THE BEAVER EATER. 



815 



correct, and this chimerical " child of the devil " becomes a re- 

 spectable member of the weasel family and its largest terrestrial 

 representative, known now to scientists as Gulo luscus, and pop- 

 ularly as the " wolverene " or " glutton." 



If the wolverene does not hibernate, but spends his winter 

 searching the woods for mere sustenance, the musteline propen- 

 sity for blood is, no doubt, the impulse which makes it the great 

 destroyer. Who has caught the weasel sleeping ? Trappers say 

 the martens run all day as well as all night ; and these traits are 



THE QUICKHATCH, OK WOLVERENE. 



quite pronounced in the glutton, while, also, the well-known 

 strength, pluck, and endurance of the weasels belong naturally 

 to it. 



The early name of " beaver eater " would therefore appear to 

 be much more appropriate than either of the terms now generally 

 used, for it has been shown that " glutton " is quite a misnomer, 

 and the other synonym, equally incorrect, has the additional dis- 

 advantage of uncertain orthography each of the following forms 

 being countenanced by good authority : wolf erin, wolferine, wolf- 

 erene, wolvering, wolverin, wolverine, wolveren, wolverene, wol- 

 verenne, and woolverene. 



