Weasels ] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



247 



permitting them to come and partake of its repast ; 

 and it was only after having inspired them with the 

 greatest security, that it would seize a fowl and tear 

 it to pieces. Some young eats have experienced 

 from it the same sort of treatment."' 



ADDITIONS TO THE VIVERRID^E. 

 1116.— This Skunk 



(Mephitis Arneiicana, Sahine). We need add no- 

 thing to our previous account of this species, so 

 celebrated for its disgusting odour ; and respecting 

 which Audubon, in his ' Ornithological Biography ' 

 (p. 310), gives, under the name of "Polecat," an 

 amusing narrative, proving how long wearing ap- 

 parel tainted with the odorous secretion preserves, 

 spite of every attempt to remove it, the overpower- 

 ing effluvium. Fig. 1117 represents the dentition of 

 the genus Mephitis ; Fig. 1118. the incisors and ca- 

 nines. Fig, 1119 represents the head of another 

 species of the present genus (Mephitis dimidiata). 

 1120.— The Teledtj 



(Mydmts meliceps, F. Cuv.). In '.Java and Sumatra 

 the Teledu holds the place of the skunks in America ; 

 and may be regarded as representing them: it 

 agrees with them in dentition and general habits, 

 and the secretion of a fluid unsupportably disgusting. 



The teledu is considerably less than a badger in 

 size ; the ears are close and scarcely apparent (see 

 the head of the Teledu, Fig. 1121) ; the head is co- 

 nical, and the snout gristly at the tip and almost 

 destitute of hair. The feet are remarkably strong, 

 the toes, five in number, being united as far as the 

 last joint, and armed with enormous claws, espe- 

 cially those of the fore-feet. The hair of the body is 

 coarse, and rises to a peak on the occiput, that 

 covering the neck being directed forwards. The 

 general colour is deep brown ; a white stripe, begin- 

 ning broad on the top of the head and back of the 

 neck, runs along the spine, and includes the short 

 tuft-like tail. The teledu is slow in its motions, 

 and lives in burrows which it excavates in the 

 earth. Notwithstanding its offensive odour, it is 

 eagerly sought for by the natives who prize its flesh 

 as food, which, if the animal be surprised and sud- 

 denly dispatched, is almost entirely free from any 

 offensive taint. The following interesting account 

 of this animal is from the pen of Dr. Horsfield, who 

 investigated its native regions. "The mydaus me- 

 liceps presents a singular fact in its geographical 

 distribution. It is confined exclusively to those 

 mountains which have an elevation of more than 

 7000 feet above the level of the ocean ; on these it 

 occurs with the same regularity as many plants. 

 The long extended surface of Java, abounding with 

 conical points which exceed this elevation, affords 

 many places favourable for its resort. On ascending 

 these mountains, the traveller scarcely fails to meet 

 with our animal, which, from its peculiarities, is 

 universally known to the inhabitants of these ele- 

 vated tracts, while to those of the plains it is as 

 strange as an animal from a foreign country. A 

 traveller would inquire in vain for the teledu at 

 Batavia, Samarang, or Surabaya. In my visits to 

 the mountain districts I have uniformly met with it, 

 and, as far as the information of the natives can be 

 relied on, it is found on all the mountains. It is, 

 however, more abundant, on those which, after 

 reaching a certain elevation, consist of numerous 

 connected horizontal ridges, than on those which 

 terminate in a defined conical peak. Of the former 

 description are the mountain Prahu, and the Tengger 

 Hills, which are both distinctly indicated in Sir 

 Stamford Raffles's map of Java. It was less common 

 on the mountain Gede, south of Batavia ; on the 

 mountain Ungarang, south of Samarang; and on 

 the mountain Tjen, at the farthest extremity ; but 

 I traced its range through the whole island. 



" Most of these mountain-ridges furnish tracts of 

 considerable extent, fitted for the cultivation of 

 wheat and other European grains. Certain extra- 

 tropical fruits are likewise raised with success ; 

 peaches and strawberries grow in considerable 

 abundance, and the common culinary vegetables of 

 Europe are cultivated to a great extent." To most. 

 Europeans and Chinese a residence in these elevated 

 regions is extremely desirable ; and even the na- 

 tives, who in general dislike its cold atmosphere, 

 are attracted by the fertility of the soil, and find it 

 an advantage to establish villages and clear the 

 grounds for culture. 



