546 
The Hijiory of ANIMALS, 
M U S T E L A. 
^THE upper foreteeth of the Muftela are ftraight, diftinft, and acute: the fore- 
M teeth of the lower jaw arc ohtufe and cluttercd j two of them Hand inward : 
the feet are made for climbing. 
Muftela rufo-fufca medio dorfo nigra . 
The reddijh-brown Muftela , with the SCfyt d 5 ff| 0 » 
middle of the back black. 
This is of the fize of our common cat, but the body, unlefs when diflended with 
food, as is very frequently the cafe, is much flenderer, in proportion to it’s length : 
the head is fmall, and of a kind of oval figure, flender at the fnout, and rounded on 
the crown ; the eyes are prominent, though not very large j their iris is of a deep 
hazel } the ears are fhort and patulous ; the noftrils are large, and the mouth is wide, 
and well furnifhed with teeth. 
The neck is fhort and thick j the fhoulders are high ; the bread: narrow, and the 
back fharp: the legs are fhort, and not very robuft, but the claws are extreamly 
fharp: the whole body is of a dufky brownifh colour, with a tinge of ferrugineous 
red, only that the belly is pale and whitifh, and the ridge of the back, on the contrary, 
is black. 
It is a native of Germany, and many of the northern parts of Europe. It is very 
fhy 5 it lives in woods, and takes it’s pod ufually on trees, from whence it precipitates 
itfelf down on any thing that is fit for it’s prey. It is the mod ravenous of all ani¬ 
mals. It will feed on carcafles, though it’s more ufual food is birds, and the fmaller 
quadrupeds. We had one of them fhewn among other wild beads, as a fight in Lon¬ 
don, about four years ago. It would eat in fuch a manner of any offal that was 
given it, as not to be able to dir for many hours, but would lie didended, panting, 
and, as it were, dying. All the authors who have written on quadrupeds have men¬ 
tioned it. They call it Gulo, and the Glutton, and relate many odd and idle dories 
of the e.flfe&s of it’s voracious appetite. 
Muftela fulvo-nigricans gula pallida . 
The blackijh-brown Muftela , with a pale throat . 
This is equal to the common cat in length, but the body is much flenderer, and 
the legs are fhorter: the head is fmall, fhort, and pointed at the fnout: the eyes are 
long, and their iris is of a deep hazel; the ears are fhort: the mouth is large, and is 
well furnifhed with teeth, and there are whifkers about it as in the cat: the bread is 
narrow; the back is flatted, and fomewhat broad; the legs are flender : the tail is 
equal to the whole body in length, and is very bufhy, or covered thick with long hair. 
The whole body is covered with a deep and fine fur of a very dark brown, with 
an admixture of black, but very bright and glofly; the throat is whitifh. 
It is frequent with us about houfes, and is alfo abundant in the woods in many 
parts of Europe, where they didinguifh two kinds, thofe of the fir-woods, and thofe 
of the beech-woods, under the names of Martes Abietum, and Martes Fagorum. 
Thofe called the fir-wood kind are of a paler colour, with fomewhat yellowifh about 
them. It feeds on birds, and the fmaller quadrupeds. All the authors who have 
written on beafts have named it 5 they call it Martes and Troyna, 
Muftela 
