zoology, a genus of quadrupeds of the order of ferae. There are six erect, sharp, distinct teeth in the upper jaw, and an equal number in the under jaw, but blunter and closer together, and two of them are situated a little farther within the mouth; and the tongue is smooth. There are 11 species, viz.

1. The lutris, or sea-otter, hath palmed feet, and the tail about one-fourth of the length of the body; the hair thick, long, and excessively black and glossy: beneath that is a soft down; the colour sometimes varies to silvery. The biggest of these animals weigh 70 or 80 pounds. They inhabit, in vast abundance, the coasts of Kamtschatka, and the parts of America opposite to it, discovered by the Russians: it is also met with in a most remote part of the continent of America, along the rivers of Brasil and Paraguay, and in the Oronokos. It is a harmless animal; very affectionate to its young, insomuch that it will pine to death at the loss of them, and die on the very spot where they have been taken from it. Before the young can swim, they carry them in their paws, lying in the water on their backs: they run very swiftly; swim often on their back, their sides, and even in a perpendicular posture: are very sportive; embrace, and kiss each other: they inhabit the shallows, or such places as abound with sea-weeds; feed on lobsters, and other shell-fish, as well as sepia and common fishes: they breed but once a-year, and have but one young one at a time, fuckle it for a year, and bring it on shore. They are dull-fighted, but quick-scented: are hunted for their skins; which are of great value, being sold to the Chinese for 70 or 80 rubles a-piece; each skin weighs 3½ lb. The young are reckoned very delicate meat, scarce to be distinguished from a sucking lamb. The cry of this creature is nearly similar to a young dog; and it is sometimes interrupted by another cry similar to that of the saki or fox-tailed monkey. It may be nourished with the flour of manioc diluted in water.

2. The lutra, or otter, has palmated feet, the tail one half the length of the body; the whole colour is CLXXXIV, a deep brown, except two small spots on each side of the nose, and another below the chin; the legs are short and thick, and loosely joined to the body: the length from the nose to the tail is 23 inches. The otter inhabits all parts of Europe, the north and north-east of Asia, even as far as Kamtschatka; it abounds in North America, particularly in Canada, from whence the most valuable furs of this kind are brought. He is a voracious animal, but fonder of fish than of flesh: he doth not willingly quit the margins of rivers or lakes, and often depopulates fish-ponds; but if fish happens to fail, he makes excursions on land, and preys on lambs and poultry. It is observable, that the otter always swims against the stream to meet its prey; and two of them, it is said, will hunt a salmon in concert. One stations itself above, and the other below the place where the fish lies, and continue chafing it incessantly, till the creature, quite wearied out, becomes their prey. Sometimes the otter preys in the sea, but not far from shore. It hath been observed, however, in the Orkneys to bring in cod, congers, &c. Properly speaking, he is not an amphibious animal; for, like other terrestrial creatures, he requires the aid of frequent respiration. When in pursuit of a fish, if he chances to be entangled in a net, he drowns; and we perceive that he has not had time to cut a sufficient quantity of the meshes to effectuate his escape. For want of fishes, crabs, frogs, or other animal-food, he gnaws the young twigs, and eats the bark of aquatic trees; he likewise eats the young herbage in the spring. The female comes in season in winter, brings forth in March, and the litter consists of three or four. The young otters are less handsome than the old; and M. Buffon looks upon the otters in general to be very stupid animals. He will not allow them the capacity and instinct commonly ascribed to them by other naturalists; such. such as that of always ascending the rivers, in order to swim the more easily down the current, when loaded with his prey; of fitting up, and flooring his house to exclude the water; of hoarding a store of fishes in case of scarcity; and lastly, of being easily tamed, of fishing for his master, and even bringing the fish into the kitchen. "All I know (says our author) is, that the otters dig no habitations for themselves; that they take possession of the first hole they find, under the roots of poplars or willows, in the clefts of rocks, and even in piles of floating wood; that they deposit their young on beds made of twigs and herbs; that we find, in their habitations, heads and bones of fishes; that they often change their places of abode; that they banish their young at the end of six weeks or two months; that those I endeavoured to tame attempted to bite, though they were only taking milk, and unable to eat fish; that, some days after, they became more gentle, perhaps because they were weak or sick; that, so far from being easily accustomed to a domestic life, all of them which I attempted to bring up died young; that the otter is naturally of a savage and cruel disposition; that when he gets into a fish-pond, he is equally destructive as the pole-cat in a hen-house; that he kills many more fishes than he can eat, and carries one off in his mouth."

