NoTtes And QUEfeits. 345 



causes Martens (Martes sylvatica) to vomit, though they cau digest a young 

 kitten. If Polecats are " allowed to get too low " (as remarked by Mr. 

 Cowley (p. 293), it is not surprising that they should go wrong, and get 

 foot-rot or anything else. In answer to Mr. Cowley's query, " What does 

 a wild Stoat or Polecat do when badly bitten by rats ? " I fancy their 

 unlimited access to damp earth must have a very healing tendency ; it 

 certainly has on human beings, and is the best ready remedy for wasp- 

 stings that I know of. I should like to ask the Editor where he obtained 

 his information about the period of gestation (p. 292). I am not aware 

 that it has been published anywhere. [See ' The Zoologist,' 1880, p. 397. 

 — Ed.] I have bred several litters in captivity, and my experience 

 seems to show that the young may be expected on the 40th day. 

 In captivity, at any rate, they pair in the daytime, remaining together 

 one hour and from ten to thirty minutes. One naturally has to 

 restrain one's curiosity when a birth takes place, and so reliable data are 

 not often to be had ; but in one case the mother carried her cubs, within a 

 few hours of their birth, from one bed-place to another. I saw three (out of 

 the four) thus carried, and they appeared to be naked, and nearly 2| in. 

 long in head and body, and tails nearly half an inch ; total length (say) about 

 2f in. But in a subsequent case, where a litter came to grief, the mother, 

 somewhere about 55 hours after the birth, brought a little corpse out of the 

 bed while I was watching her, and carefully buried it in some grass with 

 which the floor of the cage was strewed. The cub was still fresh, with a 

 little of the umbilical cord still remaining, and I do not know how long it 

 takes to disappear entirely. This cub measured : head f in., neck and 

 body 2Ji, tail fi ; total leugth 3£ in. It was covered with fine buffy- white 

 hair. Unquestionably these embryos would develop very rapidly, and 

 supposing the first lot mentioned were not more than 12 hours old, and this 

 one nearly 48, my observations may not have been far wrong. The following 

 is the summary of observations of the growth of a litter of cubs: — 21st 

 day. Rather over 6£ in. in total length, light slate-blue colour, whitish on 

 poll. 30th day. Came out of bed-box. The right eye of one or more just 

 beginning to open. 31st day. Out and about ; eyes opening. One Pole- 

 cat, though not disturbed, ate all her offspring except one, and finding, on 

 the 31st day,* that she had begun to devour the sole survivor, having made 

 a terrible gash in his throat, I removed him, and hand-reared him in the 

 house, where, though I had the opportunity of keeping him under close 

 observation, the unnatural conditions would perhaps slightly alter his rate 

 of development. This solitary cub (hereafter called " Snap" for shortness) 

 then measured about 10£ in. in total length, his right eyelid just showing an 

 inclination to split. 32nd day. Snap's right eye gradually opening, the left 

 just beginning. Of the other lot of cubs, one, if not all, could see with both 



* These numbers of course mean the age of the respective cubs, not the 

 same day of the year. 



