70 
VIJLPES FULVUS. — Desm. (Var. Argentatus. — Rich.) 
American Black or Silver Fox. 
PLATE CX VI. —Female. 
Y. magnitudine Y. fulvi, argenteo niger, cauda ad apicem alba. 
CHARACTERS. 
Size of the red fox (vulpes fulvus) ; body, silvery black ; tip of the tail, 
white. 
SYNONYMES. 
Renard Nom ou Bahynha. Sagard Theodat., Canada, p. 744. 
European Fox — var. A, black. Pennant, Arct. Zoo]., vol. i., p. 46. 
Renard Noir ou Argente. Geoffroy, Collect, du Museum. 
Grizzled Fox. Hutchins, MSS. 
Renard Argente. F. Cuvier, Mamm. Lith., 5 livr. 
Canis Argentatus. Desm., Mamm., p. 203. 
“ “ Sabine, Franklin’s Journey, p. 657. 
“ “ Harlan, Fauna, p. 88. 
“ “ The Black or Silver Fox. Godman, Nat. Hist., i. 274, plate. 
“ Fulvus, var. Argentatus. Rich. Black or Silver Fox, F. B. A., p. 94. 
Black Fox. DeKay, Nat. Hist. New York, p. 45. 
Tschernoburi. Russians. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Specimen from the Hon. Hudson’s Bay Company. 
Body, clothed with two kinds of hair ; the longest, or outer hair, extends 
in some parts two inches beyond the under or shorter fur, especially on the 
neck, beneath the throat, behind the shoulders, along the flanks, and on the 
tail ; this hair is soft, glossy, and finer than even that of the pine marten. 
The under fur is unusually long and dense, measuring in some places two 
inches, and is exceedingly fine, feeling to the hand as soft as the finest sea- 
island cotton ; this under fur surrounds the whole body even to the tail, 
on which it is a little coarser and has more the appearance of wool ; it is 
shortest on the legs and forehead, and least dense on the belly ; the hairs 