On the other hand, Mr Pennant tells us, that the otter shows great sagacity in forming its habitation: it burrows underground on the banks of some river or lake; it always makes the entrance of its hole under water; working upwards to the surface of the earth, and forming, before it reaches the top, several holes or lodges, that, in case of high floods, it may have a retreat; for no animal affects lying drier at top; it makes a minute orifice for the admission of air. It is further observed, that this animal, the more effectually to conceal its retreat, contrives to make even this little air-hole in the middle of some thick bush. Our author also informs us, that the otter is capable of being tamed; that he will follow his master like a dog, and even fish for him, and return with his prey.

Though the otter does not cast his hair, his skin is browner, and sells dearer, in winter than in summer; and makes a very fine fur. His flesh has a disagreeable fishy taste. His retreats exhale a noxious odour from the remains of putrid fishes; and his own body has a bad smell. The dogs chase the otter spontaneously, and easily apprehend him when at a distance from water or from his hole. But, when seized, he defends himself; bites the dogs most cruelly, and sometimes with such force as to break their leg-bones, and never quits his hold but with life. The beaver, however, who is not a very strong animal, pursues the otters, and will not allow them to live on the same banks with himself.

Mr Pennant mentions an account of some Newfoundland animals, communicated to him by Mr Banks, which he supposes to have been of the otter kind. He observed, sitting on a rock near the mouth of a river, five animals shaped like Italian greyhounds, bigger than a fox; of a shining black colour, with long legs, and a long taper tail. They often leaped into the water, and brought up trouts, which they gave to their young which were sitting by them. On perceiving him they all took to the water, and swam a little way from shore, keeping their heads out of the water, and looking at him. An old furrier said, that he remembered the skin of one sold for five guineas; and that the French often see them in Hare-bay. According to some authors, there are otters in Cayenne which weigh 90 and 100 pounds. They live in the great and unfrequented rivers, and their heads often appear above water. Their cry is heard at great distances; their hair is very soft, but shorter than that of the beaver, and generally of a brown colour. They live upon fish, and eat likewise the grains which fall into the water from the banks of the rivers. In Guiana, according to M. de la Borde, the otters are very numerous along the rivers and marshes where fishes abound. They sometimes appear in such numbers, and are so fierce, that they cannot be approached. They litter in holes which they dig in the banks; they are often tamed and brought up in houses.

3. The lutreola, or small otter, has hairy palmed feet, and a white mouth, the same form with an otter, but thrice as small. It inhabits Poland and the north of Europe; lives on fish, frogs, and water-insects; its fur is very valuable, next to the sable; is caught in Bashkiria with dogs and traps; is exceedingly fastid. This is the same animal with the minx of America, which, Mr Collinon tells us, frequents the water like the otter, and very much resembles it in shape and colour, but is less; it leaves its watery haunts to come and rob hen-roosts; it bites off the heads of the poultry, and sucks their blood; when vexed, it has a strong loathsome smell; its length from nose to tail 20 inches, the tail four: is of a shining dark-brown colour. M. Buffon mentions, from M. de la Borde, a kind of otter which he calls the small fresh-water otter of Cayenne, and which is only seven inches long from the end of the nose to the extremity of the body. The tail of this small otter has no hair: its length is six inches seven lines, and five lines thick at the origin, diminishing gradually to the extremity, which is white, though the rest of the tail is brown; and, in place of hair, it is covered with a rough granulated skin, like shagreen; it is flat below, and convex above. All the under part of the body and head, as well as the fore-part of the fore-legs, is white. The top and sides of the head and body are marked with large brownish-black spots, and the intervals are of a yellowish grey colour. The black spots correspond on each side of the body, and there is a white spot above each eye.

