76 



QUADRUPEDS. 



tinct ; and six lower, which are more obtuse and crowded ; 

 two are placed within ; the tongue is smooth. The divisions 

 of the genus, or weezels, have "feet cleft." The polecat 

 species, or the ^'Mustek Foina," has the body blackish 

 tawny, throat and breast white. The appearance is very 

 elegant. The length of the body from nose to tail is about 

 eighteen inches, and the tail is ten inches. It is a native of 

 most parts of Europe, inhabiting w^oods and fields, and preys 

 on birds and other small animals. The young are easily 

 tamed, and rendered domestic. It breeds in the hollows of 

 trees, and brings forth from three to five young at a time. 

 The skin is used as far. 



The weasel tribe of animals are carnivorous, subtle, and 

 bold, and take their prey by surprise, and no animals are 

 better endowed by nature for an insidious attack. Were 

 they as large and powerful as they are active, wily, and dar- 

 ing, they ^vould be more formidable than the hon or the tiger, 

 and infinitely more destructive, as they kill when opportunity 

 offers, by wholesale, sucking the blood, and devouring only 

 a portion of their victims, thereby effecting a large w^aste of 

 life. Their form is long and slender, and such is their snake- 

 like pHability, that they can twist themselves in the most ex- 

 traordinary manner, and insinuate themselves into holes and 

 crevices which one would think impossible for them to enter. 

 The limbs are short, but powerful, and the toes are armed 

 with sharp claws ; hence they climb trees, or the sides of rough 

 walls or buildings, with great agility. In their movements 

 they appear to ghde along ; but they can bound and spring 

 with considerable vigour, and know well how to fasten on 

 their adversary. 



In attacking their victims, they generally aim at the neck, 

 below the ear, where they pierce the large veins with their 

 teeth, or they fix upon the back of the head, and drive their 

 canine teeth through the skull. 



Their habits are nocturnal or crepuscular. The day is 

 passed in their retreats, such as the hollows of decayed trees, 

 burrows in the ground, holes in walls, and ruined masonry, 

 and fissures in rocks. As evening shades prevail, they rouse 



