The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 1 5 3 



this tribe. The female is smaller than the male, 

 and is very prolific, bringing forth five and six 

 young ones at a birth. That they were very plentiful 

 formerly may be gathered from Sir John Richardson, 

 who records that upwards of a hundred thousand 

 skins were collected annually in the fur countries. 



We next come to the mink or minx otter (Pntorins 

 Vison) which is the only animal of the genus nutstcia 

 inhabiting the northern parts of America that can 

 be said to live in the water, and the name of 

 "fisher" could with much justice be transferred 

 from its present bearer to the mink. It has a long, 

 slender body, with a small depressed head, short 

 flat nose, small eyes which are placed far forward, 

 broad rounded ears covered with hair, very long 

 neck, and short stout legs. The feet and palms are 

 covered with hair even to the extremity of the nails; 

 and the tail, which is round and thick at the roots, 

 tapering towards the end, is covered with long 

 horizontal hairs, v\'hich give it a bushy appearance ; 

 there are two brown-coloured glands situated on 

 each side of the under surface of the tail, which 

 have a small cavity lined by a thin, white-wrinkled 

 membrane, and these cells contain a strong musky 

 fluid, the smell of which is rather disagreeable. 

 The coat is composed of two kinds of hair, upper 

 and under. The latter is soft and downy, and the 



