. FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY r J THE INTERIOR. ^ FNITED STATES GEOLOGIbitl SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. F. V. HAYDEN, U. S. GEOLOGIST. MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS, No. 8. /^ FUR-BEARING ANIMALS: A MONOaRAPH OF North American Mustelid^, IX WHICH AN ACCOUNT OF THE WOLVEBEIfE, THE MARTENS OK SABLES, THE ERMINE, THE MINK AND VARIOUS" OTHER KINDS OF WEASELS, SEVERAL SPECIES OF SKUNKS, THE BADGER, THE LAND AND SEA OTTERS, AND NUMEROUS EXOTIC ALLIES OF THESE ANIMALS, [S CONTRIBUTED TO THE %. "P^^ HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN MAMMAELr^- ELLIOTT OOUBS, ILLUSTRATED WITH SIXTY rlGURES ON TWENTY PLATE* WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1877. ■ x-x/-x-yy^/i/'/-x--^-'^/-x^r-'X-V/-x^y/-x-'.^^x • V ax x /< v x x x x x ••/■••. r/^.^ ^v/f/f/f/f.^^/^rr/^/f/f/f.r-f'^yr'Vy' ^.hK\\\\$ (k ffij^tfr: ^13 JL.L. U. Master of Arts, ConMniA Collkge, of New Yokk, 1872. RosK Hii 1 , in the Townshii- of Red Hook, near Tivoi.i P. O., Duchess Co., N. Y. Jituunt'ii, 1 8 mi. JUDGK .\DVOCATE, with the rank of MAJOR 184H, CULONEL N. Y. S. I., 184(i ; aviigned Xax " MerUoriotu Conduct" 1849; BRIG.\UIKU GKNKKAL fur " ImportaiU Service" [Orst appointment— in N. Y. State— lo that rank, hitherto elective] 1851, M. K. S N V. ADJUTANT GENKIIAL. S. N. Y., 1855. BRKVET MAJOR. UKNKKAL, S. X. Y., for " Meritor iovs Services," (first and only General offlaer receiving such an honor (the highest) from S. N. Y., and the onl}- officer thu* brevetted (Major General) in the United States.) \>y •• SpecitU Act," or ' Concurrent Ueaolution." New York State legislature, April, 1866. I In the Sute Militarj Rosier, '• Legislative Manual" and "C'lwif List." as Bfth Major-General, by Brevet, of the live Major-Generals, S. N. Y.) -f^- LAWS OF NKW YORK, Vol. 2 — 89ih Ses.sion, 1866. Page 2142. Concurrent Betolution requesting the Governor to Confer upon Brigadier- General J. yVATTS DE PUYSTER [de Peyter] the brevet rank of Major* [General] in the National Guard of New York. Kftotved (if the Senate concur). That, it being a grateful duty to uckno»iedi;e in a suituble manner the services of a disiinguishod citizen of this State, rendered to the National Guard and to the United States prior to and dur- inif the Rebellion, the Governor be and he is hereby authorized and requested to confer upon Brigadier General J WATIS UK PUYSTKR [de Kcyster] the fcrettt rani of .tfajor-CfneruMn the National Guard of New York, for meritorious services, which mark of honor shall be stated in the Conmiission conferred. State of New York, in AssemUg, April 9th, 1866. The foregoing Resolution was duly passed. Jiy order of the Assembly, J. B. OUSHMAN. Clerk. State of New York, in Senate, April 20th, 1866 The foregoing Resolution was duly passed. By order of the Senate, * So in originaL ' JAS. TERVVILLIGER, Clerk. MILITARY AGENT, S. N. Y. (in Europe). 1851-'5.3. HONORARY MEMBER SECOND CLASS, of the MILITARY ORDER of the LOYAL LEGION of the U. S. FIRST HONORARY MEMBER Third (Army of the Potomac) Corps Union. HONORARY MEMBER of the THIRD CORPS RE-UNION ASSOCIATION, and MEMBER of COMMITTEE OF AUHANGEMEN rS for the Grand Meeting of ihe Corps upon the Battlefleld of Gettysburg. HONORARY MEMBER of the CLARENDON HISTORICAL SOCIETY of Edinbureh, Scotlaud, and of the NEW BRUNSWICK (Canada) HISTORICAL SOCIETY (of St. John). ASSOCIATE MEMBER of the MILITARY SERVICE INSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. MEMBER— 10th June, 1872. DIRECTOR— of ihe GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, and VICE-PRESIDENT ol the SARATOGA [Battlefield] MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. MEMBER of the NETHERLANDISH LITERARY ASSOfUATION [MaatKchappij der Nederlandsche Letlerkunde], al Levden, Holland. RECIPIENT, 1856, of Three Silver Medals from H R. M. OSCAR. King of Sweden and Norway, &c., for a Militarv Biography of Leokard Toksten.son, Field Marshal. Gcneralis-siipo ; of a Gold Medal iu 1852, from Washington Hunt [Governor S. N. Y.). for " Efforts to Improve the Military System of New York." &c., &c , and Suggestions for a Paid Fire Department with Steam Fire Engines, &c., &c. ; of a Gold Medal, only similar distinction ever ordered and directed, and conferred by the supreme military au- thority of the Slate of New York, by a Special Order, dated S';ptember 8lh, 1861, of ■Washington Hunt, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Military Forces (S. N Y.), authorized to he worn in attest of " Zeal, Devotion and Meritorious Service ; " of a Gold Medal, in 1852, from the FIELD and STAFF OFFICERS of his Command, 9th Brie., 3d Div., N. Y. S. Troops, "In testimony of their Esteem and Appreciation of his Efforts towards the Esiablishment of an efficient Militia," &c. ; in 1870, of a Magnificent Badge. Medal and Clasps, voted at the .\nnual Meeting of the Third Corps (Army of the Potomac) Union, held at Boston. Mass., Thursday, May 5th, 1870, when A Resolution was adopted to present a Gold Medal, of the value of $500, to Gen. J. WATTS DE PEYSTER, of New York, as a testimonial of the appreciaiion by the Corps of his eminent services in placin'.; upon record the true history of its achievements, and in defending its commanders and their men from written abuse and misrepresentation ; and of several other Badges, Medals, &c., for services in connection with the military service of New York State. HONORARY MEMBER of the NEW JERSEY and of the MINNESOTA and MONTANA HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, and of the PHRE- NOKOSMIAN SOCIETY of PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE. Gettysburg; of the PHILO.SOPHIAN SO- CIETY, Mi.osionary Institute. Selin's Grove; of the DIAGNOIHEAN LITERARY SOCIETY of Franklin and Marshall CuUeqe. Lancaster; of the EUTERPEAN SOCIETY. Muhl. enburg College. Allentown, Pcnn., and of the GASMAN LITERARY and PHI LOLOGIAN SOCIETIES of Nebraska College. Nebraska City. HONORARY MEMBER ot the LYCEUM .SOCIETY. Cazenovia. Madison Co , N. Y. ; and HONORARY MEM- BER FOR LIFE of the AMERICAN RIFLE ASSOCIATION, lo whom Gen. DE PEYSTER presented the most original, exquisite and unique Gold Badge and Clasp, to be shot f'lr at the Annual Tests of .Markman.ship. HONORARY MEMBER of the NEW YORK BURNS CLUB. BURNS was a member of the Dumfries Volunteers, of which Col. ARENT SCHUYLER DE PEYSTER, 8th or King's Foot, B. A., was Colonel, to whom the " Natii-nal Bard of Scotland" addressed just before his death, in 1796, " POEM ON LIFE '), and LIFE MEMBER of the ST. NICHOLAS CLUB OF NEW YORK of which city JOHANNES de PEYSTER— ;Jr»( of the name in the Netv HV,Wrf— was Schepen. 655; Alderman 1666 ; Burgomaster, 1673 ; Deputy Mayor. 1677. MayoraUy offered and refused) MEMBER of tlie NEW YORK, of the RHODE ISLAND (Newport), and of the PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL SOCIE TIES; HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK: AMERICAN HISTORICAL A.SSOCIATION, and of the MILITARY ASSOCIATION of the STATE of NEW YORK, and of the CENTURY CLUB. New York City. LIFE MEMBER "' '''JiyMi^P.xM>\^.^I?^..',^•7.T..''.^^"^"'"*^'• "' '''^ ^'"'"' '^^"^'^ GALLERY OF FINE ARTS, of the ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, in the Citv of New York, and Director of the NEW YORK INSTITUTION lor the I.VSTKUCTIOV of the DEAF and DUMB AMERICAN NUMIS. MATIC and ARCH/EOLOGICAL SOCIETY of NEW YC K, and of , ,„„ „ the HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF AMERICA. N. I.I>K MEMBERor FELLOW of Ihe aMERU;aN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY ; of the ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN: PATRON of the A.SSOCIATION for .he BENj/fIT , ...^ „ of COLcmED ORPHANS, and of the NEW YORK DISPENSARY : Lll-E DIRECTOR of the AMERICAN TRACT and LIFE MEMBER oI the AMEKICAN BIBLE SOCIETY N Y CORRESPONDING MEMBER "'^PXv-T,''' "'•?7"'^'C'*^ SOCIETIES Of Maine, ol VERMONT, of RHODE ISLAND (Providence) of CONNECTICUT, and of WI.SCONSIN: of the LONG ISLAND.of ihe BUFFALO, and of ONEIDA COU.NTY (S. N. Y.l HI.SIORIC.AL SOCIETIES; of the NEW ENGLAND lilSTORlCO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY; of the QUEBEC LITERARY and HISTORI- CAL SOCIETY; of the NUMISMATIC and ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY of PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania ; tic , &C., Ac. PREFATORY NOTE. U. S. Geological ais^d Geographical Survey of the Territories, Washington, D. (7., July "^1, 1877. This treatise on Far-bearing Animals of North America, pre- pared by Dr. Elliott Coues, Assistant Surgeon United States Army, at present on duty with the Survey, is published as a specimen fasciculus of a systematic History of North American Mammals, upon which the author has been long engaged. In the forthcoming work, which will be published by the Survey as soon as it can be prepared for the press, it is proposed to treat the Mammals of North America, living and extinct, in the same comprehensive and thorough manner in which the single family of the MusteUdce has been elaborated. The form of the final work, however, will necessarily be modi- fied, in order to bring the whole matter within reasonable com- pass, as well as to adapt it more perfectly to the wants of the general public, which it is designed to meet. The technical and critical portions of the treatise will be condensed as far as may be deemed compatible with its distinctively scientific charac- ter, while the aspects of the subject which are of more general interest, such as the life-histories of the species and the eco- nomic or other practical relations which animals sustain toward man, will be presented in ample detail. Other considerations have also had weight with me in de- ciding to publish this Monograph of the MusteUdce in advance of the general '< History", and as a separate volume. This family of Mammals is one of special interest and importance, from an economic point of view, as all the species furnish valua- ble peltries, some of which, like Sable, Ermine, and Otter, are in great demand ; while their pursuit is an extensive and im- portant branch of our national industries. It is believed that the Monograph satisfactorily reflects the present state of our knowledge of these animals, and forms IV NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. a desirable contribution to the literature of the general subject. The Mustelidce, like most other families of North American Mammals, have not been systematically revised for many years^ during which much new material, hitherto unused, has become available for the purposes of science ; while the steady and rapid progress of scientific inquiry has rendered it necessary ta reopen and discuss many questions in a new light. The same principles and methods of study which the author has suc- cessfully applied to the elucidation of the Rodent ia of North America have been brought to bear upon the investigation of the MusUlidw. The Memoir is based upon specimens secured by the Survey under my direction, together with all the material contained in the National Museum, for the opportunity of examining which the Survey acknowledges, in this as in other instances, its indebtedness to the Smithsonian Institution. The illustrations of the present volume, with few exceptions,* were engraved by Mr. H. H. Nichols, of WavShington, from pho- tographs on wood made under Dr. Coues's direction by Mr. T. W. Smillie, of Washington. This method of natural history illus- tratiou may still be regarded in the light of an experiment ; but the cuts may be considered fine specimens of the engraver's, art, when it is remembered that photography gives no lines to be followed by the graver. Though showing less detail, particularly of the under surfaces of the skulls, than might have been secured by hand-drawing, the cuts possess the merit of absolute accuracy of contour. This opportunity is taken to reprint, by permission, a Circular relating to the proposed "History", which was addressed by Dr. Cones to the Medical Staff of the Army, of which he is a member. The Circular is sufficiently explicit to require no couk meut; but I may here express my high appreciation of the courtesy with which the wishes of the Survey have been met by the Surgeon General of the Army. F. V. HAYDEN, United States Geologist. * The several ligurts on the electrotype plate VI were kindly loaned by Mr. E. A. Samuel?, of Boston, from the Massachusetts Agricultural Report for 18tU. The figures on plate XII were drawn on wood by Mr. S. W. Keen, of Wash- ington, from photographs furnishtd by Mr. II. W. Parker, of the Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. [Reprinted.] WAR DEPARTMENT, SUKGEON GENEKAL'S OFFICE, Washington, March 31, 1877. CIRCULAR ORDERS, ) No. 1. ^ The attention of the Medical Officers of the Army is particu- iarly invited to the following communication addressed to them by Assistant Surgeon Elliott Coues, U. S. Army. It is hoped that their assistance and co-operation will be cheerfully given for the reasons stated and in the manner indi- cated by Dr. CouES. By order of the Surgeon General: 0. H. CRANE, Assistant Surgeon General^ U. S. Army. Office of U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey, Washington, D. C, March 13, 1&77. To the Medical Officers of the Army: Medical Officers of the Army, and others who may be interested iu the matter, are respectfully and earnestly invited to cooperate with the under- signed in the preparation of a work entitled "Histori/ of North American Mum- mals,^^ to be published by the Government. It is now twenty years since the last general work upon the Quadrupeds of this country appeared. The progress of our knowledge during this period renders the demand for a new treatise imperative. It is proposed to make the forthcoming "History" a standard scientific treatise, covering the whole ground, and fully exhibiting the present state of our knowledge of the sub- ject. The plan of the work may be briefly indicated ; its scope includes— 1. The Classification of North American Mammals according to the latest and most approved views of leading therologists, including diagnoses of the orders, families, genera and species. t2. The most acceptable Nomenclature of each species and variety, with ex- tensive Synou,vray. 3. The elaborate technical Description of each species and variety, including much anatomical detail, especially respecting the skull and teeth. 