172 U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



PUTORIUS KANEII, Baird. 



Kane's Ermine. 



Sp. CH. Length to tail, about 8 inches. Tail vertebra about one-sixth this length. Black of tail, one-half the total length. 

 In summer, brown above ; edge of upper lip whitish. In winter, white ; tail with black tip. 



Among the collections of the North Pacific and Behring's Straits Expedition is a weasel, 

 found in large numbers in the Tchucktchi country, which, though much smaller than the true 

 old world ermine, is jet a perfect miniature of it. If Putorius agilis and noveboracensis be 

 really distinct, the same law would hold good in regard to the specimen in question and the 

 large ermines. The feet are small, with the naked balls quite distinct. The tail is very short, 

 the vertebra? extending only about half an inch beyond the outstretched hind feet ; it is tipped 

 with long hairs, forming about two-fifths the total length, and more than half the vertebral 

 portion. The black tip on the under surface is fully half the total length of the tail. 



The fur is soft and fine ; above of a rather dark chestnut brown ; beneath, sulphur yellow ; 

 the under part of the head, and a wide margin to the upper jaw, are white. The feet are yel 

 lowish white, but there is no white about the ears. 



A winter specimen, 1458, from Semipalatinsk, Siberia, is very similar in size and the charac 

 ters of the tail. The black extends further on the tail. The whole remaining color is pure 

 white, with a sulphur tinge in places. 



Compared with summer specimens of the ermine from north Sweden, the size is much less ; 

 the tail perhaps a little longer, the terminal hairs shorter ; the black tip less extensive, occu 

 pying not more than half the total length, instead of nearly two-thirds. The end of the verte 

 bra? falls considerably in advance of the posterior third of the black tip, instead of considerably 

 behind it as in P. erminea. The winter specimen differs in about the same characters. 1 



The animal is about the size of the American P. mcognani, which it otherwise greatly resembles 

 and represents. The tail is, however, shorter, thicker, and the terminal hairs are longer ; the 

 black tip occupies, likewise, a larger portion of the tail. 



As the most Arctic mammal it may ever be my privilege to name, and especially as an ermine, 

 the emblem of spotless purity and integrity, I propose to call it after Dr. Kane, the devoted 

 martyr to the cause of science and humanity, and thus impose upon it an appellation which 

 will be understood and appreciated in whatever portion of the world this description may be 

 read. If Bonaparte were justified in calling an American animal after an Italian patriot, surely 

 we may be pardoned for commemorating in a similar manner one who in hie life combined the 

 highest attributes of the hero, the patriot, the scholar, the Christian gentleman, and the devoted 

 relative and friend ; one whose memory will ever be fresh in the hearts of his countrymen 

 himself by acclamation a citizen of the world. 



The following proportional measurements will illustrate the relation between this species and 

 the P. erminea. 



1 For purposes of comparison with this and other species, I give the following diagnosis of the European ermine : 

 P. erminea. Length to tail about ten" inches. Tail vertebras about ono-fifth this length. Black of tail two-thirds its total 

 length. Terminal caudal hairs very long. Above, olivaceous brown. In winter, white. Tail with long black tip. 



