FITCHET OR FOUMART. 153 



the fourth almost equal. The eyes are small, with 

 the iris dark-brown ; the claws rather long, com- 

 pressed, arched, and of a greyish-yellow tint. The 

 under fur is very soft and woolly ; the pile long, and 

 rather coarse, but smooth and glossy. The general 

 colour is dark-brown; the long hairs brownish-black, 

 the under fur yellowish ; the lower parts of the neck 

 and body, with the feet and tail, darker than the 

 rest, the sides yellowish-brown ; the lips white, as 

 are the ears anteriorly and along the tip behind ; 

 and between the eye and the ear is a brownish-white 

 patch. In summer the fur becomes of a light brown- 

 ish-grey tint before it is shed; and in winter is 

 much finer and darker. The male is generally lighter 

 and more slender than the female. Two specimens 

 obtained in the autumn of 1836 measured as fol- 

 lows : Male. Length to end of tail 17 inches; head 

 2| ; tail, including hair, 7. Female. Length to end 

 of tail 17 inches; head 2| ; tail 8, of which the hair 

 was 1 J ; height at the shoulder only 4^. The anal 

 sac is usually represented as single ; but 1 find that 

 beneath the extremity of the rectum externally are 

 two sacs, containing a yellowish fetid substance of 

 the consistence of thick cream. 



The Foumart, which is possessed of great strength 

 and agility, generally takes up its residence in 

 woods and copses, or thickets on the sides of hills, 

 where it forms a burrow, or finds a retreat among 

 stones, or in a crevice of a rock, remaining quiet 

 during the day, and issuing forth towards evening. 

 When settled in the neighbourhood of a farm-yard, 



