﻿112 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Meade-Waldo's 
  case, 
  though 
  the 
  gestation 
  is 
  only 
  a 
  

   matter 
  of 
  great 
  probability, 
  at 
  least 
  proves 
  unquestionably 
  that 
  

   Badgers 
  (of 
  both 
  sexes) 
  may 
  become 
  parents 
  by 
  the 
  time 
  they 
  

   are 
  about 
  thirteen 
  months 
  old 
  ; 
  and 
  therefore 
  that 
  in 
  such 
  cases 
  

   the 
  gestation 
  must 
  be 
  considerably 
  less 
  than 
  twelve 
  months. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Paterson 
  saw 
  an 
  undoubted 
  pairing 
  on 
  July 
  12th, 
  1898, 
  

   followed 
  by 
  a 
  birth 
  on 
  the 
  following 
  13th 
  February. 
  The 
  solitary 
  

   cub 
  was 
  apparently 
  premature, 
  but 
  at 
  any 
  rate 
  the 
  gestation 
  

   seems 
  proved 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  fact 
  seven, 
  and, 
  as 
  if 
  

   it 
  ought 
  to 
  have 
  been, 
  eight 
  months 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  subsequent 
  cases 
  

   in 
  Mr. 
  Paterson' 
  s 
  collection 
  were 
  probably 
  also 
  between 
  seven 
  

   and 
  eight 
  months. 
  

  

  We 
  are 
  justified, 
  I 
  think, 
  in 
  inferring 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  in 
  case 
  

   No. 
  6 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  born 
  the 
  following 
  season, 
  and 
  therefore 
  

   the 
  gestation 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  at 
  least 
  nine 
  months. 
  

  

  The 
  veteran 
  field-naturalist, 
  Capt. 
  Salvin, 
  wrote 
  in 
  ' 
  The 
  

   Zoologist,' 
  1877, 
  p. 
  251, 
  as 
  an 
  undoubted 
  fact 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  can 
  now 
  

   settle 
  that 
  vexed 
  question 
  — 
  the 
  gestation 
  of 
  these 
  curious 
  animals 
  

   — 
  for 
  this 
  Badger 
  has 
  gone 
  with 
  young 
  a 
  year 
  all 
  but 
  about 
  

   seventeen 
  days." 
  He 
  mentions 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  Badger 
  had 
  bred 
  

   the 
  previous 
  season 
  on 
  Feb. 
  27th, 
  and, 
  as 
  the 
  second 
  litter 
  was 
  

   born 
  on 
  Feb. 
  16th, 
  the 
  parents 
  must 
  have 
  paired 
  six 
  days 
  after 
  

   the 
  birth 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  litter. 
  

  

  The 
  cases 
  numbered 
  7, 
  8, 
  9, 
  10 
  may 
  fall 
  in 
  very 
  well 
  with 
  

   this 
  period, 
  while 
  in 
  No. 
  12 
  it 
  is 
  reasonable 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  

   Badger 
  had 
  been 
  captured 
  at 
  least 
  one 
  day 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  received 
  

   at 
  Kegent's 
  Park, 
  and 
  so 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  with 
  young 
  at 
  least 
  

   twelve 
  days 
  longer 
  than 
  Capt. 
  Salvin' 
  s 
  example. 
  

  

  No. 
  13 
  seems 
  to 
  agree 
  with 
  12, 
  and 
  then 
  the 
  interval 
  — 
  though 
  

   in 
  each 
  case 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  precise 
  dates, 
  and 
  therefore 
  there 
  

   is 
  a 
  possibility 
  of 
  (unintentional) 
  inaccuracy 
  — 
  grows 
  over 
  the 
  

   twelvemonth 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  instances 
  extend 
  to 
  fifteen 
  

   months, 
  and 
  even 
  over, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  last 
  case 
  has 
  dates, 
  it 
  carries 
  

   some 
  weight. 
  I 
  remember 
  the 
  man 
  when 
  I 
  was 
  at 
  Oxford, 
  and 
  

   purchased 
  my 
  first 
  pair 
  of 
  Badgers 
  from 
  him 
  in 
  June, 
  1871. 
  I 
  

   recollect 
  hearing 
  of 
  the 
  case 
  both 
  from 
  him 
  and 
  another 
  man, 
  

   but 
  that 
  of 
  course 
  does 
  not 
  prevent 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  error 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  date 
  when 
  he 
  had 
  acquired 
  the 
  female 
  Badger. 
  

  

  Whatever 
  Badgers 
  may 
  be 
  as 
  to 
  gestation, 
  the 
  available 
  

  

  