FOXES. 147 



drcii huddled into one corner, and the fox (who was 

 taken alive) grinning at them. 



In all ages of fable the fox has been the principal 

 hero. The most ancient fables on record, those of 

 Lokman the Arabian, from whom JEsop took most of 

 his, gives him a very conspicuous place among the crafty 

 courtiers of the lion. The chief phrase of which the 

 wily flatterer makes use, as he bows with affected 

 humility to his sovereign, is, c Oh, Father of Beauty,' 

 by which indirect compliment he generally gains his 

 wishes. The early German writers have also chosen 

 him as the principal hero of various histories ; and the 

 poem of ' Reynard the Fox ' will live as long as printers 

 and illustrators exercise their art and talent. 



The Arctic Fox is smaller than ours ; even the sole? 

 of his feet are covered with fur, like those of the hare, 

 and he is altogether more thickly clothed. He has 

 often been supposed to be pied in colour, but this is 

 only in process of turning to the hue of winter. He is 

 in these climates a much more gregarious animal, and 

 several families live in the same earth. Bishop Heber 

 mentions one in India, which feeds chiefly on field-mice 

 and white ants ; and this probably is the species of 

 which the natives say that he can turn nine times 

 within the space of his own length. He is about half 

 the size of the European. 



Much valuable fur is derived both from European 

 and American foxes, where there is a great variety of 

 colour, not depending on temperature. 



In Ireland there is a small animal called a fox which 

 does not eat flesh, but contents itself with vegetable, 

 and is so perfectly harmless that it roams about un- 

 molested even by dogs. 



