550 



SGiujsrcu. 



[Vol. VI., No. 150. 



brilliant coloring, the grotesqueness of their form, 

 or their rarity. A rare species has the same 

 interest for a collector of natural objects as a rare 

 book for a bibliomaniac. Be its importance real 

 or nominal, its rarity recommends it, because men 

 tire of that with which they are familiar. 



The American ferret (Putorius nigripes, Au- 

 dubon and Bachman), of which we offer a repre- 

 sentation, is one of the least known of North 

 American mammals, and is but rarely met with 

 in collections. It was described by Audubon and 

 Bachman in 1851 from a single specimen, and a 

 quarter of a century passed before our knowledge 

 of the species was in any wise augmented. In 

 1874, Dr. Coues advertised his desire for specimens 

 in certain sporting papers, and was gratified to 

 receive for the Smithsonian institution several 

 examples from different localities. 



Since that time quite a number of specimens 



manni of Siberia. It seems very improbable, 

 however, that Hensel's view is correct. 



The specimen figured was obtained for the 

 Smithsonian institution by Capt. James GilHs, at 

 Cheyenne, Wyoming. The head and body measure 

 19 inches (following the curves) ; the tail, including 

 the terminal pencil, 5^ inches. F. W. True. 



A CLERGYMAN has just been committed to 

 prison in England for seven days as a penalty for 

 striking a constable. The assailant was coming 

 out of his house, when the policeman, who hap- 

 pened to be waiting to serve a summons, laid the 

 document on his arm. His reverence exclaimed, 

 ' ' You brute, how you did frighten me ! " and 

 struck the constable a violent blow in the face 

 with a candlestick. In commenting on this case, 

 the Lancet says that it should not be forgotten 



THE AMERICAN FERRET. 



have accumulated in the national museum and 

 some other establishments. 



Of the habits and distribution of the black- 

 footed ferret, we still know very little. The speci- 

 mens thus far recorded are from Texas, Kansas, 

 Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. The 

 species probably ranges over the greater part of 

 that section of the United States lying between 

 the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. 



The specimens of which the history is known 

 were taken from prairie-dog holes ; and Dr. Coues 

 states that about Fort Wallace, Kansas, the species 

 is said to be known as the ' prairie-dog hunter.' 

 Dr. Hayden found the remains of a prairie-dog in 

 the stomach of a ferret which he sent to the 

 Smithsonian institution. 



In his work upon the weasels, Dr. Coues estab- 

 lished a special sub-genus, Cynomyonax, for the 

 black-footed ferret, and in 1881 Hensel made the 

 species synonymous with the Putorius Evers- 



that in many instances the immediate effect of a 

 ' fright ' is to make the person startled strike out 

 with any thing at hand. Some persons are para- 

 lyzed by panic : others are instantly roused to 

 action in a w^ay that does not involve volition. 

 The blow is as much the result of the excitation 

 as the knee-jerk produced by striking the patellar 

 tendon, albeit the train of actions is more complex, 

 and involves the exercise of that co-ordinative 

 faculty which has been called the sub-conscious- 

 ness. In stumbling we make certain movements 

 with the feet, and clutch at any thing that may 

 be within reach in a manner designed to prevent 

 or minimize the effect of a fall. A good horseman 

 will, ' instinctively,' as we say, take such precau- 

 tions as will prevent his being hurt by a fall. The 

 will is not intentionally active in these processes. 

 The recognition of the danger, and the adoption of 

 suitable measures, seem to occupy too short a 

 time for thought. 



