298 "jOLOQT. 



(Putorius erminea) is a little larger than the least weasel, 

 being 8-10 inches long; it is very fierce, and attacks larger 

 animals; it can be utilized as a ferret. The ermine, like the 

 northern hare, arctic fox, Hudson's Bay lemming, and other 

 animals, turns white in winter. This is usually attributed to 

 cold weather, but Dr. Merriam thinks the change of color, 

 which occurs suddenly, is due tosnow. If it were due to tem- 

 perature why should not all animals which are active in win- 

 ter change color; and if to snow, why should not the mink 

 change color as well as the ermine ? Still it may in those 

 animals which do change, have in the beginning turned 

 white as the result of the glare of the snow on the eye 

 and nervous system, the habit becoming inherited. Fishes 

 and other animals change their color to white as the result 

 of a change in the color of their surroundings. The 

 change in such cases is due to the influence of light or 

 darkness on the pigment or coloring matter of the skin or 

 feathers or hair. A sudden fall of snow early in winter 

 may cause an ermine to turn white within forty-eight 

 hours, while for some unknown reason other animals, such 

 as the mink, which are active through the winter, do not 

 change; in early spring the change of color to the brown 

 summer coat may also, as Dr. Merriam thinks, be due to 

 the disappearance of the snow. It appears also that in 

 Virginia and South Carolina, where there is either none or 

 little snow, though the cold may at times be severe, that 

 the ermine remains brown through the whole year. 



The mink {Putorius vison), larger than the weasel, being 

 15-18 inches in length, is amphibious, swimming and diving 

 after fish, while like the ermine it raids the poultry-yard. It 

 emits a fetid and nauseating fluid from two glands situated 

 at the base of the tail. It litters early in May in nests 

 placed in burrows or hollow logs, and well lined with 

 feathers, and sometimes, says Merriam, with the fur of 

 the female. It does not turn white in winter. 



The dog family (Caniclm) is represented by the fox, wolf, 

 and dog. The gray fox (Urocyon Virginianus), the corn,- 



