INTRODUCTION OF THE RED FOX. 183 
warded with success upon another. By the bright glow of 
a wood -fire, illuminating the unhewn long walls, rough 
chinking, and shingle roof of a frontier cabin, the cold and 
bitter night being made doubly severe by the howling 
blasts that impetuously rush with angry noise through the 
disturbed trees, these narratives of perseverance and hard- 
ship form a pleasant way of passing the long wintry night. 
The cup goes round, the pipe is smoked, and the company, 
although illiterate and unpolished, possess one great qual- 
ity—sincerity. If they quaff your health or shake your 
hand, it is not an empty form, but one which emanates 
from genuine friendship and unselfish feelings. 
There are no distinct differences between the black and 
red fox excepting color, save it be that the fur of the for- 
mer is much finer; but this can satisfactorily be accounted 
for by his residence being always in much colder latitudes ; 
in fact, his chief resorts appear to be the intermediate space 
between the homes of the red and Arctic representatives. 
Nevertheless, I claim that he is of different species from 
either of the aforementioned. My reason I will state. 
The black fox has been known in North America since 
the first settlement of the country. We hear of one of the 
Indian chiefs presenting some of the earliest settlers with a 
skin of this species, as a mark of the high estimation placed 
on the white man’s friendship. Not so with the red fox of 
at least the eastern portion of the North American conti- 
nent. In searching over some old works among the admi- 
rable writings on natural history emanating from the pen 
of Postmaster-general Skinner, now dead many years, we 
learn that the red fox was introduced into the State of 
Maryland from England considerably over one hundred 
years ago. The importer was no other than the gallant 
and loyal old soldier, Colonel Guy Carlton, whose name so 
conspicuously appears associated in all the efforts made by 
