COMMOX WEES EL. 421 



quest of birds, field-mice, &c. It even attacks 

 young Rabbets and other animals of far superior 

 size to itself; but its chief prey, at least in this 

 country, seems to be the field-mouse, of which it 

 destroys great multitudes. From the extreme 

 flexibility of its body, and its wonderful activity, 

 it readily ascends the sides of walls, and by this 

 means pursues its prey into the most distant re- 

 tirements; and is a frequent inhabitant of barns 

 and granaries. The Weesel produces four or five 

 young at a time; preparing for them a bed of 

 moss, grass, &c. An instance is given by the Count 

 de Buffon of a Weesel's nest being found in the 

 carcase of a Wolf, which had been hung up near 

 a wood: the nest was made in the cavity of the 

 thorax. The Count de Buffon, in his first de- 

 scription of the Weesel, affirmed that it was a 

 perfectly untameable animal; but he afterwards 

 received very authentic accounts of Weesels which 

 had been so completely tamed as to exhibit every 

 mark of attachment to their benefactors, and to 

 be as familiar as a cat or lap-dog. An account 

 of this kind is given by one of his correspondents 

 in the 7th supplemental volume of his Natural 

 History, which amply confirms the truth of this ; 

 and, among other curious particulars, it is ob- 

 served, that, when asleep, the muscles of this 

 little animal are in a state of extreme flaccidity, 

 so that it may be taken up by the head, and 

 swung backwards and forwards, in the manner of 

 a pendulum, several times before it wakes. Ma- 

 demoiselle de Laistre, in a letter on this subject 