4. The barbata, or Guinea-weasel, is of a reddish colour; and the toes are not connected with a membrane: he is of a black colour, with coarse hair of the size of a martin; digs an habitation in the earth with his fore-feet, in which he has great strength, and which are much shorter than those behind. It inhabits Guinea, Brasil, and Guiana: when it rubs itself against trees, it leaves behind an unctuous matter that smells of musk. It is very fierce; and, if driven to necessity, will fly at man or beast: it is very destructive to poultry.

5. The gulo, or glutton, is of a dusky red colour, and blackish on the middle of the back: it is a most voracious animal; but very slow of foot, so is obliged to take its prey by surprise. In America it is called the beaver-eater; because it watches those animals as they come out of their houses, and sometimes breaks into their habitations and devours them. It often lurks on trees. trees, and falls on the quadrupeds that pass under; will fasten on a horse, elk, or stag, and continue eating a hole into its body, till the animal falls down with pain, or else will tear out its eyes: no force can disengage it; yet sometimes the deer, in their agony, have been known to destroy the glutton by running its head violently against a tree. This animal also devours the fias, or white fox; searches for the traps laid for the fables and other animals, and is often beforehand with the huntmen, who sustain great loss by the glutton. Authors have pretended, that it feeds so voraciously, that at length it is in danger of bursting; and that it is obliged to ease itself of its load, by squeezing it out between two trees: but this is not well authenticated. Mr Buffon acquaints us, that a glutton which he kept for 18 months at Paris, became so tame that it discovered no ferocity, and did not injure any person.

"His voracity (says he) has been as much exaggerated as its cruelty. He indeed eat a great deal; but, when deprived of food, he was not importunate. He is two feet two inches long, from the point of the nose to the origin of the tail. The muzzle, and as far as the eye-brows, is black. The eyes are black and small. From the eye-brows to the ears, the hair is a mixture of white and brown. Below the under-jaw, as well as between the fore-feet, the hair is spotted with white. The length of the fore-legs is 11 inches, and that of the hind-legs one foot. The tail, including four inches of hair at its extremity, is eight inches long. The four legs, the tail, and the back, as well as the belly, are black. His fore-feet, from the heel to the extremity of the claws, are three inches nine lines in length: the five claws are very crooked and well separated. The middle claw is an inch and an half in length. He avoids water; and dreads horses, and men dressed in black. He walks by a kind of leap, and eats pretty voraciously. After taking a full meal, he covers himself in his cage with straw. When drinking, he laps like a dog. He utters no cry. After drinking, with his paws he throws the remainder of the water on his belly. He is almost perpetually in motion. If allowed, he would devour more than four pounds of flesh every day. He eats no bread; and devours his food so voraciously, and almost without chewing, that he is apt to choke himself."