4. "J'he Geographical Distribution of the species— an important matter, con- cerning which much remains to be learned. 5. The "Life-histories" of the species, or an account, as full and conii)lrto as it can be made, of their habits. This is also a matter requiring much further study. 6. The Bibliography of the subject. VI NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.?:. While the strictly scientific character of the work will be maintained, the *' life-histories," being of general interest, will be divested as far as possible of technicalities, and treated with a free hand, in popnlar style. The anthor has long been engaged in gathering material for this work, already far ad- vanceil, and hopes to pnblish at no distant day. His resonrcfts and facilities for the preparation of the descriptive and other technical portions of the treatire have been ample ; bnt he has still, in common with other natnralists^ mnch to learn respecting the Geographical Distribntion and Habits of North American Mammals. To these points, therefore, special attention is inviteil^ with the expectation that mnch important and valuable information may 1)6 secured with the assistance of Medical and other Officers of the Army^ many of whom enjoy unusual facilities for ac«;rr hc.c.Ui- rial, which is wanting in the latter." — (Loc. dt.) EXTINCT MLTSTELINyE OF NORTH AMERICA 19 iiiiH-r and outer, are strongly developed, and with the anterior, ({uite as in Mephitis. •'The jaw pertained to an adult individual of smaller size than the common skunk, Mephitis chbuja. The bases of the crowns of the first and second premolars, and to the outer side of the canine are surrounded by a well marked cingulum. The length of tlie crown of the molar is greater in proportion to the length [*^| than in the skunk. The axis of thecoronoid process is as in it, at right angles to that of the ramus. The latter is straighter on the inferior border tlian in tiie skunk, and exiiibits a marked difference in the angle being nearly on the same line, and not raised above it, as in the species of American skunks and others, figured by Haird. " MeahnreiMiilH. Linos. '* Frorij angle to outer- inciHive alveoliiH 15. 0 " Depth Jit cororioid 8. " From haHe condyle to tubercular inrjjar 5. " Length of Hcctorial molar 15. 0 " Width of sectorial molar 1.2 *' Height from hasal .shoiildei- 2. " Depth ramus at tubercular 2. 7 '* Depth ramus at Pm. 2 3. 1 " Length of crown of canine ?,. "Th(^re are two mental foramina in the specimen, one below the third, the other below the first premolar. The crown of the canine is contracted and curved ; slightly flattened on the inner side." {(jHofc/l front the orujinal (IcHcription.) I do not know the skull of Oalera, As figured, the jaw of G. perdicida differs from that of Mephitinw and Lutrinw, as usually present(;d, in the strnightness of the inferior border, agreeing in this r(^sp(H;t with MuHtelinw. It closely resembles, among recent forms, the genus Putoriusj from which, however, the character of the sectorial lower molar, with its strong acute inner tubercle of the middle lobe, as in MephifiH (and Lutra), perfectly dis- tinguishes it. I should not be surprised, however, if the relation- ships of this form proved to be actually with Mephitis, especi- ally with Hpilogale. In a specimen of the latter before me from Georgia, the lower border of the jaw is quite as straight as that (igunjd by Professor Coi)e; in size, the specimen agrees better with the figure than it does with some other specimens of S/tilogale hclora me. 'y the general shape is the same j there are two mental foramina exactly as described and figured ; and 20 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDiE. I fail to note, in the fignre or description, any decided dififerences in dentition from SpilogaJe. In fine, it may be questioned whether •' Galera perdicida " is even specifically distinct from Spilogale piitorius. The fossil was found, it will be remembered, amongst remains of numerous species not distinguishable from recent ones.* ON THE DERIVATION AND SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAMES APPLIED TO THE MUSTELID^. To treat of this interesting topic I cannot, perhaps, do better than give a version of Dr. E. von Martens's article, Ueber Thiernamen,f so far as it relates to the animals of the present family. This valuable article, as it seems to me, places the subject in a clear light, and gives, in a sufficiently concise and convenient form, just the information that is required for an understanding of the etymology and philological bearing of the names used in various languages to designate the species of Mustelidw. Study of this subject, which is sadly neglected in ordinary zoological writings, is essential to the proper appre- ciation of the technical or binomial names ; the older ones being, as will be seen, not necessarily of Greek or Latin origin, as commonly assumed. Thus, for instance, the generic name Gulo comes simply by translation into Latin of the Scandinavian and Russian names, which refer to the voracity of the animal. Dachs [Meles vulgaris]. — For this remarkable animal, no Greek name can be determined with certainty, although it is stated by late investigators, as Fiedler and Lindenmeyer, to ex- ist in Greece ; for it is at least a hazardous interpretation to identify the species with the rpoyoq^ " runner ", of which Aris- totle (Gen. 3, 0) speaks on the authority of Herodorus of Heraklea. The Latin Meles of Pliny, 8, 38, b^^ is decidedly more certain : siifflaUe cutis distentu ictus honmium et morsus cauum arcent ; the Badger, of course, does not inflate its skin, but, nevertheless, its thick hide enables it to withstand bites and blows. Less pertinent is a passage in Varro De Re Rust. 3, 12, 3, where maelis is written. Isidor of Sevilla (seventh century * Some time after the foregoing was ^vrittelJ, I addressed to Professor Cope a note on the subject, stating my views ; and in reply I learned that Professor Cope " had for some time suspected " that the animal was a Mephitis. t " Ueber Thieruamen." Von E. von Martens in Berlin. In : Der Zoolo- gische Garten ; the portions relating to the Mustelida', here translated, being at pp. -251-256 and pp. 275-231 of Jahrg. (or vol.) xi (1870). ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^. 21 after Christ) writes melo, genitive melonis ; and, in the vicinity of Bologna, according to the statement of Diez, the Badger is still called melogna. Elsewhere, however, this word is obsolete, being replaced in the living European languages by various others, entirely different. The German word dachs may be traced back to the early period of the Middle Ages : in the quack prescriptions of Mar- cellus of Bordeaux, in the ninth century, is found adeps tax- oninus, Badger's fat, and taxea, used by the above-mentioned Isidor as the definition of adeps, fat, with reference to a still earlier author, is probably the same ; the short form das, as the word still runs in Dutch, is found in the German vocabulary of the ninth century ; the nun Hildegard, in the twelfth, wrote dahsis ; Albertus Magnus, in the thirteenth, daxus. The form taxus or taxo, as a name for the animal itself, occurs in the Latin vocabulary from the period of the eighth century; it may be that this term is related to the pure Latin name of the yew-tree, taxus of Caesar and Virgil [Taxus hraccata Linn.), agreeably to which the initial t straightway becomes fixed in the Eomanic names of the animal, in the Italian, tasso ; in the Spanish, tejon (and tesajo, smoked meat) ; the Portuguese texugo ; while the Old French had its taisson, of which only taniere (from taisniere), meaning particularly a Badger-burrow, and, generally, the den of a wild beast, remains in modern French. The poet Tasso, and the founder of the German postal system, Taxis, derive their family name from dachs, Badger, as the old Roman agitator Sp. Maelius probably also did. The word itself may be originally German, and have be- come naturalized in France, Spain, and Italy with the migra- tions of German races. To derive it from the Sanskrit talcsha (Greek rixrwv), a carpenter, to be taken in the sense of an ar- chitect, is rather far-fetched. Another series of names of the Badger in Northern Europe begins with B, as the French blai- reau, the English badger, the Danish hrolc,* and the Russian horsuk ; but it is not certain that these are all etymologically re- lated. Blaireau^\ in Middle-Age Latin hlerellus, is interpreted by Diez as the diminutive of the mediaeval Latin hladarius^ a grain - merchant (Romanic Mado, late French ble, grain) ; and in support of this it is argued that the English name of the animal, badger, signifies also a dealer in grain. Such connection requires us to " " Brock '"' is also found as an English provincialism.— Tr. t Which is corrupted, in America, into Braro, Brairo, and Prarow. — Tk. 22 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^.. invent the certainl}' erroneous explanation that the animal lays up a store of provisions in its domicile, as if it drove a trade in grain. Dietenbach's derivation from the Celtic, originally Cym- ric, word blaicr^ gniy, seems to me to be nearer the mark ; it would then be " the little gray beast "; and it is corroborative of this that the animal is called, in Picardy, grisard; in Sweden and Denmark, graving or grofling, that is to say, GrauVuig, " a gray or grizzly beast". But the proper Celtic name of the ani- mal is broc; in the Gaelic, Irish, and Bretonic remarkably like tlie Danish hrok, and somewhat similar to borsuk, which prevails in Poland, Eussia, and Siberia ; there this name for the Badger is current among the Bashkirs, Kirghiz, and Buchares, aud is rendered borz by the Magyars; so we may consider it a primitive Turanian word, the more so since the South Sclavonic uses an- other term, in Carniola, jo2«rec or jasbez ; in Bohemia, gezwec. The Wallachian, jezure or esurcy which has been incorrectly con- sidered as from the Latin esor^ eater, is probably related. YiELFRASS [Giijo luscus]. — According to the latest investi- gatTons, the CiTuFton inhabited Middle Europe nearly to the Alps, in the period of the Lake-dwellers {Pfahlbauten, literally pile-buildings), together with the Reindeer; and of its occur- rence in Germany, even in the last century, t^wo cases are given, one at Frauenstein in Saxony, by Klein, 1751, the other at Helmstiidt in Brunswick, by Zimmermann, 1777, both, unfor- tunately, without the particulars. Though both these zoolo- gists saw the stufted specimen, neither gives the date of cap- ture, the first only stating that it occurred under Augustus II, who died in 1733. These can only have been stray specimens, since no contemporaneous or previous writer mentions the oc- currence of the animal in Germany. The species was entirely unknown in the Middle Ages, making its first appearance in literature through Michow, a physician of Cracow (de Sarma- tia Asiana et Europtea, 1532), as Lithuanian and Moscovitic, and through Bishop Olaus Magnus, of Upsala, 1562, as an ani- mal of North Sweden, thus nearly at the limit of its present distribution. What we can gather from the name of the ani- mal accords perfectly with this. In Europe, names are only found in the vernacular proper of Scandinavia and Russia, jar/" or jerv of the former, and rossomal'a of the latter, both of which are given by the above-mentioned historians; all German, French, Latin, and such, are book-names, intended to denote ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^. 23 the voracity of the animal, aud point back to the well-known account of Olaus, as the German Vielfrass, the Latin Gulo, the French Glouton, the English Glutton. It has often been as- /^ serted that the Grerman Vielfrass, in the sense of glutton, is a misunderstanding, it being derived from the Swedish word fjdll, IS'orwegian fjall, rock or cliff; but this I cannot credit, first, because the second syllable is not accounted for on such supposition {/jdll — jarf is remote, and the animal is nowhere so called, but simply ja>/); secondly, because both the Swed- ish Olaus Magnus and the Norwegian Bishop Pontoppidan give its voracity special prominence, and from this trait derive the name jevf {gierv, "gierig", greedy?), translated Gulo and Vielfrass. Another Norwegian clergyman, H. Strom, gives, in- deed, the designation Fieldfrass^ besides jerf, to the animal, which is of rare occurrence in his locality, but with the explicit remark th2it Fieldfrass was, .beyond doubt, derived from the German word Vielfrass. This is thus exactly contrary to the usual German acceptation; and, in fact, ^'Felsenfrass" would be a singular appellation. ZoBEL [Mustela zibellina]. — The name appears as early as the latter half of the Middle Ages, under many variations, as the modern Latin, sahelus, zibellina ; German, zehel (as early as the ninth century, according to Graff), zohel ; Provencal, sebeli ; English and old French, sable ; Swedish, sabel ; Eussian, sobol ; Finnish, soboli — in every case meaning a northern peltry. In the East, we find another variation, samur, in the Crimea and Armenia, and thence to Servia and Wallachia. The name is probably of Turanian origin. Marder [Mustela martes, 31. foina]. — This word now occurs in Germanic and Romanic languages, in both either with or without the second R, as the Spanish and Portuguese marta^ in the former as a feminine noun, and likewise the French la marte, though in some dialects la martre, the Proven§al mart, Italian martora and martorella ; the English martin [or, oftener, marten — Tr.] appears to be an easy way of saying martern, still in use in some localities ; Dutch marter, Swedish mard^ Danish maar. Seeking for the earliest form of the word, we first find martes in Martial, the Spanish-born Roman poet ; but this can scarcely be an old Latin word, as it is not found in Pliny or other classical writers; and Martial often introduced foreign 24 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. words into his Latin. In Anglo-Saxon, it only appears as meardh ; whilst, on the other hand, in Germany, we find martarus used by Hildegard and Albertus Magnus, in the twelfth and thir- teenth centuries. The resemblance to the German verb " mar- tern'' [to torment] is obvious; in