CARNIVORA. 347 



Polecat — Professor Alison, in his article on ' Instinct,' 

 in Todd's * Cyclopaedia of Anatomy,' quotes the following ac- 

 count from the * Magazine of Natural History ' (vol. iv., p. 

 206) touching a remarkable instinct manifested by polecats. 

 * I dug out five young polecats, comfortably embedded in 

 dry, withered grass ; and in a side hole, of proper dimen- 

 sions for such a larder, I picked out forty large frogs and 

 two toads, all alive, but merely capable of sprawling a little. 

 On examination, I found that the whole number, toads and 

 all, had been purposely and dexterously bitten through the 

 brain.' The analogy of this instinct to that which has 

 already been mentioned as having been much more re- 

 cently observed by M. Fabre in the sphex insect is 

 noteworthy. 



Ferret.- — I once kept a ferret as a domestic pet. He 

 was a very large specimen, and my sister taught him a 

 number of tricks, such as begging for food (which he did 

 quite as well and patiently as any terrier), leaping over 

 sticks, &c. He became a very affectionate animal, delight- 

 ing much in being petted, and following like a dog when 

 taken out for walk. He would, however, only follow those 

 persons whom he w^ell knew. That his memory was ex- 

 ceedingly good was shown by the fact that after an ab- 

 sence of many months, during w^hich he was never required 

 to beg, or to perform any of his tricks, he went through all 

 his paces perfectly the first time that we again tried him. 



I strongly suspect that ferrets dream, as I have fre- 

 quently seen them when fast asleep moving their noses and 

 twitching their claws as if in pursuit of rabbits. Another 

 fact I may mention as bearing on the intelligence of these 

 animals. On one occasion, while ferreting rabbits, I lost 

 the ferret about a mile away from home. Some days 

 afterwards the animal returned to his home. Similar cases 

 have been communicated to me by several sporting friends, 

 but certainly the return of a ferret under such circum- 

 stances is the exception, and not the rule". 



Wolverine. — Amazing tales are told concerning the 

 intelligence of this animal, which for the most part are 

 certainly exaggerations. Still there is no doubt that the 

 creature does display a degree of sagacious cunning unsur- 



