NATURAL HISTORY. 231 



thing that conies in their way : they sleep the great- 

 est part of their time, without, however, being subject, 

 like the mountain-rat, or the dormouse, to a torpor 

 during the winter. Hence though they feed mode- 

 rately, they are always fat. 



They keep their hole exceedingly clean, nor are 

 they ever known to void their ordure in it : the male 

 is rarely to be found with the female. 



In summer she brings forth, and her usual number 

 is three or four at a birth ; these she feeds at first 

 with her milk, and afterwards with such petty prey as 

 she can surprise. She seizes young rabbits in the 

 warren, robs birds of their young, finds out where the 

 wild bees have laid up their honey, where field-mice, 

 lizards, serpents, and grass-hoppers, are to be met with, 

 and carries all to her expecting brood, which she fre- 

 quently brings forward to the mouth of her hole. 



These animals are naturally of a chilly tempera- 

 ment : such as are reared in a house seem never more 

 happy than when near a fire : they are likewise very 

 subject to the mange ; and, unless carefully washed, 

 the dogs that penetrate into their burrows are infected 

 with the same distemper. 



The hair of the badger is always filthy ; between 

 the anus and the tail there is an opening, which, 

 though it has no communication with any interior part, 

 and is hardly an inch deep, continually emits an oily 

 liquid : this the animal is fond of sucking. Its flesh 

 is not absolutely nauseous ; and of its skin are made 

 coarse furs, collars for dogs, trappings for horses, &c. 