fact, *' martern " might be de- fined ^'to act like a marten", the proper implication being, not the sanguinary murders the marten commits, but the palpable torment which it designedly inflicts. Another derivation comes decidedly ue^irer— martyr^ meaning a person tortured, from martyr ium, torture, whence the verb first arose. The resem- blance in sound may have occasioned the second E. in those cases in which it appears. We might also seek to establish a connection between '• marder", a marten, and " Morder", Ger- man for a murderer; but the T, which occurs in a majority of the forms of the word, is against this, as is also the fact that the German name occurs in many languages to which " Mord-^ and " Morder " do not belong. A second Romanic name of the Marten is faina; Spanish and Italian the same, Portuguese />UM/ia, French lafouine; in some dialects with a in place of u, as in certain Italian locali ties faiua^ in Provence fagitino, fahino, Old French fayne; Catalonian fagina, Belgic faweina^ in the Canton of Grau- bundten further modified into Jierna. The obsolete German names of certain pelts, Fehe^ Feh-ivamme, are very likely re- lated. The word is not Latin as the name of an animal ; but it may be inquired, with respect to the later forms, whether it does not probably signify marta fagma, Beech-marten, as one of the two European species of the genus is often named; properly the Tree- or Pine-marten, in distinction from the Stone- or House-marten, since the former lives in the forest," the latter about buildings ; though very curiously, the Stone- marten [Mustela foina] is the Martarus or Martes fagorum of Albertus Magnus and afterward of Ray, whilst the Pine- marten [M. martes] is distinguished as M. abiettim, ''Marten of the firs". The precise distinction between fouinej foina = Stone-marten, and marte, marges = Pine-marten, moreover, may have been first set forth by Buffon and Linniieus, and have obtained rather among zoologists than among the people at large; the more valuable Pine-marten ["Edel-marder", liter- ally " noble marten "] took the commonest name, leaving the less popular one for the other rarer species. From this /oMi?ie, ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^. 25 the French have formed the verb fouiner, to pry iuto or rum- mage about.* Tbe Celtic, Sclavonic, and Finnish names are entirely differ- ent, as are the Cymric hela,\ the Eussian, Polish, Bohemian, and Crainish kuna, Finnish and Laplandish 7idta; with which the Magyaric nyest or 7test accords. iLTis [Piitorius foetidus].— The German name is found under many variations, according to localities, particularly in North Germany, as iltnis, eltis, Danish ilder, Swedish iller ; further- more, with Tc, illi, ulk^ according to Bechsteiu in Thuringia even Haus-unk^ which is the well known name of a reptile [toad]; and again with &, elb-thier, elh-katze^ which has been sought to be derived from elben = elves, the nocturnal sprites; but the oldest form of the word known to me, illihenzus of Albertus Magnus (thirteenth century), is little unfavorable to this etymology. The Dutch hunsing stands entirely alone. The Romanic languages name the species simply from its bad smell, as the Italian puzzola^ French patois, mediaeval Latin putoHus, the pusnais of French animal-fable, which is the same as punaise, a bed-bug. The second portion of the English name, pole-cat., is of obvious meaning; agreeably to which we find in Diefenbach (Celtica, ii, p. 435) that in Wales, in early times, the animal was kept, or, more likely, suffered to remain, about houses, to destroy mice.}: Another English name, Jitcher, Jitchet [or fitch — Tr.], related to the old French fissan, apparently indicates the same capacity in which the animal was employed or regarded. The Sclavonic languages have a particular word, tschor, tschorz, or tscher, in Carniolau ticor, in Roumanian dihor. By Pliny (8, 55, 84), this species is called viverra, probably an Iberian word no longer occurring in later languages, and which Linnaeus first reapplied in zoology to the Civet-cats. Since the Middle Ages, however, two forms of the name of this animal have simultaneously appeared, the first without t, furo of Isidor of Sevilla (seventh century), whence the present Por- * " Durchsuchen, durchstobern " ; so defined by the writer, but other au- thority defines fouiner to slink off, to sneak away ; used only in trivial style. But either meaning is sufficiently characteristic of the animals. — Tr. t Obviously related to the modern French lelette—see beyond. — Tr. tThe whole English word, poJe-cat, is by some simply rendered "Polish- cat", as if the animal were originally from Poland. In America, the word has been very commonly transferred to the Skunks, Mepliitis : Catesby's pol- cat is such, and Kalm's fiskatta is translated ^>o7e-crtf. — Tr. 26 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTE^J4^.: ^pjgne&(d^fiirq'0y%u4 ^i^Bp'a>4k>b iikiron, transferred by the Span- ish cdiouists to the South American GaUctis vittata, and the North American Mustela huro Fr. Guv., ?iudfuretiis of the Em- peror Frederick II, considered as French by Albertus Magnus, with which the present French furet, English ferret, Celtic f lived and fearaid, German frett, are all related. The -et may be a diminutive form, or be a part of the original word ; it is slighted by the etymologist Isidor, who somewhat gratuitously finds in it the Latin /i(r, thief. The word cannot be Arabic, for Isidor died in 636, before the irruption of the Arabs into Africa. But if, as Shaw states, the Weasel is caWedfert in Barbary, the probability is that the word, like others, is common to the North African pre- Arabic and the Iberian pre-Eomanic languages, and that it is this very animal which Strabo calls the North African (Libyan) Weasel.* WiESEL [Putorius vulgaris], — This word is found in most of the Germanic languages: Swedish tvessla; English tveesel or weasel; Dutch tcezel. It may be traced back to late mediaeval German and Anglo-Saxon. The Swabian verb wuseln^ to skip about {'^sich rasch bewegen^^) like any small creature, may readily be derived from wiesely notwithstanding the difference in the vowel. In this case again, as in the instance of dachs, the same word recurs in Spanish, but without the diminutive termination, as veso. It is found in mediaeval Latin of the twelfth century, and was by the Eomanic colonists bestowed upon an American Musteline animal {Putorius visoii, the repre- sentative of the European Mink). The ordinary French term for the Weasel, helette, is diminutive of the old French hele, from the Celtic and the present Welch bela, a marten, and also occurs under a different modification in North Italy, which was certainly once inhabited by Celts. It may all the more readily have been preserved in French, since it may be con- sidered related to helle^ pretty, and be so interpreted. Certainly in many languages the Weasel derives its name from its neat and elegant ways, as the Italian donnola and Portuguese doninha, little lady; the Spanish comadreja, god-mother; the * According to Rolleston ( Journ. Auat. and Phys. i. 1867, p. 47 seq.) the Cat and the Marten were both domesticated in Italy nine hundred years before the period of the Crusades, and the latter, Mustela foina, was the "cat" or yak^ of the ancients, who, furthermore, called Mustela martes yaXf; aypia, and designated Viverra genetta as Taprr/caia ya'/j). — Tk. ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^. 27 undereigerra* of the iuliabitauts of Biscay, meauiug the same as the Portuguese word just given; the late Greek vo,a^:ra, vicpuT^a, a bride; the Bavarian Sclionthierlein^ *' pretty little creature": the English fairy (Diez). The Sclavonic tongues have an entirely peculiar series of names: laska^ lasilta, lastiza, and the like. In Greek and Latin proper, we find for the Musteline ani- mals only three names, which are all different from those which are better known in living languages, and of the pres- ent existence of which we only find isolated instances ; these are £xrk, ya?Jrj^ and mustela. Pliny uses mustela in different places for native and exotic MusteUdce, without furnishing the means of nicer discrimina- tion of the species; he indicates their mousing capacity; and Palladius Be Be Bust. 4, 9, 4, says that they were kept for this l^urpose. The name appears to be derived from mus, and to mean ''a mouser"; for I cannot agree with Sundevall in recog- nizing in the second syllable the Greek >'/rjpa^ a hunt; since ^ does not become t in Latin. According to Risso, the Weasel is called moustelle to this very day in Xice, and in Lorraine, according to Diez, moteile; this is a partial persistence of the name which, among the Romans, not only indicated the Weasel as the species best known to them, but also included the other Musteline animals in general. So it was also with the Greek ^a/i-// (Batrachomyomachia, 9) or yaXr^ (Arist. Hist. An. 2, 1, and his not very well written book 9, chap. 6), the best-known Greek species of the Marten family, yellowish, w^hite beneath, and a mouser; whilst the fable that it was a transformed maiden (Ovid, Metam. 9, 306-323; Galanthis, with the express statement that the beast still lived about houses) accords well with the complimentary names already mentioned. Thus mustela is primarily our Weasel [Putorius vulgaris], though occasionally other species receive the same name, as, for example, an African one, in Herodotus, 4, 192. More difficult to explain is the second Greek name, ^ txrl^, the skin of which, according to Homer (Iliad, 10, 333), made a night-cap for a Trojan hero, and which, according to Pseudo- Aristotle, Hist. An. 9, 6, was of the size of a small Mrliese dog {^^Malteser Hiindchens'^), like a Weasel, white underneath, and fond of honey. This latter circumstance caused Getti to sep- *^ Precisely the same as the Latin muliercnla. — Tr. 28 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. arate his boccamela ("hoDey-moiith" — as we should say, "hav- ing a sweet tooth "), which is, however, a species scarcely dis- tinguishable from P. vulgaris {cf. Zool. Gart. 1867, p. 6S). Au- bert and Wimmer, on the other hand, argue for Miisiela foina., as this animal is common in Greece, where it is still called hr\<;'^ the latter position is certainly well taken, and the Marten, as the larger animal, better fulfils the Homeric indica- tion just given; but the expression "white underneath" is only true of the throat of the Martens, for both species of Mustela are dark-colored on the belly, and in this respect very different from the Weasel. For the rest, it is much more prob- able that Aristotle named both the Marten and the Weasel together, than that he distinguished two kinds of Weasels and knew nothing whatever of the Marten. Hermelin [Putorhis erminea]. — Though this name sounds like a foreign word, it is nevertheless probably of German ori- gin, since not only are there several provincial variations of less strange accent, like Heermdnchen and Hdrmchen, but there is also the simple harmo of old German manuscripts of the ninth to the eleventh century (Graff, althochdeutscher Sprach- schatz). From this came harmelin, of the twelfth century, simply the diminutive. The name went with the peltries into foreign lands, becoming the Italian arniellino, the Spanish armino, the French [and English] ermine — originally, with Al- bertus Magnus, who had many French forms of names, ermirii- iim, — and came back to the German as Hermelin, with a foreign accent, on the last syllable. The she-fox Ermeleyn, in the Fable of "Eeinecke Fuchs" ["The Beasts at Court"], obviously derived her name from this animal. In Lithuanian, we find szarmit or szarmonys2i^ thQ name of the same animal, which is the same as harmo, according to the rules for the rendering of the sound, just as the Lithuanian szirdis is the German herz. The inter- pretation of Hermelin as the "Armenian Mouse" is thus vir- tually refuted. The Swedes call the animal ross-kat and le-katy the latter probably shortened from Lemmingskatze, since the creature is destructive to Lemmings. In North France, we find for the Ermine the name roselet^ obviously indicating its red- dish color, and with this corresponds the fabulous name Eossel, offspring of the J]rmeleyn. The South European languages have no special name of their own for the Ermine, since it is there found only in the mountains, as the Southern Alps and the Balkan for example. ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID^. 29 NoRZ [Putoriiis lutreola]. — This auimal is at once proclaimed to be East European by its name; for the word, first used iu Germany by the 8axou mineralogist Agricola, in 1546, is Scla- vonic ; the Russian is norlm^ the South Russian nortschilc, the Polish nurek^ from the verb mirlxci, to dive. The Swedes alone, in whose country the animal also appears, have a particular name for it, mdnk^ which is the source of the mink or minx ap- plied to the different North American species [P. viso7i\. Otter [Lutra vulgaris]. — To the comparative philologist this word offers a field as broad as it is difficult, for the names of the animal in various European languages are enough alike to be compared, yet sufficiently dissimilar to be questioned as the same word; the initial particularly differs in a suspicious manner: otter^ lutra^ hodptq. In Sanskrit and Zend,* we find for an aquatic animal, of what kind is not known with cer- tainty, but which may easily have been the Fish -otter, the name udra-Sf derived from the root ucl^ water (Latin udus, Greek udcup). With this agrees perfectly the Lithuanian tidra, the Curlandic and Livonian uderis, and, with slight change of the initial, tvydrei^ which obtains throughout the Sclavonic tongues, the Roumanian vidre — all of which are actual names of the Otter. In the Germanic languages, the u becomes o; otr in the old Northern sagas, ottar in old mediaeval German, otter in the present German, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish, though in the latter the early initial u sometimes reappears, giving utter. The change of d into t is the rule in the rendering of the sound of Sanskrit, Greek, Lithuanian, and Sclavonic in the Germanic languages, although in pure German this consonant properly changes into sharp s {vdwpj water — ^^ ivasser^^)^ as is not, how- ever, the case with the name of the animal. In Greek, we find, as the name of the Otter, k'vuSptc;^ Herod. 