THE FERRET. 89 



closely confined."* Buffon denies that these animals ever breed 

 together, yet he has published a figure of what he calls lefutre 

 putois,-\ or fitch ferret, which, as Pennant observes, has much 

 the appearance of being the spurious offspring of such an inter- 

 mixture. Professor Bell says, he can obtain no authentic veri- 

 fication of the assertion that the breeders of ferrets have recourse 

 to the fitch to improve the breed ; but Mr. Yarrell assures me 

 that it is a fact, and that he has often seen ferrets whose coats 

 were, consequently, of a brown colour. Goldsmith speaks of 

 brown, blackish, and also parti -coloured ferrets. Mr. Blyth 

 says, that " the stoat and pine-marten, in confinement, have been 

 known to breed with the ferret, or domesticated fitch. "J 



Goldsmith says, the ferret has been known to attack and kill 

 children in the cradle ; and Mr. Jesse relates, that at Kingston 

 in Surrey, some years ago, a poor woman, having left her child 

 (about six months old) in a cradle, while she went to market, a 

 large ferret, which was formerly shy and gentle, made a ferocious 

 attack upon the helpless infant. The neighbours heard the 

 child's screams for more than half an hour; and it was not until 

 the return of the mother, that it was found almost killed. She 

 carried the child to a surgeon, who found that the face, neck, 

 and arms were dreadfully lacerated, the jugular vein and tem- 

 poral artery were opened, and the eyes greatly injured. Having 

 stopped the flow of blood, the surgeon accompanied the mother 

 to her home, on entering which, the child, somewhat recovering 

 from its exhausted state, began to cry, and in an instant the 

 ferret rushed from his hiding place, and with his head" erect, 

 boldly approached towards the infuriated parent, who still had 

 the infant in her arms. The surgeon kicked the ferret, but the 

 animal tried to seize his leg ; and not until his back was broken 

 by repeated kicks, did he discontinue his eager attempts to 

 renew his sanguinary feast; and, indeed, whilst in the agonies 

 of death, he seemed to make vain efforts to regain his prey. 



* British Zoology (1768), vol. i. p. 79. 



f Histoire Naturelle (1749), tome vii. tab. 25. 



J Mag. Nat. Hut. (1835), vol. viii. p. 199. 