The glutton is common in most of the northern regions of Europe, and even of Asia; but in Norway, according to Pontoppidan, he is chiefly confined to the diocese of Drontheim. The same author remarks, that the skin of the glutton is very valuable; that he is not shot with fire-arms, to prevent his skin from being damaged; and that the hair is soft, and of a black colour, shaded with brown and yellow. In Siberia the skin is sold for 4s. or 6s.; at Jakutsk for 12s.; and in Kamtschatka still dearer, because the women there dress their hair with its paws, which they esteem a great ornament: the fur is greatly esteemed in Europe; and those produced in the north of Europe and Asia are much preferable to the American kind. In its wild state, Mr Pennant informs us, that the glutton is vastly fierce; a terror both to the wolf and bear, which will not prey upon it when they find it dead; perhaps on account of its being so very fetid that it smells like a pole-cat: it makes a strong resistance when attacked; will tear the stock from the gun, and pull the traps in which it is caught to pieces: notwithstanding which, it is capable of being tamed, and of learning several tricks. M. Buffon remarks, that though the glutton employs considerable art and address in seizing other animals, he seems to possess no other talents but those which relate to appetite. "It would (says he) appear, that the glutton even wants the common instinct of self-preservation. He allows himself to be approached by men, or comes up to them without betraying the smallest apprehension." This indifference, which seems to be the effect of imbecility, proceeds perhaps from a different cause. It is certain that the glutton is not stupid, since he finds means to satisfy his appetite, which is always vehement and pressing. Neither is he deficient in courage, since he indiscriminately attacks all animals he meets with, and betrays no symptoms of fear at the approach of men. Hence, if he wants attention to himself, it proceeds not from indifference to his own preservation, but from the habit of security. As he lives in a country which is almost deserted, he seldom sees man, who are his only enemies. Every time he tries his strength with other animals, he finds himself their superior. He goes about with perfect confidence; and never discovers the smallest mark of fear, which always supposes some experience of weakness. Of this we have an example in the lion, who never turns away from man, unless he has experienced the force of his arms: and the glutton, trailing along the snows of his distant climate, remains always in perfect safety, and reigns, like the lion, not so much by his own strength, as by the weakness of the animals around him.

6. The martes, or martin, is of a blackish yellow colour, with a pale throat, and the toes are not webbed. These animals are found in great numbers in all temperate countries, and even in warm regions, as in Madagascar and the Maldivian islands, and are never seen in high latitudes. The martin has a fine countenance, a lively eye, supple limbs, and a flexible body. His movements are all exceedingly nimble; he rather bounds and leaps than walks. He climbs rough walls with ease and alacrity; enters the pigeon or hen-houses, eats the eggs, pigeons, fowls, &c. and the female often kills great numbers, and transports them to her young. He likewise seizes mice, rats, moles, and birds in their nests. M. Buffon kept one of these animals for a considerable time. He tamed to a certain degree, but never formed any attachment, and continued always so wild, that it was necessary to chain him. He made war against the rats, and attacked the poultry whenever they came in his way. He often got loose, though chained by the middle of the body. At first he went to no great distance, and returned in a few hours; but without discovering any symptoms of joy, or affection to any particular person. He, however, called for victuals like a cat or a dog. Afterwards he made longer excursions; and at last he thought proper never to return. He was then about a year and a half old, seemingly the age at which nature assumes her full ascendancy. He ate everything presented to him, except salad and herbs; was fond of honey, and preferred hemp-feed to every other grain. It was remarked that he drank very often; that he sometimes slept two days successively, and at other times would sleep none for two or three days; that, before sleep- ing, he folded himself in a round form, and covered his head with his tail; and that, while awake, his motions were so violent, so perpetual, and so incommodious, that, though he had not disturbed the fowls, it was necessary to chain him, to prevent him from breaking every thing. The same author informs us, that he has had in his possession several martins of a more advanced age, which had been taken in nets; but they continued to be totally savage, bit all who attempted to touch them, and would eat nothing but raw flesh.

Martins, it is said, go with young as long as cats. We meet therefore with young ones from spring to autumn; and therefore it is probable they bring forth more than once a year. The younger females bring only three or four at a time; but the more aged produce six or seven. When about to bring forth, they take up their abode in magazines of hay, in holes of walls, which they stuff with straw and herbs; in clefts of rocks; or in the hollow trunks; and when disturbed, they remove their young, who seem very soon to arrive at maturity; for the one which M. Buffon brought up, had nearly attained its full growth in one year. The martin has an agreeable musky odour, which proceeds from a matter contained in two vesicles, one on each side of the extremity of the rectum. The skin is a valuable fur, and much used for linings to the gowns of magistrates.

