140 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



Weasels ^ e come next to *^ e family of the Mustelidae 

 Otters and which includes Weasels, Otters and Badgers, which 

 Badgers. we ^g ^ t ^ e h ea( j s o f the three sub-families 

 into which it is divided. The first of these includes the 

 Pine Marten, occasionally found in Ireland and Scotland but more 

 commonly in different parts of Europe; the Sable, which belongs 

 to northern Europe and Asia; the American Sable, which 

 supplies the English market with hundreds of thousands of 

 skins annually; the Ermine or Stoat, still to be found in 

 Great-Britain and familiar in the northern parts of Europe, 

 Africa and America; the Weasel which has much the same 

 locale as the Ermine; the Ferret which hails from Africa and 

 which is cultivated in England for its use in the destruction 

 of vermin; and the Glutton (Gulo luscus) which is found 

 principally in North America. The Polecat is also a member 

 of this family. It is about seventeen inches long and in form 

 resembles the weasel. Its colour is deep chocolate. It 

 generally lives in the neighbourhood of houses on hares, 

 rabbits, and birds. When pinched for food it will also 

 catch and eat fish. It is remarkable for an insufferably 

 fetid odour. 



The WeaseL The weasel though thought by some to be 

 incapable of domestication has, like most other animals who 

 have had the chance, shown itself amenable to kindly treat- 

 ment Mdlie. de Laistre possessed one which she kept in 

 her chamber, dispelling its strong odours by perfumes. This 

 weasel displayed towards her extravagant evidence of affection. 

 "If the servant sets it at liberty before I am up in the 

 morning," she writes, " after a thousand gambols, it comes into 

 my bed, and reposes in my hand or on my bosom. If I 

 am up before it is let out, it will fly to me in raptufe, and 

 spend half an hour in caressing me. The curiosity of this 

 little pet is unbounded, for it is impossible to open a drawer 

 or box, without its roving through every part of it; if even 

 a piece of paper or a book is looked at, it will also examine 



