WEASEL KIND. 73 



has strength enough, during that season, to throw 

 off a warm coat of fur, which would but incom- 

 mode it, and continues for two or three months 

 in a state somewhat resembling the ordinary 

 quadrupeds of the milder climates. At the ap- 

 proach of winter, however, the cold increasing, 

 the coat of hair seems to thicken in proportion ; 

 from being coarse and short it lengthens and 

 grows finer, while multitudes of smaller hairs 

 grow up between the longer, thicken the coat, 

 and give it all that warmth and softness which 

 are so much valued in the furs of the northern 

 animals. 



It is no easy matter to account for this remark- 

 able warmth of the furs of northern quadrupeds, 

 or how they come to be furnished with such an 

 abundant covering. It is easy enough, indeed, 

 to say that nature fits them thus for the climate ; 

 and, like an indulgent mother, when she exposes 

 them to the rigour of an intemperate winter, 

 supplies them with a covering against its incle- 

 mency. But this is only flourishing: it is not 

 easy, I say, to tell how nature comes to furnish 

 them in this manner. A few particulars on this 

 subject are all that we yet know. It is observa- 

 ble among quadrupeds, as well as even among 

 the human species itself, that a thin sparing diet 

 is apt to produce hair : children that have been 

 ill fed, famished dogs and horses, are more hairy 

 than others whose food has been more plentiful. 

 This may, therefore, be one cause that the ani- 

 mals of the north, in winter, are more hairy than 

 those of the milder climates. At that season, the 



