188 THE STOAT, OR ERMINE. 



in confinement, it would, on the approach of the 

 following winter, again take its white one. Some 

 tints of brown were soon observable amongst the 

 white hairs; and so early as the ninth of March, all 

 the upper parts of the face, the sides of the muzzle, 

 and the head, became of a reddish brown colour. 

 This colour also, in a short time, extended along 

 the neck, and the upper part of the body, as far as 

 the rump, in form of a longitudinal fillet or band, 

 about half an inch in width. Some of the same 

 colour then appeared on other parts of the face, 

 and on all the four legs. M. Daubenton observed 

 some little tufts of white hair adhering to the bot- 

 tom of a wire partition, under which the animal 

 had frequent occasion to pass. The friction of 

 the back of the Ermine against this, had stripped 

 off all the white hair on the ridge of the back, 

 and thus left the brownish fillet or band before 

 mentioned. On the seventeenth of March there 

 remained of the white hairs, only a few on the 

 muzzle, the head, the thighs, and the tail. By 

 the end of the month, the summer habit was in 

 every respect completed. 



In the ensuing autumn, M. Daubenton watched 

 the animal with great attention, to remark at what 

 time the first white hairs, announcing the winter's 

 change, would appear. But his hopes of a change 

 were entirely disappointed. The cage of the ani- 

 mal was kept in a sheltered but open place, and the 

 cold for a considerable while was very violent. 



Nevertheless, 



