BADGER. 
when they must be taken out, dried and smoked | larly in winter. 
Being hung in a large | aperture, opening transversely, which exudes an 
in the following manner. 
chimney without a grate, a layer of dry straw is 
put down, upon this a layer of mixed shavings, 
next a layer of mixed sawdust, with a good hand- 
ful of juniper berries, and over the whole a man- 
tle of wet straw or litter, which makes the fire 
smoulder and emit much smoke without burning 
rapidly. The dry straw is now lighted, being 
lifted up a little so that it may well ignite, and 
also catch the shavings and sawdust. This 
smoking must be repeated several times until 
the hams are quite dry, when they must be 
placed in the warm kitchen upon shelves near 
the fireplace, and turned twice a-week. To cure 
bacon by the same process, the only difference is 
that a pound each of common and bay salt are 
added, and the sugar reduced to a pound and 
a-half. All the rest of the process is the same.” 
—Henderson on Swine and Bacon—The Magazine 
of Domestic Economy.— The Board of Agriculture's 
Reports of Counties—Marshall’s Gloucestershire.— 
Doyle's Practical Husbandry.—The Knowledge So- 
ciety’s British Husbandry. — Hunter’s Georgical 
LEssays.—MacCulloch’s Commercial Dictionary. 
BADGER. A genus of plantigrade animals, 
included by Linnzeus among the bears; but now 
forming the distinct genus Meles. The common 
badger, Meles vulgaris, is about the size of an or- 
dinary dog; but stands considerably lower on its 
legs, which are so short that its belly seems to 
touch the ground ; this, however, is caused by 
the length of the hair, which is very long all 
over the body, and makes it seem much more 
bulky than it really is. The throat, breast, and 
belly, are covered with black hairs; those of the 
upper part of the body are yellow-white at the 
bottom, black in the middle, and ashy gray at 
the point. It is a solitary animal, that finds re- 
fuge remote from man, and digs itself a deep hole 
with great assiduity. It seems to avoid the 
light, and seldom quits its retreat by day, only 
stealing out at night to find subsistence. It bur- 
rows in the ground very easily, its legs being 
short and strong, and its claws stiff and horny. 
As it continues to bury itself, it throws the earth 
behind it to a great distance, and thus forms to 
itself a winding hole, at the bottom of which it 
remains in safety. As the fox is not so expert at 
digging into the earth, it often takes possession 
of that which has been quitted by the badger; 
and, some say, forces it from its retreat, by lay- 
ing its excrements at the mouth of the badger’s 
hole. This animal, however, is not long in making 
itself a new habitation, from which it seldom 
ventures far. When surprised by dogs, at some 
distance from its hole, it combats with desper- 
ate resolution; falls upon its back, defends itself 
on every side, and seldom dies unrevenged in the 
midst of its enemies. The badger’s principal 
food is roots, fruits, snails, and worms. It sleeps 
the greater part of its time, and thus, without be- 
ing a voracious feeder, it still keeps fat, particu- 
BAGGING. 
SILI 
Beneath the anus, there is an 
oleaginous matter of an extremely fetid odour. 
The spotted badger is of a white colour, marked 
with reddish, yellow, and dusky spots. It in- 
habits Europe and the north of Asia, as far as 
the northern provinces of Persia and China, and 
in Japan. The white badger is said by Mr. Bris- 
son to have been brought from New York ; it 
has very small eyes, and very short legs, and is 
only one foot nine inches long, with a tail of nine 
inches. The American badger—the sijleur of the 
Canadians—inhabits Labrador, and the country 
about Hudson’s Bay, in North America. 
animal has a strong resemblance to the common 
or European badgers, but is somewhat smaller, 
and the hair is longer, more soft and silky; the 
ears are short, and of a white colour, edged with 
black ; the head is white, with a black line on 
each side running from the forehead close to the 
inner corner of the eye, down to the nose; the 
hair on the back is four or five inches long, bright 
brown for the under half, then bright yellow, 
above that black, and white at the tips; the legs 
are short, and of a dark brown colour; having 
five claws behind, and only four before, which 
are considerably longer and larger; but the want 
of the fifth claw on the forepart being described 
from a dried specimen, may have been owing to 
accident. Its tail is covered with long dirty yel- 
low hairs, tipped with white, having the ends 
dusky; the throat, breast, and belly ure white; 
the fore-feet have only four toes. It is uncertain | 
whether this animal possesses the orifice under 
the tail. In each jaw there are six fore teeth, | 
one tusk on each side of each, and four grinders | 
on each side in both; in all thirty-two. 
BADGER’S - BANE, — botanically Aconitum 
meloctonum. An ornamental, poisonous, peren- 
nial, tuberous-rooted shrub, of the monkshood 
genus. It grows to the height of 4 feet, produces 
blue flowers in June and July, and has a con- 
siderable resemblance to the common monkshood 
This | 
or well-known Aconitum napellus. It is a hardy 
exotic, and was first introduced to Great Britain 
in 1821. 
BAERIA. A very beautiful, hardy, annual 
flowering plant, of the composite tribe. Only 
one species, the golden-mouthed; is as yet known 
to botanists; and this was introduced to Great | 
Britain from California in 1835. Jt grows a foot 
high, has a yellow flower, and may be sown to 
bloom from April till June. 
BAG. A curious remedy, in old farriery, for 
restoring or whetting the appetite of a horse. A 
small bag containing an ounce of asafcetida and 
an ounce of powder of savin was fastened to the 
horse’s bit, and the animal was kept bridled for 
two hours, two or three times a-day ; and as soon 
as the bag was taken off, he usually felt inclined 
to eat. One bag, of course, served for a long 
period. 
BAGGING. The reaping of corn or pulse by 