2, 72, and 4, 109, ^vo(5/>k, Arist. Hist. An. 1, 1, and 8, 5, or hodpoq^ Aelian Hist. An. 11, 37, nearly always mentioned in connection with the Beaver; also the forms, agreeing better with the San- skrit, odpoq^ udpa, the former for an actual serpent (Ilias, 2, 723, Arist. Hist. An. 2, 17, 83), the latter for a fabulous serpent like monster (Hesiod, Theogon. 413, &c.). In Latin, we find only lutra, Plin. 8, 30, 47, which differs not only in the initial, but also in the t, though the Latin should agree with the Greek and Sanskrit and differ from the Ger- *Zend : the language of the Avesta, or ancient sacred writings of the Per- sians. The people who used it were a branch of the Asiatic Aryans. — Tr. 30 NORTH AMERICAN MU8TELID.E. manic in respect to the consonants. This Intra obtains in modern Romanic languages with little variation ; French, la loutre; Italian and Portuguese, lontra ; Asturian, londra ; in some Italian dialects, lodra, ludria (preserving the prim- itive dJ), and lonza (which bears lightl}' upon the name unze [cf. onza, on^a, ounce] among the cats [Felidce] ; Proven9al, luiria or loiria. The n in many of these names may simply be a matter of easy pronunciation. Curiously enough, we find in Xorway, tar removed from Romanic influence, a name of the Otter of similar sound, slenter. The Spaniard says nutria. This may be an arbitrary corrup- tion of Intra; but when we recall the Greek hodp'.:;, and consider that many Spanish names of animals are nearer the Greek than the Latin (for example, golondrina=x^^^^'^^'-' [^ swallow], and gaJapago in the first two syllables =;^£Aaiv>7 [a turtle]), it seems very likely that nutria is derived from huf^pt^;) and it may be seriously questioned whether the latter is actually com- IDOunded of h and 'tdojrj, not rather that the > represents the I in Intra, and that the ^ is simply a prefix, as in llayo^ = the San- skrit lag /i?ts=: the Latin lems. Initial I and n are sometimes in- terchangeable, as for instance in the Greek )J-pirj and '^hpov, the Latin lamella— i\iQ Provencal namela (Curtius, Griechische Etym. 395). The primitive [ndo Germanic word from which all the above are conjecturally derived probably did not begin with a pure vowel, since a consonant i)recedes it in so many of the foregoing forms, as the v in Sclavonic, the I in Latin, and the rough aspirate in Greek. The German word otter, when it signifies a snake, is femi- nine ; when used for the quadruped it is indifferently masculine or feminine. The former is justifiable, inasmuch as the old Northern otr or otur is masculine ; to make it feminine may be partly on account of its identity with the name of the serpent, partly from its analogy with the Romanic Intra. Albertus Magnus furthermore converted Intra into the masculine form, Inter. In the Middle Ages, finally, there arose the Latin word lutrix, as the name of a snake, formed from Intra by anal- ogy with natrix, and apparently furnishing an imitation of the double employ of otter. On account of its similarity in form and its kindred significa- tion, I cannot refrain from mentioning in this connection the word natter [viper, a kind of snake]. In spite of the Spanish nndria, I believe that it has nothing to do with otter, though ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES OF MUSTELID.E. 31 the two are often confounded bj^ persons not learned in natural history, or considered of similar signification. It is an old word, appearing in the Latin of Cicero as natrix (Qu. Acad. 2, 28); in the Gothic of Ulfilas as nadrs, masculine moreover, Ev. Luc. 3, 7, where the Greek text has k'/id^a, and Luther translated " otter^\ bat at that time already feminine in the old Northern nadhra. The same word is also found in Celtic. This wide diffusion of the word makes it probable that the Latin natrix is not to be interpreted as a swimmer, as if from nare =natare; in general, people take '^ natter ^^ for a poisonous serpent, not simply as a water-snake, and the specific applica- tion of the term to the Cohiher natrix Linn, is of later origin. Many philologists derive the word from an old root, 7ia (Ger- man mihen, Latin neo, Greek ^iw)^ in the sense of coiling {''Himschnilren ^') ; cf. Latin 7iecto. We may briefly treat of other names of the Otter. The Celtic languages have a particular term, Gaelic dobran^ Cymric dyfrgi. The Tartaric Ixama has probably given name to the largest tributary of the Volga. In many, particularly Asiatic, languages, our animal is called by some equivalent of '' water- dog" or "river-dog"; as in the Dekan pani-cutta ; in the Ca- naries (and also in the East Indies), nlr-nai; Malayan, andjing- ayer ; whilst the xove- ■xoTo.tj.tot of Aelian, 14, 21, appear to have been Otters. CHAPTER II. Subfamily MUSTELINE: The Wolverene. The genus Guh — Generic characters— &m/o luscus, the Wolverene — Syn- onymy— Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external charac- ters— Measurements — Anal glands — Description of the skull and teeth — Measurements of skulls, European and American — Nomenclature of the species — Relation of the European and American animal — General his- tory, geographical distribution, and habits of the species — Its distribu- tion in the Old World. HAVING already presented the characters of the subfamily Mustelince with detail sufficing for present purposes, I may at once proceed to consider the genera composing the group. These are : Gulpj^ GaUctis; Mustela; Putorius. The second of these is not^ represented in North America. Putorius is sus- ceptible of division into several subgenera. These genera will be treated in successive chapters, the present being devoted to the genus Gido. The Genus GULO. (Storr, 1780.) < Mustela, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 10th ed. 1758, and of many authors. -"«; I'rsus, Linn. Syst. Xat. i. 10th ed. 1758, and of some authors. < Meles, Pall. Spic. Zool. xiv. 1780 ; also of Boddcert, 1784. -«K.£tUlO, Storr* Prod. Meth. Mamm. 17S0, and of late authors generally. (From Klein.) < Taxus, Tiedem. Zool. i. 1808. *' This extremely rare work has lately been made the subject of a critical essay by Prof. T. Gill, who examined a copy in the library of the Surgeon- Oeneral, U. S. Army, at Washington ("On the ' Prodromus Methodi Mam- malium ' of Storr". By Theodore Gill. Extracted from the Bulletin of the Philosophical Society of Washington, October, 1874. Philadelphia : Collins, printer, 1876. 8v^o. pamph., 1 p. 1., pp. i-xiii). The full title, as quoted by Gill, is as follows : — Prodromvs Methodi Mammalivm. I Rectore Vuiversitatis magnifi- centissimo | serenissimo atqve potentissimo | dvce ac domino | Carolo | dvce Wvrtembergise ac Tecciae regnante, | rel. rel. | — | Ad institvendam | ex decreto gratiosse facvltatis medicae | pro legitime conseqvendo | doctoris medicinae gradv | inavgvralem dispvtationem | propositvs | prseside \ Gottl. CoNR. Christ. Storr | medicinse doctore, hvivs, chemias et botanices { pro- fessore pvblico ordinario | vuiversitatis H. T. pro-rectore, | respondente | Friderico Wolfifer, | Bohnlandense. | — '| Tvh'mgce, d. Jul. MDCCLXXX. \ — \ Litteris Reissianis. [4to, 43 pp., 4 tables.] 32 THE GENUS GULO. 33 Generic characters.— Den /rtZ formula : i. |^ ; c. i^ ; pm. ^=4 ; m. -kzzk = 20 ^ ^^ ^^® ^^ Mustela). Sectorialtooth of lower jaw (anterior true M.) wilhout an internal cusp (usually evident in J/ws-^eZa). Auteorbital fora- men presenting obliquely upward as well as forward, canal-like, and open- ing over interspace between last and penultimate premolars. Skull little constricted at the middle ; rostral portion relatively shorter, stouter, and more obliquely truncated anteriorly than in ilusteJa. General upper outline of the skull in profile more arched. Mastoids and auditory tubes more pro- duced, the whole periotic region decidedly more prominent. Zygomatic arch very high behind, at first ascending vertically, then giving off a pos- terior convexity. Depth of emargination of palate about equal to distance thence to the molars. Skull, as a whole, massive, finally developing strong ridges. Vertelral formula : c.7 ; d. 15; /. 5 ; s. 3 ; cd. 15 or 16. {Gcrrard.) Size much above the average for this family, and nearly at a maximum (Galictis alone, of this subfamily, is said to be larger). Form very stout, and general appearance rather Bear-like than Weasel-like ; organization ro- bust. Legs short and stout. Tail short (about as long as the head), bushy, with drooping hairs. Pelage shaggy. Ears low. Soles densely hairy, with six small naked pads. Claws strong, acute, much curved. Coloration pe- culiar.* Anal glands moderately developed. Progression incompletely plan- grade. Habits chiefly terrestrial. Notwithstanding the remarkably peculiar outward aspect of Gnjo in comparison with its allies, it is very closely related to ffie Martens in structure, forbidding more than generic distinc- tion from Mwstela. The denTal formula is the same. In addi- tion to the cranial characters above given, it may be stated that the skull is relatively as well as absolutely more massive than that of the arboreal Martens, in coordination with the much more robust and sturdy organization of the Wolverene. Detailed descriptions of the skull and teeth, as well as of the external characters of the genus, are given beyond under the head of the single known species, G. luscus. The generic name is the Latin gulo^ a glfftton, in allusion to the voracity of the animal. The obvious relation of the word is with the Latin gula^ throat or gullet, also used figuratively for appetite or gluttony ; and in various languages the vernac- ular name of the species is a word of similar signification. '•'' Gulo " was the original specific name in the binomial nomen- clature ; but its application to the present animal was origi- nally simply by translation into Latin of the Scandinavian and Russian vernacular (cf. antea^ p. 22). * In the pattern of coloration, however, we discern the trace of the same character that is fully developed in Mepli'dis mepkitiea — the light bands, con- verging over the rump, being similaFHo" the stronger white stripes which mark the Skunk. 3 M 34 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. The Wolverene. tilllO lllSOUS. Plate I. (J.. Old World references.) Gulo, antiquorum.—"Gt'sn. Quad. Vix-ip. 1551, 623, fig.— Oi. M^ar/. Hist. Gent. Sept. 1555, 605.— Aldrov. Quad. Dig. 1645, lld.—Schef. Lappon. 1673, 3iO.—Oharlet. Exercit. 1677, 15.— Bzacz. Hist. Nat. Polon. 1721, 218.— Linn. S. N. 2d-5th eda. 1740-7, ii.— Klein, Quad. 1751, 83, pi. 5.— Rill, Hist. An. 1752, 546, pi. 21.—Jonst. Theatr. 1755, 131, pi. 57." Mustela nifo-fusca, medio dorsi nigro, L. Fn. Suec. 1st ed. 1746, 2, no. 6; S. N. 6th-7tli eds. 1748, 5, no. l.—Kram. Elench. Veg. et Anim. 1756, 311. Mustela gulo, L. Fn. Suec. 2d ed. 1761, 5, no. 14; S. N. i. lOtli ed. 1753, 45, no. 3; S. N. 1. 12tli ed. 1766, 67, no. o.—Gunn. Act. Nidros. iii. 121, pi. 3, f. S.—Jffoutt. Naturs. ii. 189, pi. 14. f. 4.— Mull. Zool. Dan. Prod. 1776, 3, no. U.—Urxl. Syst. An. 1777, 477, no. 15.— Fab. Fn. Grtenl. 1780, 21, no. 12. ^Lr^m.aUl^i Schreb. Siiug. iii. 1778, 525, pis. 144 (A.ct. Holm. 1773) and 144* (Baff.). —Zimm. Geog. Gesch. ii. 1780, 276, no. 168.— Gm. S. N. i. 1783, 104, no. 8.— Shaw, G. Z. i. 1800, 460, pi. 104.— Turi. S. N. i. 1306, 64.—Cuv. "Tabl. :^lem. , 112."— "JP. Cuv.'Dict. Sci. Xat. xix. 79, f. — ." Meles gulo, Pall. Spic. Zool. xiv, 1730, 25, pi. 2; Z. R. A. i, 1831, 7.3, no. 2Q.~Bodd. Elench. An. i. 1784, 81, no. 5. Taxus gulo, Tiedem. Zool. i. 1803, 377. Glllo borealiS, ''^'^lss. Ilium. Fig. till Skand. Fn."—''Iietz. Fn. Suec. 1300, 25.'— C?ur. R. A. i. 1817, —.— Wagn. Suppl. Schreb. ii. 1841, 246.— Keys. <& Bias. Wirb, Eur. 1840, 66.—Schinz. Syu. Mamm. 1844, -Ml.— Bias. "Wirb. Deutschl. 1857, 209, figs. 119, 120 (skull).— ^rancZi. Bemerk. Wirb. X. E. Kussl. 185-, 20.— Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 120, Gulo sibiricus, Pall. "Sp. Zool. xiv. t. 2' .—(Gray.) Gulo arctiCUS, Dean. Mamm. i. 182J, 174.— Les.s. Mam. 1827, 1A2.—Fiseh. Syn. 1829, 151.— Gie}). Siiug. 1855, liQ.—Fitzinrjer, Xaturg. Siiug. i. 1861, 341, f. 70. Gulo vulgaris, Griff. An. Kingd. t. 1827, 117, no. 331.— S". Smith, Nat. Lib. xv. 1342, 203. Gulo leucurus, "IIedenborg'\—(Gray.) Rossomaka, Russlaji.—'' Xieremb. Hist. Nat. 1635, 18B.—Rossomack,BeU. Trav.i. 1763, 221.— Rosomach, Rytsch. Orenb. Topog. i. 1772, 231.—Rosomak, Steller, Beschr. Kamt. 1774, 118." VeelTraat, '• Tsbr. Keize naar China, 1704, 21.— Houtt. Nat. Hist. Dier. ii. 1761, 189, pi. 14, f. 4.''— Dutch. Tielfrass, Klein, op. et loc. cit.—J. G. Gm. Reise Sibir. iii. 1751, 4^2.— Midler, Naturs. i. 1773, 265, pi. 14, f. 4 (ex. Houtt.).— Fon Martens, Zool. Gart. xi. 1870, 253 (philologi- cal).—Ger?>ian. Vielfras, Hallen, Naturg. Thiere, 1757, 543. Goulon, Bomare, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. ii. 1768, 343. GlouCon, Bomare, torn. cit. 333.— .Bu/. Hist. Nat. xiii. 1765, 278; Suppl. iii, 240, pi. 43. - French. Glutton, Pe7in. Syn. Quad. 1771, 196.— Etiglish. Jerf, J»rv, Filfras, Xonvegian. Jarf, Jerr, FlUrass, Swedish.-Genlerg, Act. Stockh. 1773, 222, pi. 7, 8. Gieddk, Laplanders. (B. American references.) CoatI ursuloafflnis amerlcanus, Kl'in, Q aad. 1751, 74. lrsUs''?>?finRraS0DlS, Briss. Quad. 1756, 263, lo. 3. SY^•ONYMY OF GULO LUSCUS. 35 Irsus I.llSCUS, L. S. X. i. 1758, 47, no. 2; 1766, 71, uo. 4 (based on BrisBon and EdwardU).— Erxl. Syst. Anim. 1777, 167, no. 5.—Schreb. Sang. iii. 1778, 539.— Zimm. Geogr. Geach. ii. 1780, 276, no. 169.— Gm. S. N. i. 1788, 103,no. i.—Shai'.\ G. Z. i. 1800, 462, pi. 105, lower fig. (after Edv^Avda). —Turt. S. N. i. 1806, 64. VrSTS IVSCVS, Fabric. Fn. Grffinl. 1780. 24, No. 14. ^[ejes lUSCUS, Bodd. Elench. An. i. 1784, 80. CiulO lUSCUS, J. Sab. Franklin's Journ. 1823, 650.-1;. Sab. Suppl. Parry's lat Voy. 1824, pTcT^kxix.—Rich. App. Parry's 2d Voy. 1325, '292— Rich. F. B.-A. i. 1829, Al.—Fisch. Syn. 1829, 154.— Godm. Am. X. H. i. 1831, 185, pi.—, lower &g.—Ross, Exp. 1835, 8.— H. Smith, Xat. Lib. xv. 1842, 20S.—De Eay, X. T. Zool. i. 1842, 27, pi. 12, f. 2.— Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 63.— J.ud. <£ Bach. Quad. X. A. i. 1849, 203, pi. 26.— Thomps. X. H. Vermont, 1353, 30.— Bainl Stansbury'e Eeport, 1852, 311 (Great Salt Lake, "Crtab) ; M. X. A. 1857, 181.