, their 
habits so sanguinary, and their muscular powers so highly developed, that they are most 
dangerous neighbours to a farm or a poultry-yard ; and their courage is so determined, 
that when attacked they are no insignificant enemies even to man himself. They 
are nocturnal in their habits, passing the greater portion of the day in their darkened 
abodes, where they sleep away the unwelcome hours of light, and sally out in the evening 
for the purpose of procuring their nightly food. They are not, however, exclusively 
nocturnal, for it is a very common event to see a al or a Weasel engaged in the 
pursuit of its prey even during the brightest hours of the daylight ; but as a general 
fact, they do not leave their homes until the shades of evening begin to fall. 
The feet of the Weasels are furnished with five toes, and ave armed with sharp and 
