MAMMALS MARTINAE MUSTELA PENNANTII. 151 



Pekan of Buffon and Brisson, and The Fisher of Pennant. The description of Buffon was 

 published in 1765 and that of Pennant in 1771. Pennant gave an excellent description of 

 the Fisher in the Synopsis Quadrupedum, and also described the Pekan of Buffon, having 

 visited Paris and examined for himself the orginal specimen described, both by Buffon and 

 Brisson, as in the cabinet of Mr. Aubry, 1 without recognizing it as his Fisher weasel. 



The next question is as to the priority of date between the two names, canadensis and pennanti, 

 applied to the species of Buffon and Pennant. In comparing the works of Erxleben and 

 Schreber, we find that the Systema Regni Animalis of the former bears date of 1777, while the 

 text of vol. Ill of the Saugthiere of the latter is dated 1778. It may be that Schreber's woik 

 was published in parts, and that the one embracing the Fisher appeared prior to 1777, but there 

 is no proof of the fact, and resting on the evidence of the title pages, we must give precedence 

 to Erxleben. It is true that Erxleben quotes the plates of Schreber in various places, but these 

 may have been accessible to him before actual publication, and at any rate, the page of text 

 is not mentioned, as would have been done, if extant. The publication of the entire work of 

 Schreber extended from 1775 until long after the commencement of the present century. 



Confining our examination, then, to the names of Erxleben, we find on page 455 a description 

 of a Mustela canadensis? the synonymy of which includes both the Vison and Pekan of Brisson 

 and Buffon, or the mink and the fisher. The article, however, refers exclusively to the mink, 

 nor can it be construed in any other way. Erxleben quotes, indeed the plate 134 of Schreber, 

 which is copied from the figure of the Pekan given by Buffon, but he may well be pardoned for 

 not appreciating the difference between Buffon's figures of the Pekan and Vison. At any rate, 

 the description of Mustela canadensis applies only to the mink, and actually will take precedence 

 of the name vison if Brisson's authority be set aside. 



On page 470, however, Erxleben describes a Mustela pennantii, based on the Fisher weasel of 

 Pennant, about which there can be no mistake as to its applying to the subject of the present 

 article. 



1 NOTE. The following is a translation of Buffon's article : 



Lt Pekan. Similar in teeth, character, and color of hair and shape, to the (M.foina and marges), but the feet appear proportion 

 ally a little larger, and the legs longer, especially the anterior ones, as far as I can judge from a dried and stuffed skin. It seemed 

 to me, also, that the body of the Pekan was at least as long as in the above named species, for the stuffed skin measured a foot 

 and a half from snout to root of tail; the body of the tail measured ten inches, the hairs extending an inch beyond. 



The hair was compact and lustrous, with a very soft and full fur; the fur was ash colored from the base to near the tip, which 

 was gray, with some yellowish tints; the hair was colored like the under fur, except where it projected beyond; this portion was 

 gray and black, with some maroon tints; the points of the longest hairs were black. By this mixture the animal was variegated 

 with gray and yellow on the head, the neck, the shoulders, the upper part of the legs anteriorly, and the back. On the sides 

 of the body the gray predominated over the yellow, and the tips of the hairs produces an appearance of transverse black bands 

 on the neck. In certain light the black was more apparent than the gray on the rump. The lower part of the fore legs, the whola 

 of the hinder one?, the four feet, and the tail were black, mixed with brown; the breast and belly were mixed with yellow and 

 brown. There was some white between the fore legs on the chest, and between the hind legs on the belly. 



? Mustela canadensis. M. corpore fulvo-nigricante, pectore macula alba. 



Paullo minor Marte cui similis, longitudine 17 poll, caudae 7 poll. Auriculae subacutae. Totum corpus pilis splendentibus 

 saturate castaneis basi cinereis. Macula alba inter crura antica. Digiti tecti pilis densis supra et infra, cauda colore profundiore 

 ac corpus. 



