213 



THE BADGER AND WEASEL FAMILY. 



marking off of this numerous family, which 

 includes the greatest diversity of forms. 

 There are long and slender forms, like the 

 marten or weasel, which for this reason have 

 been called the "worm-shaped" Mustelida, 

 and in contrast to these, the plump compact 

 forms which approach the bears in their ex- 

 ternal aspect. While some are plantigrade 

 like the former family, others are digitigrade 

 or semi-plantigrade. Some have sharp more 

 or less retractile claws, while in others the 

 claws, though strong, are immovable. In 

 short we see in respect to the form of the 

 body and the structure of the feet almost as 

 many diversities as there are between the cat 

 tribe on the one hand and the bears on the 

 other. 



Equally varied is their mode of life. Some 

 are excellent swimmers, hunt only in the 

 water, and have all the qualities belonging to 

 diving animals; others range about over the 

 surface of the earth, and even make their 

 retreats in underground holes dug by them- 

 selves; others again lead an active aerial 

 sort of life, climbing on trees, and surpa.ssing 

 even the agile squirrels in dexterity and 

 rapidity of movement. If the weasels, pole- 

 cats, and beech-martens are true blood-suckers 

 which murder without mercy and so to speak 

 revel in massacre, others are rather peace- 

 able and timid animals, which feed chiefly on 

 plants, and appear to have their sharp teeth 

 only for defence. We thus observe in this 

 family a number of varied adaptations— more 

 diverse, indeed, than in any other group of the 

 Carnivora. 



One single character belongs to them all, 

 but it is developed in them in various degrees, 

 and it is one that they share with the Viverrida 

 and Hya;nida. It consists in the anal scent- 

 glands, or rather stink-glands. Though the 

 musk of the civet is used in perfumery, it 

 would never occur to any one to use the 

 secretion of the polecat in that way, and still 

 le.ss that of the .skunks. .So much the worse 

 for the beautiful furs. Even those derived 



from the animals which are the least obnoxious 

 in respect of their smell, require the most 

 assiduous labour to deprive them of their 

 offensive odour, while in the case of the skunk 

 all efforts are thrown away. 



The dentition of the Mustelida exhibits a 

 tolerable amount of diversity, but in all cases 

 we can recognize a well-defined general plan. 

 Both above and below there are six small 

 close-set incisors in the front of the mouth; 

 only in the sea-otter, which has no more than 

 four in the lower jaw, is this number reduced. 

 Very rarely is there any marked difference to 

 be observed between the outer and inner 

 pairs of these teeth, as is the case in the cat 

 tribe ; yet there are species which eat a great 

 deal of flesh, as, for instance, the ermine and 

 tayra, in which the outer pair in the upper 

 jaw become quite conical or even recurved. — 

 The canines are usually slender, thin, very 

 sharply pointed, but never have longitudinal 

 furrows or sharp edges as in the cat tribe. 

 The true molars are pretty constant in 

 number and form. There is always in the 

 upper jaw a single pretty thick transversely 

 placed tubercled tooth immediately behind 

 the carnassial, the tubercles usually four in 

 number, and sometimes rather pointed or 

 even sharp, sometimes blunted and flattened. 

 The two extremes in the series are formed, 

 on the one hand by the genus Lyncodon, a 

 weasel-like creature belonging to Patagonia, 

 in which this tooth is narrow and almost 

 sharp; and on the other hand by the sea- 

 otter, in which it is the largest of all, and has 

 the tubercles so blunted that it might be taken 

 as the tooth of a herbivorous animal. 



With a single exception the lower jaw has 

 two true molars, the first of which is the car- 

 nassial. Originally this latter tooth has three 

 sharp cusps, but the posterior cusp usually 

 gets worn away by the pressure of the 

 opposite carnassial in the upper jaw, so that 

 it often assumes the form of a hollow heel. 

 The tubercled tooth following the carnassial 

 is usually small and roundish with a rough 



