THE PINE MARTEN. 
MVSTELA MaRTES. BrISS. 
The animals of the Weasel family have long been 
classed among the torments of zoologists, and few have 
a better title to be so considered than those which 
constitute the genus Mustela, as restricted by M. Cu- 
vier, and defined in the preceding article. With the 
exception of the very remarkable species there described, 
which is incapable of being confounded with any other, 
the entire group consists of a series of animals ap- 
proaching each other so closely in all their essential 
characters, that it is impossible, in the present imperfect 
state of our knowledge, to determine with precision the 
limits of the several species which are generally sup- 
posed to exist among them, and to which names are 
universally assigned. Dr. Richardson has lately cleared 
up some of the difficulties which surrounded the Ame- 
