226 



MARTEN. 



United States, the coach came up upon a chinche 

 (or skunk, as it is called in North America), which 

 was endeavouring to creep through a fence. It was 

 unable to accomplish this before the coach came 

 close upon it, and so it discharged its artillery against 

 the driver. This artillery did not take effect on him, 

 but on a buxom American lass, who, occupying part 

 of the driver's seat, was between him and the animal, 

 and so completely did it pollute her clothes, that 

 they never could be used afterwards. Whether 

 Smith and his fellow-travellers were gallant enough 

 to sympathise with this Transatlantic beauty while 

 under the effects of this " untoward " accident, and 

 remain in the same vehicle with her, is not recorded ; 

 but if they did, it was of course done at no common 

 olfactory sacrifice. 



It is not a little remarkable, that the whole of this 

 tribe of animals are furnished with offensive odours 

 in proportion either to their sanguinary habits, or to 

 their inability to defend themselves by the ordinary 

 means of cleanly warfare among beasts. The inabi- 

 lity of defence appears to be the property with which 

 this offensive odour is most largely associated ; and 

 in the true martens, which are the most lively and 

 energetic animals of the whole, though the least dis- 

 posed to interfere with any other mammalia, the 

 odour, so far from being offensive, is agreeable ; and 

 in the viverridae, which, in their general characters, 

 /stand somewhere between the dogs and the hyenas, 

 the odorous secretion has a strong musky smell, and 

 as by many highly prized, and purchased at a consi- 

 derable price as a perfume. 



There is one animal which, in its teeth and in its 

 feet, bears a great resemblance to these mephitic 

 animals, but it is totally different in the snout, the 

 tail, and the general shape and covering of the body, 

 so that it forms, at all events, a separate genus, and 

 ought perhaps to be regarded as belonging to a tribe 

 quite distinct from that of the martens in any of the 

 three genera. We shall therefore describe it as such, 

 and without positively referring it to the family. 



THE TELAGON (Midaus meliceps). This is an 

 animal of the Oriental islands, and was made known 

 to Europeans by the researches instituted by Raffles 

 in Java, which revealed so many of the natural 

 wonders and peculiarities of these most singular and 

 productive countries. The first and best account we 

 have of it is in Dr. Horsfield's Zoological Researches 

 in Java, and therefore our notice may be most con- 

 -veniently, as well as usefully, given in his words. It 

 will be observed, that he calls it by a name some- 

 what different from that given to it by Cuvier, which 

 we have adopted, but it is the same animal. " The 

 Toledo," says Dr. Horsfield, " has a peculiar external 

 character and physiognomy. Although it generally 

 agrees .in size with the polecats of Europe and Ame- 

 rica, the circumstances which influence its appearance 

 are entirely different. The heavy form of the body, 

 as well as the head, gradually narrowed to an obtuse 

 point, call to mind the figure of a hog. The short- 

 ness and strength of the neck, and the manner of 

 walking, by placing the ^entire sole of the foot on the 

 ground, contribute further .to give the animal a slug- 

 gish appearance. The eyes are placed high in the 

 head, and ia their size and disposition have consider- 

 able resemblance to those of the hog ; the eyelids are 

 rigid, and well provided with eyebrows, consisting of 

 minute bristles ; the irides are of a dark colour, and 

 the pupil is circular ; the ears are nearly concealed 



by the hairy covering of the body ; but these organ* 

 are provided externally with an oblong concha, which 

 surrounds the posterior part, and, passing the lower 

 extremity of the meatus anditorius, forms a small 

 curve inwards. No whiskers are perceptible, but a 

 few straggling hairs arise from the upper lip. The 

 covering of the teledu is adapted to the cold region 

 which it inhabits. The fur is composed of long deli- 

 cate hairs, silky at the base, which are closely ar-. 

 ranged, and afford a warm coat to the body. On the 

 sides of the neck the hairs are lengihened, ami have 

 a curved direction upward and backward ; on the top 

 of the head, meeting from before and behind, they 

 form a small transverse crest, and on the abdomen 

 they are thinly disposed, and afford, in some parts, a 

 view of the naked skin. The colour of the hair is 

 blackish brown, more or less intense on every part of 

 the body, except the crown of the head, a streak \ 

 along the back and the extremity of the tail ; these 

 parts are white, with a slight tint of yellow ; the 

 mark on the head has a rhomboidal form, obtuse and 

 rounded anteriorly, and gradually attenuated as it 

 passes to the shoulders, where it unites with the/ 

 streak on the back ; in some individuals this streak is 

 interrupted. On the abdomen the brown is of -at 

 lighter hue, inclining to greyish or rufous. The cover- 

 ing is subject to several variations ; the tail is scarcely; 

 half an inch long, but the hairs covering it project 

 above an inch from the body ; the limbs are short. 

 and stout, and the feet agree in structure with those- 

 of the allied genera, being formed for the plantigrade- 

 manner of walking ; the claws are united at the base 

 by a thick membrane, which envelops this part as a 

 sheath ; those of the fore feet are nearly double the 

 size of those of the hind feet. In place of the pouches 

 and reservoirs of fetid fluids, with which several; 

 genera of this family are provided, the mydaus lias- 

 two glands of an oblong form, about one inch long, 

 and half an inch wide, near the extremity of the : 

 rectum ; they are placed opposite to each other, and 

 are individually furnished with an excretory duct 

 nearly half an inch long, which communicates with 

 the intestine. In the middle of each duct is a very 

 minute aperture, surrounded by a muscular ring, 

 somewhat swelled, which enables the animal at 

 pleasure to discharge or retain the fetid fluid sei-reted 

 by the glands. The ducts enter the rectum about 

 half an inch within the external aperture. The in- 

 ternal surface of these glands is covered with nume- 

 rous wrinkles disposed transversely ; the fluid se- 

 creted by them is perfectly analogous, in its odour, 

 to that secreted by several species of Mephitis striota. 

 of Fischer. Having experienced that of the latter, 

 which is known in most parts of North America by 

 the name of skunk, I readily recognised it in Java." 

 The distinctions between this animal and the me- 

 phitic animals of America are very striking. Its 

 muzzle is lengthened like that of the badger, and th 

 extremity is truncated and somewhat enlaraeii, so as 

 to bear a slight resemblance to the snout of the lioir. 

 This elongation of the jaws, without any increase of 

 the number of the teeth, or any enlargement of their 

 size, gives a ragged appearance to the month of the 

 animal, and indicates a corresponding feebleness in 

 its bite. The shortness of the tail is another re- 

 markable distinction, and so is the character of the 

 external covering. On the American animals the 

 hair, especially toward the hinder parts, is long and 

 soft, and that on the tails of the whole is very much 