— Billings, Canad. Xat. and Geol. i. 1857, 241.— 22o«s, op. cit. vi. 1861, 30, i41.— Maxim. Arch. Xaturg. 1861,—; Verz. X.-Am. Saug. 1862, 35.— Gerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 96 (includes both).— Coue^', Am. Xat. i. 1867, 352 — Ball, Am. Xat. iv. 1870, 221 (Yukon).— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. i. 1870, 177 (Massachu- setts).—Jlferr. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. 1872, 662 ("Wyoming).— AZZe?i, Bull. Essex. Inst. Ti. 1874, 54 (Montgomery, Colot&do). —Trippe, apud Coues, Birds X. W. 1874, 224, in text (Clear Creek County, Colorado). — Cones d Yarroic, Zool. Expl. W. 100 Merid. v. 1875, 61 (Wahsatch Mountains and localities in Utah). Gulo arcticus, var. A., Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 174, no. 267.— SaW. Fn. Amer. 1825, 60. GulO wolverene, Grif. An. Kingd. v. 1827, in, no. 332. Carcajou, La Bontan, Voy. 1703, Si.— Sarrasin,* M6m. Acad, Sci. Paris, 1713, p. 12.— Bo- mare, Diet. d'Hist. Xat. i. 1768, 423.— French Canadians. (Xot of F. Cuvier, Suppl. Buff.) (Also, Carkajou, Karkajou. Compare Cree Indian names.) Carcajou or Queequehatch, Dobbs, Hudson Bay, 1744, 40. Quickhatch or Wolverene, Edv:. Birds, ii. pi. 103.— Ellis, Hudson's Bay, i. 1750, 40, pi. 4. {Quickehatch and Quiquihatch are also found. Compare Cree Indian names.) Wolverene, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 195, no. 40, pi. 20, f. 2: Hist. Quad. ii. 1781, 8, pi. 8,- Arct. Zool. i. 1784, 66, uo. 21.— flcarne, Journ. , 312.— Church, Cab. Quad. ii. 1805, pi. — . (Also, Wolverenne, Wolveren, Wolverin, Wolverine, Wolvering.)—yolverene, Less. Man. 1827. 142 (in text). Grdste amerlcauische Halbluclis, Hall. Xaturg. Thiere, 1757, 518. Wolf beer, Houtt. Xatuur. Hist, Dieren, ii. 227. — TFo?/«&ar, Miill. Xaturs. i. 1773, 285. Ours de la baye de Hudson, Briss. op. et loc. dt Okeecoohawgew, Okeecoohawgees, Cree Indians. (Obvious derivation of Quickhatch, if not also of Carcajou.) Hab. — Arctogna. In America, the whole of the British Provinces and Alaska, south in the United States to Ne'w England and Ne'w York, and still further in the Rocky Mountains, to at least 39^. Specific characters.— S.uto-pliintigrade, thick-set, shaggy, bushy-tailed, with thick legs and low ears ; blackish, with a light lateral band meeting its fellow over the root of the tail, thus encircling a dark dorsal area : fore- Description of external characters A The form of this aDiinal indicates great strength, without corresponding activity. The body is heavy and almost clumsy, supported upon thick-set and rather low legs ; the walk is in- completely plantigrade. The back is high-arched, the general * Special paper: Histoire d'un animal nomme Carcajou en Amenque, &g. t Taken from a mounted specimen, from Great Salt Lake, Utah, in the National Museum. 36 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. figure droopiDg both before and behind, both tail and head being carried low. The general appearance is strikingly that of a 'Bear cub, with the addition of a bushy tail, though there is f^ somewhat of the elongation which characterizes the Mustelidce. The head is broad and much rounded on every side, with rather short and pointed muzzle, wide apart eyes, and low ears, altogether not very dissimilar from that of Mustela pennanti. The jaws, however, are rather Canine in appearance. The muffle and septum of the nose are naked, the former for about half an inch from the end of the snout. The eyes are remark- ably small. The ears are low, much broader than high, obtusely founded, well furred on both sides, scarcely overtopping the fur of the parts. The whiskers are few and short : there are other similar bristles about the head. The pelage, as usual, is of two kinds ; there is a short under-far, a kind of coarse kinky wool scarcely an inch long, which is mixed with the longer stiffer and straightish over-hairs, which are about four inches long on the sides, flanks, and hips, giving the animal a shaggy aspect, like a Bear. On the fore parts, and especially the head, how- ever, the coat is much shorter and closer. The tail is clothed with still longer hairs, measuring some six or eight inches, drooping downward and conferring a peculiar shape, as if this member were deficient at the end. The tail- vertebrae are one- fourth, or rather more, of the length of head and body. The legs are very stout and the feet large ; the track of the animal resembles that of a small ^ear, but it is less completely planti- grade. The palms antTsoles are densely furry ; but the balls of the digits are naked, and among the hairs may be discerned small naked pads at the bases of the digits, as well as a larger one beneath the carpus, the correspondent to which on the heel is apparently wanting. The fourth front digit is longest j then comes the third, fifth, second, and first, which last is very short. On the hind feet, the third is longest, the fourth little shorter ; then follow the second, fifth, and first. In color, the Wolverene is blackish, or deep dusky brown, with a remarkable broad band of chestnut or yellowish-brown, or even fading to a dingy brownish-white, beginning behind the shoulders, running along the sides, and turning up to meet its fellow on the rump and base of the tail, circumscribing a dark dorsal area. There is a light-colored grayish area on the front and sides of the head. On the throat, and between the fore legs, there is a patch, or there are several irregular spots DESCRIPTION OF GULO LUSCUS. 37 of light color, as in Mnstela. The legs, feet, most of the tail, and under parts generally, are quite blackish. The claws are whitish, strong, sharp, much curved, and about an inch long. *' The color of the fur varies much according to the season and age. The younger animals are invariably darker in the shadings than the old, which exhibit more of the grey mark- lugs. ... In some specimens the yellowish fringing of the sides and rump is almost entirely white and of larger extent, leaving but a narrow stripe on the centre of the back dark. In such the hoary markings of the head would be of greater extent, and descend, most probably, to the shoulders."— (Ross, I. c.) Measurements of seven sjjecimens of Gulo luscus. From tip of nose Tail to Length "o Locality. to— end ot— of- ^ J ■ S 4i o§ 1 <£ :S a g« .so I u O 6 1 "3 8 H 1 1 1 356 Fort Simpson, H. B. T .. ^ 2.60 5.00 6. 25 26.50 7.40 12.40 1092 Yukon Eiver, Alaska . . . r/ 3. 10 5. 5016. 70 31. 00 7.60 13.60 5.00 7.10 -Fresh. 1093 do 9 3.00 5.10 6.75 29.25 7.60 13.10 5.00 6.75 ...do. 1657 Peela River (Dec.) 2. 70 5. 15 i 6. .50 29.00;9.25 15.00 5.50 6.70i.... ...do. 1664 do ? 2. 75 4. 80 6.50 27. 00, S. 00 13.00 5. 10 6.50|.... ...do. Mackenzie's River 9 2. 80 6. 10 6.90i 34. 8018.00 13.00 4.40 2. 00 ...do. t a6.0C8. 90 14.00 Dry. |tfl 1 ^ From Ross. Longest hairs of body 4.00; of tail 7.50; upper canines 0.90; lower 0.75. tFrom Baird. Anal glands. The anal glands of this animal are stated to be of about the size of a walnut; the fluid yellowish-brown and of the consistency of honey. The discharge is by the usual lateral papillae within the verge of the anus. The scent is foetid in a high degree. I) €scri})tion of the sliull and teeth. (See Plate I.) The massiveness of the skull of GulOj in comparison with that of Mustela, is as striking as its superiority in size. In general form, the prominent peculiarity is the strong convexity of the upper outline in profile. From the highest point, just behind the orbits, the skull slopes rapidly downward behind; and the frontal declivity is also much greater than in Mustela. There 38 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. ia much more of a frontal concavity, and the plane of the nasal orifice is extremely oblique. These features of the profile rather suggest a Feline than a Musteline skull, although, of course, the resemblance is still far from complete. There is a strong char- acter in the zyejoma: in ^[mfeJa a simple arch; here a nearly horizontal beam borne posteriorly upon an upright base, with a strongly convex backwardly projecting elbow. The same straightness requires a prominent process for definition of this part of the orbit. The zygoma is laminar and quite deep, much more so than in Mu stela. Viewed from above, the zygomata ' are widely divergent from before backward. The anteorbital foramen is comparatively small, and appears over the fore bor- der of the sectorial tooth. Prominent characters are observed in the paroccipital and mastoid, which form great processes of I abutment against the bulhie, the same being only moderate in \ Mustela^ and merely indicated in the smaller Weasels. The pal- ate is very broad for its length, with straight (not a little con- cave) sides ; measured across its broadest point, it forms very nearly an equilateral triangle with the sides. The posterior iemargination is moderate, broadly U-shaped. The bullae audi- itoriae are only inflated on less than the interior half, the rest 'being greatly contracted and drawn out into a long tubular ■; meatus (one extreme, of which the other is seen in the slender- bodied species of GaJe — compare descriptions). The basi- occipital space is somewhat wedge-shaped, owing to the diverg- ence posteriorly of the bullrc. The pterygoids are very stout at base, but soon become laminar, and terminate in long, slen- der, hamular processes. Even in young skulls, the lambdoidal crests are as strong and flaring as in the oldest of 2histeJ a, and terminate in the very prominent mastoids. The occipital sur- face is considerably excavated beneath these crests; the median superior protuberance is great. The condition of the sagittal crest varies, as usual, with age. In the youngest specimens, it is single and median for but a little way, then gradually divar- * icates on either hand to the supraorbital process ; in the old- est, the divarication only begins more than half-way forward, a high, thin crest occupying the rest of the median line. The general shape of the brain-box, viewed from above, is, in con- sequence of the breadth and depression of the skull behind, neither the ovate nor the somewhat cylindrical, as obtains in Mustela and Putorius^ but rather trapezoidal, somewhat as in Taxidea. The body of the under jaw is shaped exactly as in. SKULL AND TEETH OF GULO LUSCUS. 39 Mustela^ though it is more massive, but the coronoid is differ- ftrv^^ ent. Its back border rises straight aud perpendicularly, the anterior border curving strongly backward to meet it in a rounded obtuse apex. In Mustela, the borders gradually ap- proximate to each other and meet more acutely. M. pennantl alone is much like Gido in this respect. Eeviewing general cranial characters from the small Gale to the large Giilo, we see with increase of mere size a correspond- ing increment of massiveness; a graduation in obliquity of the plane of the end of the muzzle j a lengthening and constriction (on the whole) of the rostrum ; an increase of the convexity of the upper profile j a depression of the zygomata from regular arches to a shape higher behind and more nearly horizontal in continuity; enlargement of paroccipitals aud mastoids; con- striction and lateral elongation of the bullae into auditory tubes; and a flattening and widening behind, and correspond- ing contraction in front of, the brain-box. The dentition shares the general massiveness of the cranium. Compared with those of Miistela, the teeth, if not relatively larger, are more swollen and stouter, with bulging sides, blunt points, and dull edges. The back upper molar is placed so far inward, out of line with the rest, that its outer border scarcely projects outside the inner border of the next. It has the same general character as in Mustela. The median constriction is slight, the inner more strongly regularly convex, with raised brim and crescentic ridge inside this ; the outer is double con- vex (convex with an emargination), higher than the other, with an irregularly tuberculous surface. The autero-internal spur of the last premolar is low and little more than a mere heel, scarcely to be called a cusp. Turgidity aside, this tooth other- wise repeats the same in Mustela. The next premolar abuts against the reentrance between the spur and main body of the last one, rather than lies in continuation of the same axis. The foremost premolar is relatively smaller and more crowded than the same in Mustela ; it rests directly against the canine, to the inner side of the general axis of dentition. It would seem that but little more crowding would cause this tooth to perma- nently abort. The great canines are extremely stout at the base, rather blunt, and have a strong forward obliquity. Of the six upper incisors, the lateral pair are, as usual, much larger (wider and deeper, though little, if any, longer) than the rest. They are usually found much abraded by rubbing 40 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. agaiust the under canines. The other incisors are all alike, smaller and evenly set ; all show indication of triiobation, with a large middle and minute lateral lobes, best seen from behind, where, at the point where the /teeth flatten toward the tips, ridges divaricate, the termination of these ridges forming the lateral lobes. The inferior incisors are irregularly set, the mid- dle one on each side being crowded back out of the general plane. The outermost pair are broader than the rest, and seem longer, viewed from the front, since more of the tooth is exposed from the alveolus. The next, partially displaced pair, viewed from the front, seem the smallest of all ,• but this is due to their position. Viewed from*behind, their size is seen to be much greater than that of the middle pair. All the incisors are obscurely lobate at end. The under canines are shorter, stouter, and more curved than the upper ; most of their surface is stri- ate. The anterior lower premolar, like the same tooth in the upper jaw, is very small, displaced inward, and apposed against the canine. The next premolar is markedl>r increased in size, and set in the jaw with its longitudinal axis very oblique to the general axis of dentition, as if turned partially around for want of room. The next two premolars are much larger still and massive ; they both show a single central pointed conical cusp, whose sides are bevelled down all around to the rimmed base of the tooth, but there is no indication of the secondary cusp half- way up the back edge of the main cusp, as in Mustela pennanti, martes, americana^ and perhaps all of this genus. Similarly, on the great sectorial lower molar, there is no sign of a secondary cusp on the inner face of the main cusp, as is so plainly seen in M. marteSy and which also exists in less degree in M. pennanti^ americana, and foina. These differences of the two back under premolars and front under molar are, perhaps, the strongest dental peculiarities of Gulo as compared with Mustela. Be- sides this, the two main cusps of the anterior lower premolar are subequal in size and elevation instead of very unequal, as in Mustela., where the hinder one is much the highest. The posterior tuberculous portion of this tooth is relatively much smaller. As in allied genera, the back lower molar is small, subcircular, tuberculous, not calling for special remark. In a large proportion of the skulls which come to hand, the canines and sectorial teeth are found cracked, even split en- tirely in two or broken off, apparently a result of the desperate exertions the captured animals made to free themselves from iron trai>s. NOMENCLATURE OF GULO LUSCUS. 