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THE STORY OF THE MINK. 
Among the fur-bearing animals that have been a source of profit to hunt¬ 
ers and trappers is the mink, a very near relative of the polecat. The minks 
are divided into three families, the American, the Siberian and the European. 
The latter is generally known as the nertz or sumpf-otter (marsh-otter), and 
has no recognized European name, although some naturalists have agreed 
in calling it the European mink. 
All of the minks are inclined to water, and their toes are partly webbed. 
The European and North American minks are such closely related animals 
that they cannot be even distinguished from one another externally. The 
European mink has, however, very generally a white upper lip, which is but 
rarely exhibited in its American relative. When the skulls of the two forms 
are compared together it will be found that in the American form the upper 
molar tooth is invariably decidedly larger than in the European; and it is 
on account of this difference that the two are regarded as specifically dis¬ 
tinct from one another. 
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