" Potatoes, cabbages, and many other culinary 

 vegetables are extensively raised, as the entire supply 

 of "the plains on these articles depends on these ele- 

 vated districts. Extensive plantations of wheat and 

 other European grains, as well as of tobacco, are 

 here found, where rice, the universal product of the 

 plains, refuses to grow. These grounds and planta- 

 tions are laid out in the deep vegetable mould 

 where the Teledu holds its rans:e as the most 

 ancient inhabitant of the soil. In its rambles in ' 

 search of food this animal frequently enters the 



plantations, and destroys the roots of young plants, 

 in this manner it causes extensive injury ; and on 

 the Tengger Hills particularly, -where these planta- 

 tions are more extensive than in other cultivated 

 tracts, its visits are much dreaded by the inhabi- 

 tants. It burrows in the earth with its nose, in the 

 same manner as hogs, and in traversing the hills its 

 nocturnal toils are observed in the morning in small 

 ridges of mould recently turned up. 



" The. Mydaus forms its dwelling at aslight depth 

 beneath the surface, in the black mould, with con- 

 siderable ingenuity. Having selected a spot de- 

 fended above by the roots of a large tree, it con- 

 structs a cell or chamber of a globular form, having 

 a diameter of several feet, the sides of which it makes 

 perfectly smooth and regular ; this it provides with 

 a subterranean conduit or avenue, about six feet in 

 length, the external entrance to which it conceals 

 with twigs and dry leaves. During the day it re- 

 mains concealed like a badger in its hole ; at night it 

 proceeds in search of its food, which consists of 

 insects and their larvae, and worms of every kind. 

 It is particularly fond of the common Lumbrici, or 

 earth-worms, which abound in the fertile mould. 

 The Teledu, agreeably to the information of the 

 natives, lives in pairs, and the female produces two 

 or three young at a birth." 



When taken young, the Teledu is easily tamed, 

 and perfectly inoffensive. 



Fisr. 1122 represents the skull of the Teledu. 

 Fig.1123, the teeth of the upper jaw ; Fig. 1124, the 

 teeth of the lower jaw. The molars it will be seen 

 consist, in the upper jaw on each side, of two false — 

 a pointed carnassiere, and a large and nearly square 

 tuberculous molar ; in the lower jaw, of three false 

 molars, a large carnassiere, and a very small tuber- 

 culous posterior molar. Incisors and canines as 

 usual. 



1125.— The Ferret 



(Mustela Furo) ; Putorius Furo, Cuv. Already 

 described. 



1126.— The Weasel 

 (Mustela vulgaris) ; Putorius vulgaris, Cuv. We 

 need not enlarge our account of this animal, of 

 which the habits are well known. 



1127, 1128.— The Ermixe 

 (Mustela Erminea); Putorius Erminea, Cuv. Fig. 

 1127 represents this animal in its summer dress ; 

 Fig. 1128 exhibits, in its winter livery of snowy white, 

 the tip of the tail remaining black, — a beautiful con- 

 trast. In this stage it is the ermine of the furriers. 

 1129.— The Polecat 



(Mustela Putorius), Putorius communis, Cuv. This 

 species forms the type of Cuvier's genus Putorius, 

 which he has, we think without sufficient reason, 

 exchanged for that of Mustela ; while on the con- 

 trary he has assigned the term Mustela as the sub- 

 generic name of the Martens, to which Ray had 

 long since given the more appropriate name of 

 Martes. The latter name is adopted by Mr. Bell in 

 his * British Quadrupeds,' who takes no notice of 

 Putorius as applied to the polecats and weasels by 

 Cuvier. A needless alteration of names is ever to 

 be avoided by the naturalist, as tending not to sim- 

 plicity and knowledge, but confusion and doubt. 



1130.— The Pine Marten 

 (Martes Abietum). The principal differences be- 

 tween this and the Beech Marten consist, according 

 to Mr. Bell, " in the greater length of the legs, and 

 the smaller head of the Pine Marten ; its fur, too, 

 is more abundant, of a finer and softer texture, and 

 of a richer colour ; and is consequently more 

 highly valued, though it is not nearly equal to that 

 of the sable." 



1131. — The Beech Marten 



(Martes Fagorum). This is the most common of the 

 two species in our country, excepting in certain dis- 

 tricts. We are not quite sure that they are not mere 

 varieties of each other. 



Fig. 1132 represents the dentition of Mustela 



(Putorius, Cuvier), which is as follows : — Incisors,-; 



1—1 r1 , 2—2 ., 1— I 

 canines, ; lalse molars, : carnassiere, • 



i—i '3—3' i— r 



, i 1 — 1 trilobed 



tubercular molar, - — . ; a represents the 



1 — 1 minute 

 teeth of both jaws together. 



Fig. 1133 represents the dentition of the genus 

 Martes, whieh chiefly differs in the false molars 



3-3 

 which stand - — - : a shows the teeth of both jaws 



together. 



ADDITIONS TO THE RODENTIA. 



1 134. — The Short-tailed Field-mouse 

 (Arvicola agrestis). Campagnol, Buffon : Arvicola 

 arvalis, Selys-Longchamps. The short-tailed field- 



|| mouse (or Field-vole of Bell) is one of those Rodentia 

 from which we often receive extensive injury, prov- 

 ing how necessary it is that, in order to keep their 

 numbers within clue bounds, an incessant warfare 

 be maintained against them, —a warfare to which 

 birds and beasts of prey are appointed. 