7. The putorius, pole-cat, or fitchet, has unconnected toes, is of a dirty yellow colour, with a white mouth and ears. He is a native of most parts of Europe; and has a great resemblance to the martin in temperament, manners, disposition, and figure. Like the latter, he approaches our habitations, mounts on the roofs, takes up his abode in hay-lofts, barns, and unfrequented places, from which he issues during the night only in quest of prey. He burrows underground, forming a shallow retreat about two yards in length; generally terminating under the roots of some large tree. He makes greater havoc among the poultry than the martin, cutting off the heads of all the fowls, and then carrying them off one by one to his magazine. If, as frequently happens, he cannot carry them off entire, on account of the smallness of the entry to his hole, he eats the brains, and takes only the heads along with him. He is likewise very fond of honey; attacks the hives in winter, and forces the bees to abandon them. The females come in season in the spring; and bring forth three, four, or five at a time, but does not lead them off till the end of summer. The pole-cat is excessively fetid; yet the skin is dressed with the hair on, and used as other furs, for tippets, &c. and is also sent abroad to line cloaths. This creature seems to be confined to the temperate climates; few or none being found in the northern regions, or in the torrid zone. In Europe, his territories seem to extend only from Poland to Italy. It is certain that he avoids the cold, for in winter he retires into the houses; and he is perhaps equally averse from great heat.

8. The turo, or ferret, has red eyes, and unconnected toes; the colour of the whole body is of a very pale yellow; the length from nose to tail is about 14 inches, the tail five. In its wild state it inhabits Africa; from whence it was originally brought into Spain, in order to free that country from multitudes of rabbits with which it was over-run; and from thence the rest of Europe was supplied with it. This creature is incapable of bearing the cold, and cannot subsist even in France unless in a domestic state. The ferret is not in our climates endowed with the same capacity of finding his subsistence as other wild animals, but must be carefully nourished within doors, and cannot exist in the fields; for those who are lost in the burrows of rabbits never multiply, but probably perish during the winter. Like other domestic animals, he varies in colour. The female ferret is less than the male; and when in season, we are assured, she is extremely ardent, that she dies if her desires are not gratified. Ferrets are brought up in casks or boxes, where they are furnished with beds of hemp or flax. They sleep almost continually. Whenever they awake, they search eagerly for food; and brown, bread, milk, &c. are commonly given them. They produce twice every year; and the female goes six weeks with young. Some of them devour their young as soon as they are brought forth, instantly come again in season, and have three litters, which generally consist of five or six, and sometimes of seven, eight, or nine. This animal is by nature a mortal enemy to the rabbit. Whenever a dead rabbit is for the first time presented to a young ferret, he flies upon it, and bites it with fury; but if it be alive, he seizes it by the throat or the nose, and sucks its blood. When let into the burrows of rabbits, he is muzzled, that he may not kill them in their holes, but only oblige them to come out, in order to be caught in the nets. If the ferret is let in without a muzzle, he is in danger of being lost; for, after sucking the blood of the rabbit, he falls asleep; and even smoking the hole is not a certain method of recalling him; because the holes have often several entries which communicate with each other, and the ferret retires into one of those when incommoded with the smoke. Boys likewise use the ferret for catching birds in the holes of walls, or of old trees. The ferret, tho' easily tamed, and rendered docile, is extremely irascible: his odour is always disagreeable; but when he is irritated, it becomes much more offensive. His eyes are lively, and his aspect is inflammatory; all his movements are nimble; and he is at the same time so vigorous, that he can easily master a rabbit, tho' at least four times larger than himself.

