34 
REPORT ON ZOOLOGY, MDCCCXLII : 
Mustelina. — Bachmaim has given a valuable contribution 
to the knowledge of the American Weasels. 
He shows (Journ. of Philadelph. viii. 2. p. 288), that the European 
Mustela vulgaris is different from the American, as Richardson describes 
it, and gives the latter the name of M. fusca. This American species is 
of a medium size, between M. erminea and vulgaris ; the tail is shorter 
than in the first, but longer than in the latter ; and, as in the former, 
black at the end, yet the hairs are short and soft, and not so long and 
stiff as in the Ermine. The upper side is brown, the under pure white, 
without mixture of brown hairs, as is the case in the M. vulgaris ; at 
the same time, the white hue extends farther out, and reaches, on the 
inside of the legs, down to the tarsus ; whilst, in the European Weasel, 
it scarcely reaches the thighs. 
M. erminea. M. fusca. M. vulgaris. 
Body ... 11" 7"' ... 9" O'" ... 7" O'" 
Tail ... 4 6 ... 2 9 ... 1 9 
Tail with hair 6 2 ... 3 2 ... 2 1 
Height of ear, posteriorly 0 2^ ... 0 3 ... 0 2 
Bachmann kept an Ermine and a Weasel in his house during winter; 
the first became all white, the latter not. He is convinced, that M. fusca 
does not become white, at least in the latitude of New York, which is 
not the case with the Weasel (if. vulgaris), hitherto supposed to be 
identical with the former. M. fusca extends, in the southern states, as 
far as the upper parts of South Carolina and Georgia. The reporter 
remarks, that the if. fusca is identical with M. cicognanii, Bonap. 
Bachmann, however, has rendered great service, in having shown, in a 
convincing manner, the specific difference of this from if. vulgaris. 
Bachmann does not appear yet to know, that the identity also of the 
American Ermine with the European is doubted, which is unfortunate 
on this account, since he first could give a decision on this point. 
Bachmann has added the description of Mustela frenata, Licht. 
Karelin raised the question, in the Bullet, de Mosc. 1841, p. 572, 
whether the Zobel of Altai, of which he sent two specimens while on 
his tour, may not constitute a different species from the Zobel of Eastern 
Siberia. The Altai differs from the Siberian by the body being more 
extended, and by yellowish spots on the throat. From these marks, we 
might place the Zobel of Altai with the Martens ; but it is a real Zobel, 
as its hairy coat extends under the paws. 
The reporter gave an extended notice, in these Archives, 8 Jahrg. 
1 Bd. p. 258, of a new Brazilian species of Lutra — L. solitaria, Natt. 
P. Gervais has observed (Instit. 1842, p. 117), that Arctonyx must 
not be placed with Meles, but with Mydaus, as the reporter had pre- 
viously done. 
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