556 The Hiflory of A N I M A L 8 e 
brown and pale yellow, which together form a kind of grey : the animal has thence ob¬ 
tained one of it’s Englifh names, the people of many places with us calling it the grey : 
the fides and belly are in fome folply of a yellowifh colour, but in others the whole 
under part of the body is black * this has a very fingular appearance, as in all other 
creatures almoft the belly is paler than the back : the throat is always black, as are al- 
fo the fhoulders, and all the legs, as well the hinder as the fore-ones: the head is 
long, and there runs all the way down it, from the crown to the extremity of the. 
fnout, a broad line of white, equal to two fingers in breadth 3 and below this there 
runs on each fide a broad line of black, which is continued beyond the region of the 
eyes, almoft to the neck; and below this, on each fide, the fur is again whitiftn 
This gives a great variation of colouring to the head, and it appears very beautiful. 
The tail is thick and fhort, and is covered with ftiort and rigid black hairs: the 
ears are fhort and round, but have fomething of the appearance of thofe of a rat: the 
eyes are fmall j the fnout is formed very much like that of a dog : the legs are ftiort 
and robuft, and the toes of the fore-feet are armed with extreamly fharp and long 
claws: the general figure of the head refembles that of the fox ; it is broad acrofs the 
top, and thence becomes narrow all the way to the nofe, fo that it is of a kind of co¬ 
nic figure : the cheeks are tumid. 
Juft under the tail, above the orifice of the excrements, there is an r aperture which 
difcharges itfelf into a fmall bag, the contents of which are thick, white, and foft, 
and in fome degree referable the brains of a calf, when boiled. This fubftance has 
no particular fmell j but, befide this, there is a very foetid matter, fecreted by two 
glands, fituated near the anus, and having no communication with the bladder. 
This creature is a native of moft parts of Europe 5 we have it in England, but it is 
not common : with us it makes itfelf holes in the earth, as the rabbit does. It's food 
is in feds, and the fmaller animals, but it will fometimes prey on larger. The ftrength 
of the mufcles about the mouth, to which the fwelling out of the cheeks is owing, 
gives it a power of biting in a violent manner. All the writers on thefe fubjeds have 
defcribed it. Gefner and many others call it Meles j Jonfton and Aldrovand, and 
after them alfo many others, Taxus j Charleton, Taxus live Daxus. We call it the 
Badger, the Pate, and the Grey. 
Meles cinerea unguibus uniformibus . 
The grey Meles , with uniform claws . 
It was long before the form of the creature, to which we owe the civet, was known, 
and long after this, before it could be determined to what genus of quadrupeds it be¬ 
longed j it was firft fuppofed of the cat, and afterwards of the dog kind, but it is 
truly one of the badger fpecies. 
It is a large and fierce animal; it’s fize is that of the common badger, but it’s body 
is not fo bulky : the head is large, oblong, and confiderably thick all the way, not 
conic, as in the fox : the forehead is deprefted; the whole fnout is rounded and thick; 
the nofe turns up a little, and the noftrils are moderately large: the mouth* is wide, 
and is furnilhed in a very formidable manner with teeth, and there are a few rigid, 
but not very long, whifkers placed about it: the eyes are fmall, and they do not ftand 
very prominent; the ears are large, obtufe, ere<ft, and patulous. 
The neck is fhort, rigid, and thick j the body is long, and confiderably thick $ the 
tail is long, and refembles that of the common cat: it is covered with long hair, and 
there runs a ridge of the fame hair alfo along the top of the back. 
The whole animal is of a light ftlvery colour, variegated in a beautiful manner, 
with large fpots of black: the legs are moderately long and robuft, and they are al¬ 
moft entirely black : the feet are armed with claws very long and fharp, and equally 
fo throughout, not longer on the anterior, than on the hinder, pair, as in the badger. 
Under 