9. The zibellina, or sable, has divided toes: the body is of a dusky yellow colour, with a white forehead, and an ash-coloured throat. It is found in Tartary and the northern parts of Asia. The sables inhabit the banks of rivers, and the thickest parts of the woods. They leap with great agility from tree to tree; and avoid the rays of the sun, which are said in a short time to change the colour of their hair. They live in holes of the earth, or beneath the roots of trees; sometimes they will form nests in the trees, and skip with great agility from one to the other: they are very lively, and much in motion during the night. Mr Gmelin tells us, that after eating they generally sleep half an hour or an hour, when they may be puffed, shaken, and even pricked, without waking. During the night they are excessively active and restless: a tame one kept by Mr Gmelin was accustomed to rise upon its hind-legs, on sight of a cat, in order to prepare for the combat. During summer: the fables prey on ermines, weasels, and squirrels, but especially on hares; in winter, on birds; in autumn, on huckleberries, cranberries, and the berries of the service-tree; but during that season their skins are at the worst; that diet causing their skins to itch, and to rub off their fur against the trees; they bring forth at the end of March or beginning of April, and have from three to five at a time, which they suckle for four or five weeks. Their chase was, in the more barbarous times of the Russian empire, the employ, or rather the task, of the unhappy exiles into Siberia: as that country is now become more populous, the fables have in great measure quitted it, and retired farther north and east, to live in distant forests and mountains: they live near the banks of rivers, or in the little islands in them: on this account they have, by some, been supposed to be the ξακτίον of Aristotle (Hist. An. lib. viii. c. 5.) which he classes with the animals conversant among waters.

At present the hunters of fables form themselves into troops, from 5 to 40 each: the last subdivide into lesser parties, and each chooses a leader; but there is one that directs the whole: a small covered boat is provided for each party, loaded with provisions, a dog and net for every two men, and a vessel to bake their bread in: each party also has an interpreter for the country they penetrate into: every party then sets out according to the course their chief points out: they go against the stream of the rivers, drawing their boats up, till they arrive in the hunting country; there they stop, build huts, and wait till the waters are frozen, and the season commences: before they begin the chase, their leader assembles them, they unite in a prayer to the Almighty for success, and then separate: the first fable they take is called God's fable, and is dedicated to the church.

They then penetrate into the woods; mark the trees as they advance, that they may know their way back; and in their hunting-quarters form huts of trees, and bank up the snow round them: near these they lay their traps; then advance farther, and lay more traps, still building new huts in every quarter, and return successively to every old one to visit the traps and take out the game to skin it, which none but the chief of the party must do: during this time they are supplied with provisions by persons who are employed to bring it on sledges, from the places on the road, where they are obliged to form magazines, by reason of the impracticability of bringing quantities through the rough country they must pass. The traps are a sort of pitfall, with a loose board placed over it, baited with fish or flesh: when fables grow scarce, the hunters trace them in the new-fallen snow, to their holes; place their nets at the entrance; and sometimes wait, watching two or three days for the coming out of the animal: it has happened that these poor people have, by the failure of their provisions, been so pinched with hunger, that, to prevent the cravings of appetite, they have been reduced to take two thin boards, one of which they apply to the pit of the stomach, the other to the back, drawing them tight together by cords placed at the ends: such are the hardships our fellow-creatures undergo, to supply the wantonness of Mustela luxury.

The season of chase being finished, the hunters reassemble, make a report to their leader of the number of fables each has taken; make complaints of offenders against their regulations; punish delinquents; share the booty; then continue at the head-quarters till the rivers are clear of ice; return home, and give to every church the dedicated furs.

10. The vulgaris, or foumart (a), is the least of the weasel kind; the length of the head and body not exceeding six, or at most seven inches. The tail is only two inches and an half long, and ends in a point; the ears are large; and the lower parts of them are doubled in. The whole upper part of the body, the head, tail, legs, and feet, are of a very pale tawny brown. The whole under side of the body from the chin to the tail is white; but beneath the corners of the mouth, on each jaw, is a spot of brown. It is very destructive to young birds, poultry, and young rabbits; and is besides a great devourer of eggs. It does not eat its prey on the place; but, after killing it by one bite near the head, carries it off to its young, or to its retreat. It preys also on moles, as appears by its being sometimes caught in the mole-traps. It is a remarkably active animal; and will run up the sides of walls with such ease, that scarce any place is secure from it; and the body is so small, that there is scarce any hole but what is pervious to it. This species is much more domestic than any of the rest, and frequents out-houses, barns, and granaries. It clears its haunts in a short time from mice and rats, being a much greater enemy to them than the cat itself. In summer, however, they retire farther from houses, especially into low grounds, about mills, along rivulets, concealing themselves among brushwood, in order to surprise birds; and often take up their abode in old willows, where the female brings forth her young. She prepares for them a bed of straw, leaves, and other herbage, and litters in the spring; bringing from three to five at a time. The young are born blind; but soon acquire sight, and strength sufficient to follow their mothers. Their motion consists of unequal and precipitant leaps; and when they want to mount a tree, they make a sudden bound, by which they are at once elevated several feet high. They leap in the same manner when they attempt to seize a bird.