41 I append measurements of a very lar^e and another rather small American skull, with those of a specimen from Lapland. Measurements of sliuUs, European and American. Total length from apex of intermaxillary to occipital protuberance. Greatest width (zygomatic) Distance between orbits Nasal bones, length Upper incisors from front to hinder margin of palate Upper molars and premolars, length taken together Lower molars and premolars, length taken together - Lower jaw, length to back of condyle Lower jaw, height of corouoid above condyle Greatest width of palate Least width of skull lutermastoid width Interparoccipital width Foramen magnum, width "Width across supraorbital protuberance 5.50 3.35 L40 2.80 L65 1.95 3.65 1.70 L80 1.30 3.00 L95 0.70 1. 75 0. to 3.55 1.45 LOO 2.85 1.65 1.95 3.70 1.65 1.80 L35 3.20 2.05 0.75 L75 6.00 3.75 1.50 LOO 3.10 1.75 2.10 4.00 1.85 L95 1. 55 3.50 2.35 0.80 1.80 NOMENCLATURE OF THE SPECIES— RELATION OF THE EURO- PEAN AND AMERICAN ANIMAL. This animal has received a great variety of names, both tech- nicaFand vernacular. IS^early all barbarous tribes of Northern j regions in both hemispheres, as well as civilized nations, have! ^)y' each bestowed some appellation ; and in some cases at least the latter have adopted an aboriginal name, with more or less 1 \ modification, while in all cases the book-names of the species ! appear to be derived from the vernacular. Thus, '^ quicfihatch " - — '~ of the English residents of British America is obviously an Anglicism of the Oree or Knisteneaux word, and I agree with Sir^John Eichardson that carcaJou.of the French Canadians is probably derived from the same source. I have no idea what ^ the meaning of the more frequent term tvolverene may be ; none of its various spellings furnish a clue, beyond the obvious wolf J which is however of wholly uncertain applicability here. Gul^^lntto7i, gJoKtoUj are self-explaining, in allusion to the voracity of the animal ; this is also the meaning of the Swed-^ ish, Russian, and German names above quoted. Gido was adopted by Linm^us as the specific name of the European ani- mal, which he placed in the genus 21ustela. This author sepa- rated the American as Ursus Juscus — an absurd name indeed. .,0^^^^ 42 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. '^ Luscus '' signifies bliud of one eye, mope-eyed ; as is said to have been the unfortunate condition of a specimen imported from Hudson's Bay, some time in possession of Sir Hans Sloane, and described by Edwards, upon whose account Lin- nteus based his Zystis luscus, Linmieus was frequently capri- cious, and sometimes facetious, in bestowing names ; while some of those he gave were wholly inappropriate. Thus the i Paradisea apoda ("footless*'), the common bird of Paradise, was so called for no other reason than that the skins imported into Europe used to lack the feet, these having been removed i in the preparation of the specimens by the natives. This tax- 1 idermal accident not only gave rise to the name, but to the general belief that the bird had no feet, and to various fabu- lous accounts of its habits as a consequence of such condition. It is deplorable that an accidental deformity of one particular individual should be thus perpetuated as the designation of a species ; the more so, as it is the name which, according to strict rules of nomenclature, must prevail. It may, however, be fairly questioned whether it should not be set aside, under the accepted ruling that i^riority shall not be entitled to prece- dence when the first name involves a palpable error, or is wholly inept, as in the present instance. The specific term (julo being used for the genus, the name borealis would come next in order, should hiscus be ignored on these considerations. The foregoing synonymatic lists show that this species has. not escaped subdivision into nominal ones, and that varieties have been generally recognized. But the close similarity of the animals from the /two continents did not escape some of the earlier writers,*^ong them even those of slight scientific acquirements or experience. Thus Shaw, in ISOO, states of the Wolverene, of which he reproduces Edwards's figure, that " this appears to be no other than a variety " of Ursus gulo. Des- marest allowed varietal distinction from the animal be called G. arcticus. Cuvier endorsed the specific validity which earlier writers had generally admitted ; this error Grifiith perpetuated, and, calling one Gulo vulgaris^ the other G. ivolverene^ introduced at once two new synonyms. At least, if these names did not originate with him, I have not found them in previous works. A certain •' Gulo leucurus Hedenborg'', quoted by Gray, I have not had an^pporfiinity of verifying. In the foregoing syn- onymy I separate the American from the Old World quota- tions merely for the convenience of reference, and must not be erfectly ^emperate and truthful narration of the creature's actual habits / sufficiently attests the possession of really remarkable qualities, which need be but caricatured for transformation into just such fables. We may remember,/also, that the history of the Wol- verene is mixed in some cases with that of other animals, some of whose habits have been attributed to it. Thus Charlevoix \ HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 45 (Voy. Araer. i, 201) speaks of the ''carcajou or quincajou, a kind of cat", evidently, however, having the Cougar [Fells con- color) in view, as appears from the rest of his remarks. Such habit of lying in wait for their prey is common to the Cougar, Lynx, and other large Cats. Not to prolong this portion of the subject, I may state briefly, that the animal whose characteris- tics will be fully exposed in the course of this article is simply an uncommonly large, clumsy, shaggy 3Iarten or Weasel, of great j strength, without corresponding agility, highly carnivorous, like 'the rest of its tribe, and displaying great perseverance and sagacity in procuring food in its northern residence when the supply is limited or precarious, often making long uninterrupted journeys, although so short-legged. It is imperfectly planti- grade, and does not climb trees like most of its allies. It lives in dens or burrows, and does not hibernate. It feeds upon the carcases of large animals which it finds already slain, but does not destroy such creatures itself, its ordinary prey being of a much humbler character. It is a notorious thief j not only of stores of meat and fish laid up by the natives of the countries it inhabits, the baits of their traps, and the animals so caught, but also of articles of no possible service to itself j and avoids with most admirable cunning the various methods devised for its destruction in retaliation. All the earlier accounts referred to the animal of Europe and Asia. I have not found the terms "Carcajou" and " Wolverene", nor any allusion to the American form, until early in the eight- eenth century. La Hontan speaks of it in 1703, likening it to a large^fijsrce Badger ; Lawson has been quoted in this connec- tion, he having attributed to the Lynx some of the fabulous accounts of the Glutton ; but it is evident that his remarks neither apply, nor were intended to apply, to the Wolverene. Catesby speaks of an animal ''like. a. small bear" which exists in the Arctic portions of America ; this reference is among the earlier ones to the Wolverene, those which confound it with other species being excluded.* We have other definite accounts of the Wolverene, near the middle of the eighteenth century, * The Wolverene has been confused not only with the Lynx and Cougar in early times, but also rxuite recently with the American Badger, Taxidea americana. Thus F. Cuvier (Suppl. Buffon, i, 1831, 267) treats at length of '* Le carcajou, ou Blaireau Americain ", his whole article being based upon the Badger, to which he misconceives the name Carcajou to belong. Paul Gervais also speaks of the " CarJcaJoa ou Blaireau d'Am6rique " (Proc. Verb. Soc. Philom. Paris, 1842, 30). 46 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. as those of Klein, Ellis, Dobbs, Edwards, and Brisson. Ursiis liiscus of Linuiieus arose in a way already narrated, and the species may be considered to have been well known from this period, although it was for a long time very generally supposed to be different from the Glutton of Europe and Asia. The various American biographies of this animal are without exception more or less incomplete and unsatisfactory; even those which are shorn of obvious exaggeration are, in large part, a compilation of earlier statements. They have, however, steadily improved, the latest, that of Audubon and Bachman, being by far the best, although Sir John Kichardson's was an ^excellent contribution. The account which Pennant gave in ' 178J: ( Arct. Zool. pp. CG-68) is purged of some of the fables, yet curiously shows how their effects will linger. He scouts the I idea of such excessive gluttony as had been attributed, yet \ relates the moss-throwing story, and represents the Wolverene ^ as " a beast of uncommon fierceness, the terror of the Wolf and V Bear; the former, which will devour any carrion, will not touch the carcase of this animal, which smells more foetid than that of the Pole-cat ''. Pennant traces its distribution as far north as Copper Eiver, to the countries on the west and south of Hud- son's Bay, Canada, and the tract between Lakes Huron and Superior. He gives a fair description, and adds : — " It hath much the action of a Bear ; not only in the form of its back, and the hanging down of its head, but also in resting on the I hind part of the first joint of its legs." *' The Kamtschatkans ", ' he naively continues, " value them so highly as to say, that the heavenly beings wear no other furs." Richardson gives some interesting particulars, among them none, so far as I am aware, , that are not accurate. In a passage he quotes from Graham's ; MSS., we see a probable basis for the fabulous accounts that the Fox is the Wolverene's provider or abettor in the ? chase — for it is the well-nigh universal rule that fable is founded • on facts exaggerated, distorted, or perverted. Alluding to the Wolverene's notorious habit of following Marten roads, Mr. Oraham remarks that the animal tears the captured Martens to pieces or buries them at a distance in the snow. *' Drifts of snow often conceal the repositories thus made of the martens from I the hunter, in which case they furnish a regale to the hungry fox, whose sagacious nostril guides him unerringly to the spot. •Two or three foxes are often seen following the Wolverene for • this purpose.'' Eichardson discredits the accounts which had HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 47 come down from Buffou of the destruction of Beavers by the Wolverene. "It must be only in summer," he says, "when those industrious animals are at work on land, that it can sur- prise them. An attempt to break open their house in winter, even supposing it possible for the claws of a Wolverene to pene- etrate the thick mud walls when frozen as hard as stone, would only have the effect of driving the beavers into the water to seek for shelter in their vaults on the borders of the dam."