THE SABLE, 99 



the number of its teeth # : its mouth is adorned with 

 large whiskers ; and, like the rest of its species, it has 

 five claws on each foot. 



The skin of the sable is of a brownish black, and the 

 fur possesses the uncommon quality of lying perfectly 

 smooth, rub it which way you please ; and the darker 

 the colour, the more it is admired. This animal 

 seems to be peculiarly fond of shade, as it generally is 

 an inhabitant of the most impervious woods : it bound* 

 with agility from tree to tree, and always seeks its food 

 by night. 



The sable is a native of Siberia ; and very few are 

 to be met with in other parts of the world. The hunt- 

 ing this little lively animal generally falls to the lot of 

 condemned criminals, who are sent from Russia into 

 those wild extensive forests, and compelled to endure 

 the rigours of the clime, for the purpose of minister- 

 ing to the superfluities of the great. 



THE ICHNEUMON. 



The ichneumon, which some have injudiciously de- 

 nominated the Cat of Pharaoh, is one of the boldest 

 and most useful animals of the weasel kind ; and in 

 Egypt it is held in high estimation for the destruction 

 it makes amongst the crocodiles' eggs. The ichneumon 

 resembles the martin in size, though the hair is much 

 rougher, and of a grisly black ; others are streaked 

 with a mixture of colours, in the same manner as the 

 domestic cat. Rats, mice, birds, serpents, and li- 

 zards, all become the ichneumon's prey ; and the most 

 poisonous reptile it will undoubtedly attack, and it is 



The martin has thirty-eight teeth, hut the weasel only thirty-foW. 

 H 2 



