JAPANESE BADGER. 137 



about 11^ feet long, i.e., rather smaller than the European 

 species. The value of a skm is about Is. to 2s., and very 

 few are imported, but are sometimes used by furriers. 

 It is also called the Sand-Badger. 



SKUNK. 



Mepldtis mephitica. 

 French : Skunk. German : Skunk. 



The Skunk is perhaps better known for the very 

 pungent and powerful fluid it exudes than for its rich 

 black fur, which is of the finest natural black, almost 

 rivalling the Eussian Sable in appearance and depth of 

 colour. If it were not for this powerful scent, which is 

 not entirely got rid of even in the manufactured state, 

 it would be a very valuable fur. This secretion is said 

 by anatomists to be seated in the anus. The Skunk 

 ejects this fluid when excited or attacked, and when 

 pursued, squirts it into the faces of its enemies, almost 

 blinding them. When a garment is tainted with it, it 

 is quite valueless. Even when a train has run over a 

 Skunk, it is placed in a siding for cleansing. This 

 secretion is said to be especially efficient as a cure for 

 rheumatism, but the patient has often more cause to 

 complain of the scent of the remedy than of the pain 

 which it relieves. 



The general colour of the Skunk varies from jet black 

 to almost pure white. The black examples have a white 

 mark, line, or incipient fork on the head, and a white 

 tip to the tail. An absolutely white animal is almost as 

 rare as a perfectly black one. The intermediate sorts 

 are black with white striped, more or less pronounced, 



