GROUP OF THE MARTENS. 



The ermine knows no danger; it attacks even longer and more l.usl^- tail, and th.ir shorter 

 man, or at least otters an obstinate resistance legs, the toes of which! especially on the hind 

 to hmi. It It cannot consume its prey it licks feet, are united bv a web extendino- to the 

 up Its blood. The almost incredible boldness ' root of the short claMs. The ears are ^-erv 

 of this little animal is combined with much ' short, the muzzle rounded and blum. The 

 uid caution. Sometimes seA'eral 



cunnmg 



ermines unite in order to render each other 

 assistance in mastering a larger animal. 

 Since it is small the ermine is of use to the 

 farmer in destroying vermin ; if it were larger 

 it would be the most dangerous enemy man 

 had to fear. 



The wearing of the fur of the white ermine, 

 on which were fastened the black terminal 

 tufts of the tail, was formerh' regarded as a 

 prerogative of princes. Now this fur is verv 

 much out of fashion. The ermine is hunted i 

 in winter for its fur in northern lands, l^he 

 skins of our ermines are worth nothing. I 



The Weasel Proper [Piifoi-iits {Miisfda) 

 vulgaris), fig. 120, is still smaller than the i 

 previous species. The body is eight inches 

 in length, and the very short tail, which has 

 no tutt, scarcely two inches. The weasel is 

 of a chestnut-brown colour with a reddish 

 shimmer on the back, white underneath, and 

 does not change its colour in the winter. The 

 little creature advances no further north than 

 the south of Sweden, but on the other hand 

 makes its way much further south than the 

 ermine, and is found all alono; the northern 

 shores of the Mediterranean. Its life, its 

 habits, and its qualities are in no respect dif- 

 ferent from those of the ermine, only it attacks 

 smaller animals. Before the introduction of 

 the cat it was used by the ancient Greeks, 

 like the polecat, as a domestic animal for the 

 hunting; of mice. 



The Visons, which have been imited in a 

 sub-genus under the name of Lutreola, ap- 

 proach the polecats in their general organiza- 



anal glands, so highl\- dex'eloped in the pol 



pole- 





Fi^ 1^0 riiL \\eisel [I-iit nil luI^jus) 



cats, are not indeed altoQether wantinQ', but 

 are very unimportant. Onlv in cases of the 

 utmost need do the \"isons diftuse a \"ery dis- 

 agreeable smell. At other times their smell 

 is not indeed pleasant, but still no worse than 

 that of most other carni\-ores. 



The visons are a transitional torm between 

 the martens on the one hand and the otters 

 on the other, and the habits, practices, mode 

 of life, and kind of food correspond to this 



tion, but are distinguishable by the uniform : intermediate position between two otherwise 

 brown colour of their short, thick, glossy fur, ' well-defined types. The \'isons, in tact, live 

 by their stouter, although still rather long more in the water than on the land. Low- 

 body, by having a very large and massi^-e lying tracts oi land, marshes, thickets on the 

 tubercled tooth in the upper jaw, by their banks of ri\-ers, ri\-ers tliemseU'es, lakes, and 