* I Hearne gives a much more credible account of the depre- [ dations of the Wolverene upon another of the valuable fur- bearing animals of the north — the Fox — during the period of reproduction. Being directed by scent to the burrow of the Fox, which its great strength enables it to enlarge if necessary, it enters and destroys the whole family. In evi- should be covered with leaves, moss or the like, and the bait slightly scented with castoream. Like all voracious ani- mals, the perpetual greed of the wolverine completely over- balances its caution, and thus renders its capture an easy. task."t The Wolverene is an animal of circumpolar distribution in (5*' both hemispheres. In North Americ^i, it exists in all suitable country north of the United States to the Arctic Coast, and even on some of the islands of the Polar Sea, traces of its presence having been discovered on Melville Island, about latitude 75<^. Our notes upon its distribution in this country may relate chiefly to its southern limits. Of an erroneous quo- tation, by which it has been supposed to occur as far south as Carolina, I have already spoken. Its southern limit has been fixed more properly between 42° and 43^; this is probably nearly correct for the eastern portions of the continent, aside from what recession of the species northward may have re- cently occurred, although, as we shall see, the species reaches y* Complete American Trapper, [etc.] p. 200. New York. 16mo. 187G. //^ t A statement at variance with the experience of others, as detailed on a /I following page, from which it would appear that the wary creature is par- \ Vticularly difficult to entrap. X HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 49 farther south iu the West. lu Massachusetts, according to Mr. Allen, it still lingered a few years since, in that portion where the Canadian, as distinguished from the AUeghanian, fauna is represented. But the Massachusetts reports are all probably traceable to a Hoosac Mountain record some years prior. Dr. Hitchcock and Dr. De Kay both quote Dr. Emmons for this, although the species is not given in the latter's report. In New York, it was rare in the time of Audubon and De Kay : the former notes specimens from Rensselaer (1810) and Jefferson (1827) Counties. Dr. Z. Thompson, writing in 1853, states that it was then extremely rare iu Vermont, none having been met with to his knowledge for several years. Though occasionally found when the country was new in all parts of the State, it was never very plentiful, and for years had been known only in the most wooded and unsettled parts. I have met with but one record of its presence in the United States from west of New York to the Rocky Mountaius, though it is to be pre- sumed that it inhabits, or has lately done so, the wooded por- tions of our northern frontier. Maximilian speaks {I. c.) of the occurrence of the species on the western border of Canada and near the mouth of the Red River of the North, and surmises \ that the species may extend to the Missouri River, especially I as he saw a skin, but without indication of locality, at one of •the trading posts. I never saw the Wolverene in Dakota or ' Montana, where most of the country is altogether too open. Baird, however, speaks of its occasional occurrence in the Black Hills, and registers a specimen from '' northwest of Fort Union"'* (probably Montana, toward the base of the Rocky Mountains); and Mr. C. H. Merriam (as recorded I. s. c.) procured a speci- men on the Yellowstone River, Wyoming, in August, 1872. In the Rocky Mountains, as was to have been expected, its extension southward has been traced to the farthest known point, between 40^ and 39^. Professor Baird notes a specimen obtained by Captain Stansbury from the Great Salt Lake, Utah, which lies wholly south of 42^. This individual is still (1877) pre- served, mounted, in the National Museum. It is probable that its extreme limit is even somewhat farther than this, reaching in the mountains to the borders of Arizona and New Mexico and *This locality (Fort Union), frequently mentioned in the works of Au- dubon, Baird, and others, no longer exists as such, being now a heap of rub- bish. It is replaced by Fort Buford, commanding the mouth of the Yellow- stone, at the extreme southwest corner of Dakota, adjoining the southeast corner of Montana. 4 M 50 NOR.TH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. corresponding latitudes in California. Of this, 1 was assured by hunters whose statements I had no reason to doubt, and who were evidently acquainted with the species. But I could not confirm their statements by actual observation, and, for all that is positively known, the Salt Lake record remains the southernmost, excepting that very recently furnished by Mr. Allen {o^). cit.). He saw the skin of an individual taken in I the vicinity of Montgomery, Colo., near the limit of timber, and the animal was stated to be not uncommon. This locality is somewhat south of 40^, and the occurrence is strongly corroborative of the accounts 1 received, as just mentioned, I V I have myself lately seen a mounted specimen among a collec- :' / tion of animals made by Mrs. M. A. Maxwell, in the vicinity \ I of Boulder, Colo. I have no record from the region west of the \ ^ main chain of the Rockies in Oregon or Washington Territory, although it is not to be presumed, upon this negative evidence, that the species does not occur there. The Wolverene ranges, as we have seen, in greater or less abundance, all over the northern portions of this country. It appears to be particularly numerous in the Mackenzie River region, and it fairly infests the whole country bordering the lower portions of this river and the west side of the mountains. From this country, many accounts have reached me, from vari- our officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, through the liber- ality of the Smithsonian Institution, which placed in my hands all the matter represented in its archives upon the mammals of !the far north. These manuscripts witness the wqiiderful cun- ning and sagacity of the beast, as well as its ferocity, and repre- sent it to be the greatest enemy with which the hunters and trappers have to contend in the pursuit of far-bearing animals. Messrs. Kennicott, Macfarlane, Ross, and Lockhart have each recorded their experiences, which together afford the material for a complete biography. The hunter, says Mr. Lockhart, may safely leave an animal he has killed for one night, but never for a second time, with- out placing it in a strong cache of logs. The first night the , Wolverene is pretty sure to visit the place, but will touch nothing. The next night he is certain to return, and, if he can i:)0ssibly get at the meat, he will gorge himself, and then make away with the rest, which he cunningly hides, piece by piece, under the snow, in diff'erent directions. At every cache he makes he voids his urine or drops his dirt, probably to prevent HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 51 Foxes, Martens, or other animals froQi smelling the hidden meat and digging it up. Caches must be made of green wood, and be exceedingly strong, or the animal will certainly break into them. He has been known to gnaw through a log nearly a foot in diameter, and also to dig a hole several feet deep in frozen ground, to gain access to the coveted supply. Should he succeed in gaining entrance for himself, and yet be unable to displace the logs sufficiently to permit of removal of the meat, the brute will make water and dirt all over it, rendering it wholly unfit to be used; even a dog will then scarcely touch it. To the trapper, the Wolverenes are equally annoying. When they have discovered a line of Marten traps, they will never abandon the road, and must be killed before the trapping can be successfully carried on. Beginning at one end, they proceed from trap to trap along the whole line, pulling them success- ively to pieces, and taking out the baits from behind. When they can eat no more, they continue to steal the baits and cache them. If hungry, they may devour two or three of the Martens they find captured, the remainder being carried off and hidden in the snow at a considerable distance. The work of demoli- tion goes on as fast as the traps can be renewed. The propensity to steal and hide things is one of the strongest traits of the Wolverene. To such an extent is it developed that the animal will often secrete articles of no possible use to itself. Besides the wanton destruction of Marten traps, it will carry off the sticks and hide them at a distance, apparently in sheer malice. Mr. Ross, in the article above quoted, has given an amusing instance of the extreme of this propensity: — "The desire for accumulating property seems so deeply implanted iu this animal, that like tame ravens, it does not appear to care much what it steals so that it can exercise its favorite propen- sity to commit mischief. An instance occurred within my own knowledge in which a hunter and his family having left their lodge unguarded during their absence, on their return found it completely gutted — the walls were there but nothing else. Blankets, guns, kettles, axes, cans, knives and all the other paraphernalia of a trapper's tent had vanished, and the tracks left by, the beast showed who had been the thief. The family set to work, and by carefully following up all his paths recov- ered, with some trifling exceptions, the whole of the lost prop- erty." . Though very clumsy animals, the Wolverenes manage to cap- 52 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.^. ture, at times, such prey as Hares or Grouse, and they successfully attack disabled Deer. We have already seeu how they destroy Foxes in their burrows; and they are usually found in excel- lent condition. They also feed on offal or carrion ; in fact, any- thing that they can catch or steal. Their own flesh is only eatable in the extreme of starvation. They bring forth in bur- rows under ground, probably old Bear washes, and have four or five young at a birth. It is very rarely that they are discov- ered at this period or whilst suckling their young. One rea- son, however, may be that they reproduce late in June and y early in July, when the mosquitoes are so numerous that no one who can avoid it goes abroad in the woods. The rutting season is in the latter part of March. The female is ferocious in the defense of her young, and if disturbed at this time will not hesitate to attack a man. Indeed, Indians have been heard to aver that they would sooner encounter a she-bear with her cubs than a Carcajou under the same circumstances. In Octo- ber, when the rivers set fast, the Wolverenes reappear in fam- ilies, the youDg still following their dam, though now not much her inferior in size. They are full grown when about a year-- old. In early infancy, the cubs are said to be of a pale cream ^ color. The Wolverene may be captured in wooden traps similar to those used for ^Martens, but of course made on a much larger ^ scale, as the auimal\s strength is enormous, even for its size. The traps are so'metimes built with two doors. But so great is the cunning and sagacity of the beast, that the contrivance for its destruction must be very perfect. The traps are covered up with pine-brush, and made to resemble a cache as much as possible J the Wolverene is then likely to break in and get caught. The bait, ordinarily the conspicuous feature of a trap, must in this instance be concealed, or the animal will either break in from behind, or, failing in this, will pass on his way. \ It is sometimes also taken in steel traps, or by means of a set gun J but both these methods are uncertain, great "medicine" ^being required to outwit the knowing and suspicious beast. _.The eyesight of the Wolverene is not very bright, but his sense of smell is extremely acute. "The winter I passed at Fort Simpson", writes Mr. Lock- hart, " I had a line of Marten and Fox traps, and Lynx snares, extending as far as Lac de Brochet. Visiting them on one occasion I found a Lynx alive in one of my snares; and being ^ HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 53 indisposed to carry it so far home, determined to kill and skin it before it should freeze. But how to cache the skin till my return I This was a serious question, for Carcajou tracks were numerous. Placing the carcase as a decoy in a clump of willows at one side of the path, I went some distance on the opposite side, dug a hole with my snow-shoe about three feet deep in the snow, packed the skin in the smallest possible compass, and put it in the bottom of the hole, which I filled up again very carefully, packing the snow down hard, and then strewing loose snow over the surface till the spot looked as if it had never been disturbed. I also strewed blood and entrails in the path and around the willows. Eeturning next morning, I found that the carcase was gone, as I expected it would be, but that the place where the skin was cached was apparently undis- turbed. *Ah! you rascal,' said I, addressing aloud the absent Carcajou, ' I have outwitted you for once.' I lighted my pipe, and proceeded leisurely to dig up the skin to place in my muski- moot. I went clear down to the ground, on this side and on that, but no Lynx skin was there. The Carcajou had been before me, and had carried it off along with the carcase 5 but he had taken the pains to fill up the hole again and make every- thing as smooth as before ! "At Peel's Eiver, on one occasion, a very old Carcajou dis- covered my Marten road, on which I had nearly a hundred and fifty traps. I was in the habit of visiting the line about once a fortnight ; but the beast fell into the way of coming oftener than I did, to my great annoyance and vexation. I determined to put a stop to his thieving and his life together, cost what it might. So I made six strong traps at as many different points, and also set three steel traps. For three weeks I tried my best to catch the beast without success ; and my worst enemy would allow that I am no green hand in these matters. The animal carefully avoided the traps set for his own benefit, and seemed to be taking more delight than ever in demolishing my Marten traps and eating the Martens, scattering the poles in every direction, and caching what baits or Martens he did not devour on the spot. As we had no poison in those days, I next set a gun on the bank of a little lake. The gun was concealed in some low bushes, but the bait was so placed that the Carcajou must see it on his way up the bank. I blockaded my path to the gun with a small pine tree which completely hid it. On my first visit afterward I found that the beast had gone up to 54 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. the bait and smelled it, but had left it untouched. He had next pulled up the pine tree that blocked the path, and gone around the gun and cut the line which connected the bait with the trigger, just behind the muzzle. Then he had gone back and pulled the bait away, and carried it out on the lake, where he laid down and devoured it at his leisure. There I found my string. I could scarcely believe that all this had been done designedly, for it seemed that faculties fully on a par with human reason would be required for such an exploit, if done intention- ally. I therefore rearranged things, tying the string where it 'had been bitten. But the result was exactly the same for three successive occasions, as I could plainly see by the footprints 5 and what is most singular of all, each time the brute was care- ful to cut the line a little back of where it had been tied before, as if actually reasoning with himself that even the knots might be some new device of mine, and therefore a source of I hidden danger he would prudently' avoid. I came to the con- clusion that that Carcajou ought to live, as he must be something *^ at least human, if not worse. I gave it up, and abandoned the road for a period. *' On another occasion a Carcajou amused himself, much as usual, by tracking my line from one end to the other and de- molishing my traps, as fast as I could set them. I put a large steel trap in the middle of a path that branched off among some willows, spreading no bait, but risking the chance that the animal would ' put his foot in it' on his way to break a trap at the end of the path. On my next visit I found that the trap was gone, but I noticed the blood and entrails of a hare that had evidently been caught in the trap and devoured by the Carcajou on the spot. Examining his footprints I was satisfied that he had not been caught, and I took up his trail. Proceed- ing about a mile through the woods I came to a small lake, on the banks of which I recognized traces of the trap, which the beast had laid down in order to go a few steps to one side to make water on a stump. He had then returned and picked up the trap, which he had carried across the lake, with many a twist and turn on the hard crust of snow to mislead his ex- pected pursuer, and then again entered the woods.