CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 35 



§ 105. All these animals have a disagreeable odor, 

 vhich proceeds from peculiar glands, and which is stronger 

 m summer than in winter. When irritated, their smell is 

 perceived at a considerable distance. 



§ 106. Weasels are found in all parts of the globe, but 

 always more abundantly in the northern latitude. Their 

 fur is of some value. 



§ 107. The principal species of the genus weasel, found 

 in the United States, are — 1. The Ermine Weasel; 2. 

 The Pine Marten ; 3. Pennant's Marten ; 4. The Mink ; 

 5. The Sable. 



§ 108. The Ermine Weasel (Mustek erminea) is almost 

 as large as a cat ; is brown in the summer, but in winter 

 white, and very abundant in the most northern parts of 

 America, as well as in Asia. Farther north it is called 

 Stoat. The white skins of this animal are readily sold 

 for from ten to fifteen dollars per hundred. 



5 109. The Pine Marten (Mustela Martes) is about 

 one foot and a half long, of a brilliant brown color over 

 the whole of the body, with the exception of the throat and 

 breast, which is yellow, and resides usually in the lofty 

 tops of pine-trees in the northern parts of America, Asia, 

 and Europe. 



§ 110. The beautiful fur of the Pine Marten comes 

 nearest that of the Sable, and is extensively used. The 

 Hudson's Bay Fur Company sold in one year 14,000 skins, 

 and the French sent from Canada 30,325 of them at the 

 same time. 



\ 111. Pennant's Marten (Mustela Pennanti) is two 

 feet long, without the tail, and of a blackish-brown color ; 

 found from Pennsylvania to the higher northern parts of 

 America. Its fur is much esteemed, and large numbers 

 of skins are exported from America to England. 



§ 112. This animal received its name from John Erx- 

 leben, Professor of Natural History at Gottingen, to im- 

 mortalize the name of Thomas Pennant, a distinguished 

 philosopher, and author of several works. 



§ 113. The Mink (Mustela Lutreola) is twenty inches 

 long, without the tail, of a chestnut-brown color ; lives on 

 the banks of streams from Carolina to Hudson's Bay, and 