These creatures, as well as the pole-cat and ferret, have a disagreeable odour, which is stronger in summer than in winter; and when pursued or irritated, their smell is felt at a considerable distance. They move always with caution and silence, and never cry but when they are hurt. Their cry is sharp, rough, and very expressive of resentment. As their own odour is offensive, they seem not to be sensible of a bad smell in other bodies. M. Buffon informs us, that a peasant in his neighbourhood took three new-littered weasels out of the carcass of a wolf that had been hung up on a tree by the hind-feet. The wolf was almost entirely putrefied, and the female weasel had made a nest of leaves and herbage for her young in the thorax of this putrid carcase. The weasel may be perfectly tamed,

(a) This animal is confounded by Linnæus with the stoat or ermine. He seems unacquainted with our weasel in its brown colour; but describes it in its white state under the title of snowus, or mustela nivalis. Mr Pennant met with it in that circumstance in the Isle of Hay. MUS

and rendered as carefless and frolicksome as a dog or squirrel. The method of taming them is to stroke them often and gently over the back; and to threaten, and even to beat them when they bite. In the domestic state their odour is never offensive but when irritated. They are fed with milk, boiled flesh, and water.

Plate LXXXV. fig. 3. The candida, stoat, or ermine, is ten inches long from the nose to the origin of the tail; the tail itself is five inches and a half long. The colours bear so near a resemblance to those of the weasel, as to cause them to be confounded together by the generality of common observers; the weasel being usually mistaken for a small stoat: but these animals have evident and invariable specific differences, by which they may be easily known. First, by the size; the weasel being ever less than the stoat: secondly, the tail of the latter is always tipped with black, is longer in proportion to the bulk of the animal, and more hairy; whereas the tail of the weasel is shorter, and of the same colour with the body: thirdly, the edges of the ears and the ends of the toes in this animal are of a yellowish white. It may be added, that the stoat haunts woods, hedges, and meadows, especially where there are brooks whose sides are covered with small bushes; and sometimes (but less frequently than the weasel) inhabits barns, and other buildings.

In the most northern parts of Europe, these animals regularly change their colour in winter; and become totally white, except the end of the tail, which continues invariably black; and in that state are called ermines: we are informed that the same is observed in the Highlands of Scotland. The skins and tails are a very valuable article of commerce in Norway, Lapland, Russia, and other cold countries; where they are found in prodigious numbers. They are also very common in Kamtschatka and Siberia. In Siberia they burrow in the fields, and are taken in traps baited with flesh. In Norway they are either shot with blunt arrows, or taken in traps made of two flat stones, one being propped up with a stick, to which is fastened a baited string, which when the animals nibble, the stone falls down and crushes them to death. The Laplanders take them in the same manner, only instead of stones make use of two logs of wood. The stoat is sometimes found white in Great Britain, but not frequently: and then it is called a white weasel. That animal is also found white; but may be easily distinguished from the other in the ermine state, by the tail, which in the weasel is of a light tawny brown. With us the former is observed to begin to change its colour from brown to white in November, and to begin to resume the brown the beginning of March.

The natural history of this creature is much the same with that of the weasel; its food being birds, rabbits, mice, &c. Its agility the same, and its scent equally fetid: it is much more common in England than that animal.