THE TEUCW. 



163 



Another genus* has the hotly elongated :md atvhrd; ilie toes i^paratttd, and armed with long 

 rl.-nvs, the anterior proper for burrowing ; the tail long and very bushy, or entirely wanting, and the 

 anal glands secreting a fetid odour. We give a specimen. 



THE HUDSON'S BAY SKUNK.f 



THIS animal is low on its legs, with a broad, fleshy body. It has a white forehead ; the eyes are small, 

 and the ears short and round. A narrow white mesial line runs from the tip of the nose to the occiput, 

 where it dilates into a broad white mark. It is again narrowed, and continues so until it passes the 



THE HUDSON'S HAY SKINK. 



shoulders, where it forks, the branches running along the sides, and becoming much broader as they 

 recede from each other. They approach posteriorly, and unite on the ramp, becoming at the same, 

 time narrower. In some few specimens the white stripes do not unite behind, but disappear on the 

 flanks. The black dorsal line included by the stripes is egg-shaped, the narrow end of which is towards 

 the shoulders. The sides of the head and all the under parts are black. The hair on the body is long. 

 The tail is covered with very long hair, and has generally two 

 broad longitudinal white stripes above, on a black ground. 

 Sometimes the colours of the tail are irregularly mixed ; its 

 under surface is black. The claws on the fore feet are very 

 strong and long, being fitted for digging. 



Sir John Richardson, to whom we are indebted for our 

 acquaintance with this animal, says that the noisome fluid which 

 it discharges is of a deep yellow colour ; and that the stench is so 

 durable, that the spot where a skunk has been killed will retain 

 the taint for many days. We give a head of the skunk of Chili. 



In a third genus* we find an animal of whom marvellous 

 accounts have been given, setting forth its cruel and destructive 

 powers, its inordinate voracity, and the means it adopts for filling 

 itself till it is ready to burst, and for getting rid of the load it has swallowed. Of these tales Olaus 

 Magnus appears to have been the source ; and he has been followed by BufFon, Ysbrandt, and other 

 too credulous writers. We pass from these to (lie most trustworthy authorities. 



SKl'XK OF (1111,1. 



' Mrphitis. 



f- Mephitis Americana. 



Gulu. 



