THE WEASEL FAMILY 147 



range includes the most northern counties of Scotland. Outside 

 the British Islands the range of the common badger extends over 

 the greater part of Europe and Northern Asia. Mr. Lydekker 

 is of opinion that the Badger group originated in Asia, as the 

 remains of the genus Meles are found in early Pliocene deposits 

 in Persia, whereas in Europe the animal only dates from the 

 Pleistocene period. In all probability India was also the scene of 

 radiation of this group of the Mustelids, and from India through 

 Central Asia came the ancestors of the American badgers {Taxidea) 

 and the skunks. Other allies of the badgers are found in Africa, 

 but the greater number of genera and species of this group 

 inhabit Asia, temperate and tropical, at the present day. 



Although the badger must have been well known to all the 

 peoples speaking Aryan languages, it is not often mentioned by 

 Greek or Roman writers, and has a great diversity of names in 

 Aryan tongues. The Latin meles, or melis, may be connected 

 with the root mel = honey, and may have been given to it for its 

 love of the honeycomb. Or it may be related to an old Aryan 

 root mala, meaning dirty. The Greek taxos is obviously the 

 same as the German dachs. The old English name is brock, and 

 the commonness of the badger in earlier times is shown by the 

 frequency with which this word forms surnames of people and 

 names of places (Brockenhurst, Brockley, Brockenden, etc.). 

 Brock, curiously enough, is one of the few words of Celtic origin 

 in English. It is the name of the badger in Irish, Gaelic, and 

 Manx, becoming in Welsh and Cornish broch. This word is said 

 to be derived from a Celtic adjective meaning speckled or greyish. 

 The word " badger " is a puzzle to etymologists. Some think 

 it comes from the word " badge " (derived through Norman- 

 French from Low Latin), and was a nickname implying an 

 animal with a badge or stripe, referring to the black and white 

 coloration of the head. Others would derive it from another 

 Norman-French-Low-Latin word meaning " a stealer of corn," 

 as the badger was supposed to (and quite possibly does) rob the 

 harvest-fields when the corn is quite ripe. " Badger " in Middle 

 English meant a dealer in corn, and was derived through many 



