HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 241 



ANIMALS OF THE WEASEL KIND. 



THESE little, active, and enterprising animals 

 are particularly distinguished from other carnivor- 

 ous kinds by the length and slenderness of their 

 bodies, which are admirably adapted to their man- 

 ner of living, and methods of taking their prey. 

 They are so small and flexible, as to wind like 

 worms into very small crevices and openings; 

 whither they easily follow the little animals that 

 serve them for food. 



All the animals of this kind are furnished with 

 small glands, placed near the anus, from which an 

 unctuous matter continually exudes: the effluvium 

 of it is extremely offensive in the Polecat, Ferret, 

 Weasel, &c.; but in the Civet Cat, Martin, and 

 Pine Weasel, it is an agreeable perfume. They 

 are all equally marked for rapine and cruelty; they 

 subsist only by theft, and find their chief protection 

 in their minuteness. They are all, from the short- 

 ness of their legs, slow in pursuit; and make up 

 that deficiency by patience, assiduity and cunning. 



As their prey is precarious, they can live a long 

 time without food. When they fall in with plenty, 

 they immediately kill every thing within their 

 reach, before they begin to satisfy their appetite; 

 and always suck the blood of every animal they 

 kill, before they eat its flesh. 



These are the principal peculiarities common to 

 this kind; all the species of which have so striking 

 a resemblance to each other, that having seen one, 

 we may form a very just idea of the rest. The most 

 obvious difference consists in their size. We shall 

 therefore begin with the smallest of this numerous 

 class, and proceed gradually upwards to the largest. 



VOL. III. 2 H 



