MAMMALS. 



677 



virus had been bitten by a rabid dog, or that possibly some derangement 

 of the odoriferous system had occasioned the disease. 



The wolverine, or glutton, well deserves the latter name, as well as its 

 Latin equivalent, gulo, even when we dismiss some of the extravagant 

 tales of the older writers on natural, or better on unnatural, history. Says 

 Dr. Coues : " Probably no youth's early conceptions of the glutton were 

 uncolorecl by romance; the general picture impressed upon the susceptible 

 mind of that period being that of a ravenous monster of insatiate vora- 

 city, matchless strength, and supernatural cunning, a terror to all beasts, 

 the bloodthirsty master of the forest. We cannot wonder at the quality 

 of the stream, when we turn to the fountain-head [Olaus Magnus, a.d. 



Fig. 520. — Weasel (Putorhis vulgaris), above; ermine (Putorius ermineus), below: both in summer dress. 



1562] of such gross exaggeration. We find it gravely stated that this 

 brute will feast upon the carcass of some large animal until its belly is 

 swollen as tight as a drum, and then get rid of its burden by squeezing 

 itself between two trees, in order that it may glut itself anew." In 

 reality, the wolverine is a strong animal, with an enormous appetite, and 

 besides, a spirit of wantonness scarcely exceeded in the whole animal king- 

 dom. It destroys more than it can eat, and then defiles the rest so that 

 scarcely a dog will eat it. It enjoys hiding things, and cases are reported 

 where they have plundered a camp or a settler's cabin and carried off and 

 hidden every movable thing — blankets, kettles, cans, knives, guns, etc. It 

 follows the trapper on his rounds, pulls the log-traps to pieces, and steals 

 the bait from behind. Their cunning makes it a difficult task to capture 



