M U S 
but, fince.the commencement of the«otd weather, I have 
not obferved this. 
“ From his delight in drinking milk out of my hand, 
into which I pour a very little at a time, and his cuftom 
Or lipping the little drops and edges of the fluid, itlhould 
teem that he drinks dew in the fame manner. He very 
feldom drinks water, and that only with great caution, 
and in defeat of milk ; and then feems only to refrefh his 
tongue once or twice: he even feerns to be afraid of 
water. During the hot weather it rained a good deal. I 
prefented to him fome rain-water in a dilh, and endea¬ 
voured to make him go into it, but could not fucceed. 
I then wetted a piece of linen cloth in it, and put it near 
him, when he rolled upon it with extreme delight. One 
Singularity in this charming animal is his curiofity ; it 
being impoflible to open a drawer or a box, or even to 
look at a paper, but the little creature will examine it 
alfo. If he gets into any place where I am afraid of per¬ 
mitting him to'ftay, I take a paper or a book, and look 
attentively at it; when he immediately runs upon my 
hand andfurveys with an air of curiofity whatever I hap¬ 
pen to hold. I mull farther obferve, that he plays with 
a young cat and dog, both of fome lize, getting about 
their necks, backs, and paws, without their doing him 
the leaft injury.” 
But we have alfo the teftimony of Aldrovandus in fa¬ 
vour of the weafel’s being fometimes completely tamed ; 
fo that Button might have found an exception to his ge¬ 
neral charafter of the animal, even if he had not received 
thefe modern atteftations. Aldrovandus even exprefsly 
afferts, that weafels are eafily tamed, and that, when tame, 
they are remarkably playful ; adding, at the fame time, 
from Cardan, that their teeth fliould be rubbed with gar- 
lick, after which they will not prefume to bite : “ Caste- 
rum animadvertendum eft inter animalia muftelas facile 
cicurari, etprascique quando ad mentem Cardani, illarum 
dentes allio pe'rfricantur, quia impofterum quempiam 
mordicus apprehendere non audent, et cicuratse collu- 
fionibus quotidie indulgent.” Aldrovandus alfo quote's 
(from Strozza) part of an elegy on the death of a tame 
. weafel: 
1 \il poterat puero te gratius ejje, nee illi 
Morte tua quicqudm triflius ejfJ'e potejl. 
Tu digitos modi tentabus improba morfu, 
Porredo ludensJhnifupina icde, 
Et modem e lubiis noras J'orber eJ'alivam, 
Et quiddam exiguo murmure dulcc queri. 
Loving and lov’d, thy mafter’s grief! 
Thou could’ft th’ uncounted hours beguile j 
And, nibbling at his fingers oft, 
Watch anxious for th’ approving fmile: 
Or, ftretching forth the playful foot, 
Around in wanton gambols rove, 
Or gently fip the rofy lip. 
And in light murmurs fpeak thy love. 
( 3 . M. nivalis : body white; a few black hairs at the 
tip of the tail. It appears that in fome inftances, and in 
fome countries, the weafel turns white, like the float, but 
Hill preferving the black tip to the tail. 
32. Muftela melina, the pale weafel : back and belly 
pale cinereous-yellow ; face, crowm, legs, and tail, black. 
Head flat; ears rounded; nofe broad, blunt; cheeks and 
chin white ; throat rich yellow. Length eighteen inches ; 
tail long as the body. 
33. Muftela quiqui: brown, with cuneiform fnout. 
This fpecies inhabits Chili, living under ground, and 
feeding on mice, &c. It is principally diftinguiftied by 
its cuneiform or wedge-lhaped fnout. The ears are fliort 
and round, with a white fpot in the middle; the legs and 
tail fhort; the feet like thofe of a lizard. The length of 
the animal from nofe to tail thirteen inches. 
34. Muftela touan: body above ferruginous, beneath 
white : tail naked towards the tip. This is a very fmall 
fpecies, lefs than the common weafel, and is a native of 
' > 5 
M U S 415 
Cayenne, living in hollow trees, and feeding on worms 
and infefls. The upper part of the fnout, the head, and 
the whole body as far as the tail, is blackifh; the fides of 
the body and limbs bright ferruginous ; and the lower 
parts, from throat to tail, white. 
The following are perhaps included in fome of the fore¬ 
going defcriptions, though under other names. 
35. The ermined wealel, defcribed by Pennant in his 
edition of 1793, and by Harrifon, N° 78. Body white 
and fpotted ; tail annulated, ears rofe-coloured. 
36. The lobfter-vveafel, common in Norfolk and Suffolk, 
fomewhat like a polecat, but the volume of its body 
larger ; colour reddilh brown or bright chocolate ; throat 
white, tinged with yellow; fnout fliarp: finell when hunted 
very fetid. 
37. The mufky weafel. This has the upper part of 
the body cinereous, dalhed with yellow, and marked with 
fome obfcure dufky lines : the nofe, part of the cheeks, 
the legs, and end of the tail, black: on the middle of the 
cheeks is a white fpot. It is a native of Bengal, and is 
laid to have a ftrong mufky fcent. Size not mentioned. 
Defcribed by Mr. Pennant from a drawing 
38. The llender-toed wealel. This is a fmall fpecies, 
meafuring from nofe to tail feven inches, and the tail is 
of the fame length: the ears fhort and rounded : the fur 
grizzled minutely with black and rufous: the toes five in 
number, and very long and flender; each lobated at the 
bottom of the firft joint: claws fmall: the upper part of 
the toes and part of the legs covered with fhort velvet¬ 
like down : the tail is bufhy, and covered with long rat- 
coloured hair. This fpecies is defcribed by Mr. Pennant 
from a drawing. It is laid to be a native of Cochinchina. 
MUS'TEOUS, adj. Containing mult; refembling muft. 
AJh. 
MUS'TER, a town of the duchy of Courland : fifty- 
fix miles fouth-eaft of Seelburg. 
To MUS'TER, v. a. [moujteren, Dut. mouftre, old Fr. 
a fhow or exhibition.] To bring together; to form into 
an army.—The captain, half of whofe foldiers are dead, 
and the other quarter never mujlered nor feen, demands 
payment of his whole account. Spenfer on Ireland. — 
Having mujlered up all the forces he could think of, the 
clouds above, and the deeps below; Thefe, fays he, are 
all the ftores we have for water; and Mofes direfls us 
to no other for the caufes of the deluge. Woodward's 
Nat. Hijl. 
Could mujler up, as well as you, 
My giants and my witches too. Donne. 
To MUS'TER, v. n. To aflemble in order to form an 
army.—Why does my blood thus mujler to my heart? 
Shuhefpeare. 
They reach the deftind place, 
And mujler there, and round the centre fwarm, 
And draw together. Blackmore's Creation. 
To Pass Muster. To be allowed.—Suchexcufes will 
not pafs mujler with God, who will allow no man’s idle- 
nefs to be the meafure of poflible or impoflible. South's 
Sermons. —Double-dealers may pafs mujter for a while; 
but all parties wafh their hands of them in the conclufton. 
E Ej'trange. 
MUS'TER, J'. A review of a body of forces : 
All the names 
Of thy confederates too, be no lefs great 
In hell than here; that, when we would repeat 
Our ftrengths in mujler, we may name you all. B. Jonfon . 
A regifter of forces muftered.—Deception takes wrong 
meafures and makes falfe mufters, which founds a retreat 
inftead of a charge, and a charge inftead of a retreat. 
South Sermons. 
It is needlefs to enquire into the antiquity of mufters, 
fince they muft have exilled ever iince an army has been 
aflembled. Without a jjiufter it would not be known 
whether 
