208 A COURSE ON ZOOLOGY. 



the former is white. Weasels are very destructive to 

 poultry. The sable is found in Siberia, and is cele- 

 brated for the beauty of its fur, which is a dark chest- 

 nut, exceedingly fine, and lying smoothly in either 

 direction. The skunk is an American animal, about as 

 large as a common cat ; its fur is almost black, more or 

 less mixed with white. It is sold as Alaska sable. The 

 skunk has a peculiar means of defence and offence : it 

 has in the groin a pair of sacs with muscular walls, and 

 these sacs secrete a fluid of most disgusting odor, that 

 the animal can project upon its enemies or annoyers, 

 putting them to instant flight. 



FIG. 133. 



SKUNK. 



The badgers walk on the whole sole of the foot, and 

 not on the forepart of it, thus differing from the pre- 

 ceding species ; they were, therefore, once classified with 

 the bears as plantigrade carnivora, while the other fam- 

 ilies were called digitigrade ; but this classification 

 brought together so many unrelated species, and sepa- 

 rated so many others which are evidently very similar, 

 that it has been abandoned, though we may use the 



