o*4 Quadrupeds. 
down the sides of the back. It feeds upon mice and 
other small quadrupeds, and also in summer upon frogs. 
The Skunk is of a stout and rather heavy form, and 
runs but slowly, so that when pursued it would have 
but a small chance of making its escape, but for a sin- 
gular provision with which it has been endowed by 
nature. This consists of a yellow fluid of the most hor- 
rible odour, contained in a small bag or pouch under 
the root of the tail ; which the creature is enabled 
to discharge to a distance of more than four feet, so that 
even if the noisome discharge does not actually reach 
and smother the animal's pursuers, it forms between 
them and their intended victim, a sort of invisible bar- 
rier, which few noses are able to pass. The smell is so 
strong that it .has been known to produce sickness at 
a distance of a hundred yards, and so persistent, that 
the spot where a Skunk has been killed, will retain the 
taint for many days. The flesh of this animal is, how- 
ever, considered excellent food by the Indians. 
THE SABLE. (Mustela, or Martes Zibellina.) 
This animal is a native of Siberia, Kamtschatka, and 
Asiatic Kussia, and it frequents the banks of rivers, 
arid the thickest parts of the woods. It lives in holes 
under the ground, and especially under the roots of 
trees ; but sometimes makes its nest, like the squirrel, 
in the hollows of trees. The skin of the Sable is more 
valuable than that of any other animal of equal size. 
One of these skins, not more than four inches broad, 
has sometimes been valued at as high a rate as fifteen 
pounds ; but the general price is from one to ten pounds, 
according to the quality. The Sable's fur is different 
