47 



Mr. Gibson, author of the " Complete American Trapper," states that the 

 nest is in the burrow, and the young are three or four in number. 



Richardson, in speaking of its hibernation from November to April, in 

 British America, states that, like bears, the animals do not lose flesh 

 during the winter, but come out fat in the spring; he adds that, as they ' 

 pair at once, they soon become lean. 



The Badger yields a valuable, and at times, a fashionable fur; it is 

 used for robes, muffs, tippets and trimmings. 



The London sales of Badger skins in 1873 were 2,700, bringing from 

 one to seven shillings, averaging 1 s. 6 d. 'in 1876, they sold in this 

 country for from $1 for best, to fifty cents for " seconds " and ten cents for 

 " thirds." 



Thousands of shaving brushes are made from the long hairs ; tbey are 

 also used for artist's brushes ; one is known as the " Badger blender." 

 " The fur," says Audubon, speaking of his tamed specimen, "had become, 

 by the mont h of February, the most effectual protection against the cold 

 that can well be imagined. 



The coloration is not striking, but the intimate blending of gray, 

 tawny, black and white is pleasing. The general tone, however, is a 

 grizzled gray, from which arises the common expression, " as gray as a 

 badger." The flesh is eatable ; so is that of the skunk, but heither are 

 inviting, scarcely palatable. 



Genus Mephitis. (Cuvier.) 



Etymology: Lat. Mephitis, a foul or noxious exhalation. 

 X Viverra S])., of early authors. 



< Mephitis, Cuvier, "Le§ons d* Anat., i, 1800" (coextensive with the sub- 



family), and of authors generally. — Baird, M. N. A., 1857, 191. 



< Chincha, Less., Nouv. Tab. R. An., 1842. 



> Spilogalc, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1865, 150. Type, S. interrupta=M. 



putorius. 



> Mephitis, Gill, Arrang. Fam. Mamm., 1872, 66. 



Generic Characters. — Teeth 34; pm. ~; end of muzzle truncate verti- 

 cally; palate ending about opposite last molar; coronoid process of jaw 

 conical, erect, its fore and hind borders converging to a vertical apex, 

 in advance of condyle; angle of mandible not exflected; nostrils lat- 

 eral ; tail very long and bushy ; soles comparatively narrow, hairy, at 

 least in part; body elongated; snout prominent, not depressed. 



The Skunks are terrestrial animals, closely related to the Badgers in 

 external conformation ; the walk is plantigrade ; the habits more or less 

 fossorial ; the fore-claws are large, straight, and well fitted for digging. 

 The Skunks neither climb nor swim; they are slow and lumbering; 



