42 QUADRUPEDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



but are rather inclined to meet and encounter him. Nature, too, 

 seems to have given them the sense of smell in great perfection, 

 as is evident from their following the tracks of other animals, and 

 also that of the hunter who drags the bait after him. This ar- 

 rangement of the outer ear, is an adaptation to an inward sense, 

 if we may use the expression, an adaptation which shows design 

 and fitness in a manner worthy of our admiration. In the Hare, 

 we see a different arrangement. The meatus is directed back- 

 wards, and the difference of structure is no greater than the dif- 

 ference in the propensities of the tw T o animals ; the one advances 

 to the attack, the other flies for its life ; the one resists and bites 

 to its latest breath, the other, if it cannot escape by flight, scarce- 

 ly attempts to inflict a wound upon its pursuer. The one directs 

 its ear forwards to catch the distant sounds of its flying victim, 

 the other directs them backwards, that it may learn the progress 

 of the pursuer, that it may know whether it is safe to repose, or 

 whether its efforts to escape must be redoubled. 



The skin of the Marten is worth from ninety cents to one dol- 

 lar twelve and a half cents. The fur improves with the coldness 

 of the climate ; hence, the farther north the animal is obtained, 

 the more esteemed is the fur. It breeds in the spring, and the 

 female has from four to six young at a birth. 



Its northern range is stated by Richardson as about the sixty- 

 eighth degree of latitude. 



The Martens have been separated from the Weasels in conse- 

 quence of the difference which exists in their teeth, habits, length 

 of fur, and the more elongated form of the latter. The ears of 

 the Marten are larger, and more conspicuous ; their fur is longer, 

 and they have fewer teeth by two in each jaw. They seem to 

 form a connecting link between the Mustelidae and the Canidae. 



Genus Putorius. Cuv. 



Generic characters. Dental system ; incisors £ ; canines ^Et > 

 molars J=f ; = 34. Body elongated ; legs short ; toes united 

 by a membrane. 