This species is a native of the greater part of 

 Europe, and is common in our island, where its de- 

 predations (and in France and other parts of the 

 Continent the same may be said) have rendered it 

 notorious. It is exclusively a tenant of woods, 

 plantations, corn-fields, and meadows ; and not un- 

 fiequently appears in enormous multitudes. Often 

 is the farmer disappointed of his crop of wheat, the 

 newly-sown grain having been all rooted up and 

 devoured by an army of these "wee cowerin creepit 

 timorous beasties," formidable not from their indivi- 

 dual size, but their numbers. Whole plantations of 

 young trees have in like manner been destroyed, the 

 root, of every sapling being eaten, or the bottom of 

 the stem barked round. In the years 1813 and 1814 

 the ravages of these animals in the New Forest and 

 the Forest of Dean were so great, as to create an 

 alarm lest the whole of the young trees in those ex- 

 tensive woods should be destroyed by them. In the 

 first vol. of the ' Zool. Journal' is a letter from Lord 

 Glenbervie to Sir Joseph Banks, entering into a 

 detailed account -of the devastations committed. 

 Mr. Jesse, in his' Gleanings,' referring to the planta- 

 tions in these forests, says, that soon after their for- 

 mation, " a sudden and rapid increase of mice took 

 place in them, which threatened the destruction of 

 the whole of the young plants: vast numbers of 

 these were killed, the mice having eaten through 

 the roots of five-year-old oaks and chestnuts, gene- 

 rally just below the surface of the ground. Hollies 

 also, which were five or six feet high, were barked 

 round the bottom, and in some instances the mice 

 had crawled up the tree and were seen feeding on 

 the bark of the upper branches. In the reports 

 made to government on the subject, it appeared 

 that the roots had been eaten through wherever 

 they obstructed the runs of the mice." 



Various plans were adopted for their destruction ; 

 and in holes dug purposely to entrap them, in the 

 Dean Forest alone, 30,000 mice were caught in about 

 three months, and a much greater number destroyed 

 by stoats, weasels, kites, hawks, owls, crows, &c, 

 and also by cats purposely turned out. In the New ' 

 Forest about the same number were also destroyed, : 

 and it was calculated that the total destruction, in- ■ 

 eluding those caught in pits and traps, and those 

 killed by other animals, and by their own species 

 (for when their food fell short they attacked and 

 devoured each other), amounted in the two forests 

 to more than 200,000. 



The field-vole measures four inches one line in 

 the length of the head and body, and one inch three 

 and a half lines in that of the tail. The fur is red- 

 dish brown above, grey beneath. A distinct species, 

 the Bank-vole (Arvicola pratensis, Baillon ; A. ri- 

 parica, Yarrell ; A. rufescens, Selys-Longchamps) is 

 found on the Continent, and in some parts of Eng- 

 land. It is less than the former species, with a 

 longer tail, and differs in several particulars in its 

 internal anatomy. 



1135. — The Porcupixe 



(Histrix crislata). To our account of the Porcu- 

 pine, p. 70, we may add that Col. Sykes regards the 

 porcupine of the Dukhun, called "sayal"by the 

 Mahrattas, as distinct from the ordinary species. 

 It is nearly a third larger, and all the spines and 

 tubes of the tail are entirely white ; the spines are 

 also so long as to reach the insertion of the tail. 

 The ears are much less rounded, and the nails 

 shorter and stronger. We have compared skulls of 

 the common Indiau and African porcupines to- 

 gether, in the Paris Museum, and other bones of" 

 the skeleton, and we perceived a marked difference 

 in many details. To the Indian species or variety- 

 Col. Sykes has given the title H. Leucurus ; it is 

 very abundant and good eating. Like the African 

 porcupine, when alarmed or irritated it shakes the 

 tubes and spines of its tail violently, producing a 

 startling noise. It stamps also with great energy, 

 and when it assails an adversary it runs obliquely 

 backwards, transfixing the foe with its spines. (See 

 'Cat. Mamm. of Dukhun,' p. 10, and ' Zool. Pro- 

 ceeds.' 1831, p. 103.) 



ADDITIONS TO THE CARNIVORA. 



1136.— A Tail-piece. 



In our description of the wild cat, which we have 

 stated to be specifically distinct from the domestic 

 species (see p. 7), we alluded, amongst other points, 

 to the difference of the tail. We here give, a, the 

 tail of a domestic cat which had betaken itself to 

 the woods, leading an independent life, and b, the 

 tail of the true wild cat (Felis catus). 



END OF THE PICTORIAL MUSEUM OF THE MAMMALIA. 



