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G U L O. 



eight inches, and from the trunk of the tail about 

 seven inches and a half. The tail has a covering of 

 long and thick hairs, which are of a reddish colour, 

 having a black tip. The hairs on the back, head, 

 and belly, are of the same colours, but of a much 

 liner and softer texture. The throat is whitish, marked 

 with black. Along the sides, from the shoulder to 

 the tail, is a broad band of ferruginous hue. It is to 

 be observed, however, that the animal varies con- 

 siderably in colour; and in consequence of this varia- 

 tion they have been multiplied into several species, 

 or at all events several varieties. Generally speak- 

 ing, those which inhabit the close forests are darker 

 in the colours than those which inhabit more open 

 places ; and this is what one would naturally be led 

 to expect from the fact that the upper part, which is 

 most exposed to the light, is generally paler than the 

 under. It seems also that in America they are upon 

 the whole paler in the colours than in Europe. This 

 may arise from the American forests not being in 

 general so close as those of northern Europe. But 

 in America they vary considerably, and there is little 

 doubt that the paler ones, which are known and de- 

 scribed under the name of Wolverine, are nothing 

 more than coloured varieties, to which the name of a 

 very ridiculous imaginary animal, invented by the 

 heralds, has been applied. 



The common glutton is an inhabitant of all the 

 arctic regions, Scandinavia, Canada, the northern 

 parts of the United States, and, probably, Siberia, 

 and the central and western parts of polar America. 

 But though an animal of the extreme north, and un- 

 known in any country considered as temperate, it 

 does not hybernate, but is on the alert, and feeds as 

 rapaciously during the winter as at any other time. 



The name glutton was originally applied to this 

 species in consequence of the voracity of its appe- 

 tite ; and though the old accounts of it are very 

 greatly, and even ludicrously, exaggerated, yet there 

 is no question that it can eat more, and probably more 

 frequently, than any other animal of its size. The 

 old stories went so far as to say that it sometimes 

 gorged itself until not the stomach, but the external 

 skin actually split open ; and that, to prevent this cata- 

 strophe, it used to rub itself between two close grow- 

 ing trees, and thereby both promote digestion, and 

 also get rid of the superabundant part of the food. 

 This, of course, is highly absurd ; because there is 

 no animal in a state of nature which takes its natural 

 food to a single ounce or atom beyond the quantity 

 at which that food ceases to be wholesome , and 

 though man. acting upon his own fallible propensities, 

 and not upon the pure instinct of nature, may some- 

 times die of surfeit, this is a case which is quite un- 

 known among the other animals. It is true that many 

 of those species which, from their own peculiar nature 

 and that of their food, are subjected to long periods 

 of abstinence, fall into a state of stupor after a hearty 

 meal ; but this is not disease ; and though the animal 

 is thereby rendered incapable of active exertion for a 

 time, it suffers no injury. In fact, after it has fed 

 heartily it has no use for exertion until it is again 

 hungry : and therefore it is a wise provision of nature 

 that it should at those times remain still, and not 

 alarm those animals upon which it feeds, and of which 

 it is not the destroyer but the regulator. 



The glutton is scarcely capable of catching any 

 animal by pursuit, and therefore its habits are those of 

 a Her in wait. Small mammalia and birds are under- 



stood to be its ordinary fare ; but in cases of emer- 

 gency, it can prey upon larger animals, upon the 

 different species of arctic deer, and even on the rein- 

 deer itself. Indeed, from its mode of attack, the size 

 and strength of its prey do not appear to be matters 

 of very material consequence. The glutton is, as we 

 have said, well adapted for climbing trees, and its 

 length and lowness, the extent of its feet, and the 

 sharpness of its claws, enable it to hold on upon a 

 branch, crouching so that it is not easily seen. The 

 deer and other animals usually have tracts or pas- 

 sages through the thick parts of the wild forest ; and 

 so prone are all animals which feed on vegetables to 

 follow in each other's footsteps, that sheep, horses, 

 and rabbits, and even mice, are road makers, although 

 the surface upon which they make the road, by suc- 

 cessively following each other, may be quite level 

 and uniform. The same instinct which leads the 

 glutton to prey upon those animals leads it to the 

 track along which they pass ; and, getting into a 

 branch which overhangs this track, it drops down on 

 the shoulders of the passing animal, where it keeps a 

 firm hold with its sharp claws, tearing and lacerating 

 all the while with its very formidable teeth, at that part 

 where the neck joins the shoulders. The pain pro- 

 duced induces the animal to set off at great speed, and 

 the excitement increases the discharge of blood from the 

 wounded part, so that, as is the case with the larger 

 prey of the lion, the strength and fleetness of the 

 animal contribute to its destruction ; and the glutton 

 continues in its place of attack until the prey tumble* 

 down completely exhausted, and incapable of making 

 any farther resistance. 



But notwithstanding the voracity of this animal, 

 and the stratagems to which it has recourse to com- 

 pensate its want of swiftness, the glutton is capable 

 of being tamed ; and instances are mentioned in which, 

 when properly fed, it has shown not only no disposi- 

 tion to ferocity, but seemed grateful for the food given 

 it and the attention paid it. We might expect this ; 

 for there is no animal more ferocious than the dog, 

 even in a semi-barbarous state. A tame one, which 

 was kept at Dresden, and exhibited as a performer of 

 tricks, would eat thirteen pounds of flesh in a day 

 without appearing to be satisfied. That which Buf- 

 fon possessed, on the contrary, consumed only four 

 pounds of meat daily ; and another, which belonged 

 to the Hudson's Bay Company, was contented with 

 the ordinary allowance of a mastiff dog. This is the 

 only species, at least the only well made out one, 

 which is met with in the arctic countries. 



GRISON (G. vittatus). This animal is a little larger 

 than the European weasel ; and it is the one which is 

 most remarkable for light colour on the upper, and 

 dark on the under side of the body. The upper part 

 of the body and tail are covered with hair alternately 

 annulated with black and white, but which, from the 

 mixture, produce a grey appearance, much in the 

 same way as grey is produced in the badgers. The 

 whole of the under part of the body and the inside of 

 the legs are black. A white line on each side of the 

 head passes above the eye to the ear, below which 

 the head is black, but above it is white. The ears, 

 which are of a white colour, are very small, and have 

 no produced lobe ; the tongue is rough ; the pupils of 

 the eyes are round, indicating a day preyer; and the 

 sides of the mouth are furnished with small musta- 

 chios. The fur is of two sorts, one short and woolly, 

 and concealed among the roots of the long silky hair, 



