The Hijlory 0/ ANIMALS, 549 
very fhort and (lender: the feet have each five toes, and thofe are armed with very 
(harp, though not with very ftrong, claws : the whole creature has greatly the appear* 
ance of our weafel or pole-cat, but it walks lower or nearer to the ground 3 though 
this is rather owing to the manner of it’s ufing it’s legs, than to their being in reality 
fhorter than in thofe fpecies. 
The fur of this creature is very thick and deep, and is remarkably fine and glofly 1 
the colour is a deep, but a very beautiful, brown5 there are long hairs, in manner of 
whifkers, about the mouth and noftrils, as alfo over the eyes: the nofe and the eare 
are grey, and the throat is of a yet paler grey or whitifih j the reft is all of the fame 
elegant brown. 
It is a native of many of the northern parts of Europe, and it’s fur is valued at a 
very high rate. We have a way of dying and preparing fox-fkins, fo that they, in 
fome degree, imitate it5 but, when feen with the true fable, the counterfeit makes but 
a very paltry appearance. All the writers on animals have defcribed the creature. Ray 
and others call it Muftela Zibellina, 
‘ Muflela cauda annuli $ nigris albidifque cinEla . )t 
The Muflela^ with the tail annulated with white and black . dEfcUCt* 
This is a very beautiful little animal, but it differs confiderably in form from thofe 
which have been hitherto defcribed 3 they are all flender-bodied and low, their legs 
being very fhort; this is more corpulent, and the legs are longer 5 it has much the ap¬ 
pearance of a young fox : the head is large, oblong, broad, and depreffed at the crown, 
and pointed at the nofe; the ears are fhort, broad, and eredf; the eyes are large, and 
they ftand prominent: the noftrils are wide, and the mouth is large, and very well 
furnifhed with teeth: the neck is fhort and thick3 the body is long, and tolerably 
large 3 the tail is long and very beautiful, and the legs are proportioned more like that 
of the cat, than the fhort ones of the fable or weafel. 
The head is of a dufky tawny, with an admixture of black, but there is alfo fome 
appearance of grey about the nofe and ears 3 and all about the mouth, and over the 
eyes, there are black and thick whifkers: the back is of a very deep tawny, approach¬ 
ing to black; the fides are of a paler tawny, or yellowifh colour, and are variegated 
with large foots of black, difpofed in a very regular and beautiful manner: the legs 
are nearly black, and the tail is beautifully variegated with the fame deep tawny, ap¬ 
proaching to black, and with white or regular annular fpots. 
It is a native of many parts of the Eaft 3 it lives in woods, and efpecially where 
there are fprings. It feeds on birds, and the fmaller quadrupeds. It is eafily tamed, 
and becomes familiar with mankind, and in the Turkifh dominions is kept in the 
houfes to deftroy vermin, as cats are with us. All the writers of beafts have de¬ 
fcribed it 3 they call it Genetta. 
Muflela grifeo et albido variegata. 
The grey and white variegated Muftela. 
%\yz tatiWeD qstmgo. 
This is an extreamly beautiful animal, it is the largeft of all the Muftela? 3 the fize is 
that of our largeft wild cat, but the body is lefs corpulent, and the tail is vaftly longer, 
and more beautiful 3 it is the lighted of all creatures, in proportion to it ? s apparent 
fize : the head is fmall, oblong, depreffed at the crown, and narrow and fharp at the 
fnout: the eyes are prominent 3 the ears are covered with a fine down; the mouth 
is large, and well furnifhed with teeth : the neck is (lender, and moderately long : the 
body is tolerably large and long, the legs are (lender, and the tail is of a very great 
length, and covered with fuch a long fur, that it appears very thick 3 it is, indeed, 
always naturally in that ftate, in which the tail of the common cat appears, when that 
creature is provoked : the feet are each terminated by five toes, and thefe are armed 
with long, fharp, hooked claws, of a deep colour, 
7 A 
The 