- I followed for about half a mile farther and then came to a large hole dug in the snow. This place, however, seemed not to have suited him, for there was nothing there. A few yards farther on, however, I found a neatly built mound of snow on which the HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE WOLVERENE. 55 animal had made water and left his dirt ; this I knew was his ■cache. Using one of my snowshoes for a spade I dug into the hillock and down to the ground, the snow being about four feet deep ; and there I found my trap, with the toes of a rabbit still in the jaws. Could it have been the animal's instinctive im- pulse to hide prey that made him carry my trap so far merely for the morsel of meat still held in it ? Or did his cunning nature prompt him to hide the trap for fear that on some future unlucky occasion he might put his own toes in it and share the rabbit's fate ^ " This propensity of the Wolverene to carry off traps receives confirmation from other sources. In Captain Cartwright's Journal (ii, 407), a similar instance is recorded in the follow- ing terms : — " In coming to the foot of Table Hill I crossed the track of a Wolvering with one of Mr. Callingham's traps on his foot : the foxes had followed his bleeding track. As this beast went through the thick of the woods, under the north side of the hill, where the snow was so deep and light that it was with the greatest difS.culty I could follow him even on In- dian rackets, I was quite puzzled to know how he had con- trived to prevent the trap from catching hold of the branches of trees or sinking in the snow. But on coming up with him I discovered how he had managed : for after making an attempt to fly at me, he took the trap in his mouth and ran upon three legs. These creatures are surprisingly strong in proportion to their size 5 this one weighed only twenty-six pounds and the trap eight ; yet including all the turns he had taken he had carried it six miles." The ferocity of the Wolverene, no less than its cunning, is illustrated in some of the endless occasions on which it matches its powers against those of its worst enemy. A man had set a gun for a Carcajou which had been on his usual round of dem- olition of Marten traps. The animal seized the bait unwarily, and set off the gun j but owing to careless or improper setting, the charge missed or only wounded it. The Carcajou rushed upon the weapon, tore it from its fastenings, and chewed the stock to pieces. It is added to the account of this exploit that the beast finished by planting the barrel muzzle downward up- right in the snow ; but this may not be fully credited. The stories that pass current among trappers in the North would alone fill a volume, and they are quite a match for those that •Olaus Magnus set down in his book centuries ago. How much 56 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID ^. wiser are we in our generation ? Is there anything new under , the sun! But we need not go beyond the strict fact to be impressed with the extraordinary wit of the beast, whom all concur in conceding to be " as cunning as the very devil ". With so much for the tricks and the manners of the beast behind our backs, roaming at will in his vast solitudes, what of his actions in the presence of man ? It is said that if one only stands still, even in full view of an approaching Carcajou, he will come within fifty or sixty yards, provided he be to wind- ward, before he takes the alarm. Even then, if he be not warned by sense of smell, he seems in doubt, and will gaze earnestly several times before he finally concludes to take him- self off. On these and similar occasions he has a singular habit — one not shared, so far as I am aware, by any other beast whatever. He sits on his haunches and shades his eyes with one of his fore paws, just as a human being would do in scruti- nizing a dim or distant object. The Carcajou then, in addition to his other and varied accomplishments, is a perfect skeptic — to use this word in its original signification. A skeptic, with the Greeks, was simply one who would shade his eyes to see more clearly. To this day, in sign-language among some of the Xorth American Indians, placing the hand to the forehead sig- nifies '^ white man " — either in allusion to this habit, or to the shade given the eyes by the straight vizor of the military cap, which the Indians see oftener than they desire. Mr. Lockhart writes that he has twice been eye-witness of this curious habit of the Wolverene. Once, as he was drifting down stream in a small canoe, he came within a short distance of one of the ani- mals on the bank ; it stopped on perceiving him, squatted on its haunches, and peered earnestly at the advancing boat, hold- ing one fore paw over its eyes in the manner described. Not seeming to take alarm, it proceeded on a few paces, and then stopped to repeat the performance, when Mr. Lockhart, now sufficiently near, fired and killed the beast. On another occa- sion, when the same gentleman was crossing the Rocky Mount- ains, a Wolverene, which had become alarmed and was making off, stopped frequently and put up his paw in the same manner, in order to see more clearly the nature of that which had dis- turbed him. On other occasions, the Wolverene displays more boldness than this in the presence of man. It has been known to seize upon the carcase of a deer, and suffer itself to be shot rather ITS DISTRIBUTION IN THE OLD WORLD. 57 than relinquish possession, though the hunter had approached within twenty yards of his game. When pressed by the pangs of hunger, still bolder exploits are sometimes performed, as in the instance narrated by Capt. J. C. Ross. In the dead of an Arctic winter, his ship's company were surprised by a visit from a Wolverene, which clambered over the snow wall sur- rounding the vessel, and came boldly on deck among the men. Forgetful of its safety in the extremity of its need for food, the animal seized a canister of meat, and suffered himself to be noosed while eating. ,,y^ ^P^^ DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES IN THE OLD WORLD. This portion of the subject is translated from J. F. Brandt's elaborate article.* According to Georgi (7. s. c. [I. e. Geogr. Phys. Beschr. 1786] p. 1547), the Glutton is found in the temperate, and particu- larly in the cold regions of Russia and Siberia ; that is to say, from Lithuania and Ourlaud, where, however, it is rare, to Finland, Kola, Archangel, Wologda, Perm; and in Siberia, from the mountains which bound this country (the Altai', the Saj'an, and Daurian Alps, the Stannovoi, &c.), to the Arctic Tundras. Brincken (Mem. sur la Foret de Bidlowicza, p. 45) speaks of Gluttons in the forest of Bidlowicza. Eichwald, however, two years later (1830), states that formerly they were only found in some few forests of Podolia and Pinsk (Skizze, p. 237). In 1791, Fischer says (Xaturgesch. von Livland, Livonia, 2d edition, p. 141) that the Glutton was already rare in Livonia, though still common in Russia, Poland, Lithuania, and Lapland, as well as in Curland; though in Derschau and von Keyserling's description of the Province of Cur- land, published as early as 1805, the Glutton is not mentioned among the animals of Curland, and it is likewise wanting in Lich ten stein's Catalogue of the Mammals of Curland, published in 1829 (Bull. Nat. Hist. Moscou). Kessler only mentions the Glutton incidentally, stating that there were reports of its casual appearance, and that a specimen was once captured, though giving no particulars. According to Rczaczynski (Auctuar. Hist. Nat. p. 311), two Glut- tons were killed in Podolia at the beginning of the last century. It is, therefore, unquestionable that the Glutton *BemerkuDgeti liber die Wirbelthiere des nordlichen europiiischen Russ- lands, besonders des nordlichen Ural's. Ein Beitrag zur niiheren zoolo- gisch-geograpbischen Kenntniss Nordost-Europa's. 58 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. was occasioually fouud iu Curland, Lithuania, aud Podolia during the last century, but that it no longer extends so far westward and southward, so that we may rely, concern- ing its appearance in Kassia, upon the statement of Pallas (Zoog. R.-A. i. p. 74) that the animal was seldom found in European Eussia, except in the northerly forests, though com- mon in Siberia. In East Siberia, Sarytschew (Reise, i. p. 77> discovered it on the middle portions of the Indigirka. AVr an - gel (Reise, ii. pp. 274, 238) indicates the occurrence of the Glut- ton in Werchojansk and the country of the Tschukts. Gebler (Uebersicht d. Katiinischen Geb. p. 81) calls Gulo borealis a solitary inhabitant of the Altai forests, and we once received from him a specimen from the Altai region. According to vo n Middendorff, the Glutton is also found on the Boganida River, whence it makes excursions to the Tundra, to plunder the traps set for the Y u 1 p e s 1 a g o p u s . It was lately observed by Wosnessenski in Kamtschatka, where it was more nu- merous in northern than in southern portions. There, particu- larly in the Anadyr regions, it is said to inhabit the Tundras rather than the forests Georgi (7. c.) designates the Ural in general, Lehman n (Brandt in Lehmaun's Reise Zoolog. Append, p. 301) and Eversmann, probably more rightly, only the middle and northerly Ural as its habitat. According to Hoffmann's verbal communications, the ani- mal is to be found in the northerly Ural, at least as far as forests exist, as before indicated by Georgi, and seems to be not rare there, for a skin costs but three silver roubles, and the Samojeds are in the habit of trimming their garments with the fur. Ermann (Reise, i. 1, p. 562) states that the Glutton occurs oa the Obi River. Schrenck (Reise, i. pp. 10, 66, 97) reports that it is found in the forests of the District of Mesen, particularly on the Pinega River, aud sometimes on Onega Lake. The government of Wologda annually delivers 300 to 500 Glutton skins (von Baer and Helmerseu, Beitriige, vii. p. 251). I do not recall, after more than twenty years' experi- ence in the government of St. Petersburg, a single instance of a Glutton's having been captured there. Wallenius (Fauna Fenn. p. 11, and Forteckning ofver Siillsk. Samlingar, p. 7) cites the Glutton as inhabiting the Finnish provinces of Tawastland and Osterbotten. We may safely fix its present distribution in the Russian possessions from Finland aud Russian Lapland (?) to Kamtschatka, and from the middle Ural and Altai to the northerly Tundra, CHAPTER III MUSTELINE— Continued : The Martens. The genus Mnstela — Generic cbaracterSj &c. — Analysis of North American species — Mnstela pennanti, the Pekan or Pennant's Marten — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description of external characters — Dimen- sions— Skull and vertebrte — General history, habits, and geographical dis- tribution— Interpolated matter relating to exotic species of Mnstela — M. martes — Synonymy — Description of its skull and teeth — M. foina — Syn- onymy— Notes on its characters — M. z'lbeUina — Synonymy — Measurements of skulls of the three species — Comparative diagnoses of M. martes, americana, and foina — Mnstela amerieana, the American Sable or Marten — Synonymy — Description and discussion of the species — Table of measure- ments— Geographical variation in the skull — General history and habits of the species. IZ!f this chapter are treated the genus Mnstela and the two species by which it is represented in North America. Sev- eral closely allied species of the Old World are also introduced, as seemed to be required for the adequate discussion of their intimate relationships. The Genus MUSTELA. (Linn.^ 1758, emend.) < Mustela, Linn. Syst. Is^at. i. loth ed. 1758, and of many authors, < Viverra, ShaiD, Gen. Zool. i. ISOO ; not of authors. < Gulo, H. Smith, (fide Gray); not of Storr. = Martes, AtUhors, after Eay. > Pekania, J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865, 107. (Type M. pennanti.) > Foina, J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865, 107. (Type M. martes var. fagorum.) > Charronia, J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, 108. (Type M. flavigula Bodd.) Generic chars.— Dental formula : i. f^f ; c. J-^j ; pm. J^ ; m. |5| = ~ = 38 (as in Gulo ; one more premolar,* above and below, on each side, than in Pniorins). Sectorial tooth of lower jaw usually with an internal cusp. Anteorbital foramen presenting vertically or somewhat downward as well as forward (as in Pntorius ; rererse of Gnlo) ; canal-like, opening over interspace between last and penultimate premolars (as in Gulo ; the open- ing is over the last premolar in Pntorius). Skull much constricted at the middle, the rostral portion relatively longer, more tapering than in Gulo or *^ As a not infrequent anomaly, the small anterior premolar which consti- tutes the increment in the dental formula as compared with that of Pntorius fails to develop. Thus it is wanting on the right side above in a skull, No. 7159, from Fort Good Hope, though present on the left side and on both sides below. Similarly, an incisor occasionally aborts. 59 60 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. Puiorius, and much more obliquelj' truncated tlian in Pntorius, less so thaa in Gnlo; frontal profile more or less concave. Nasal bones narrower in the middle than at either end. General upi)er outline of skull moderately arched. Production of mastoids and auditory bulLne and general prominence of periotic region intermediate between Gulo and Putorins. Zygomatic arch high behind (usually higher than in front) ; nowhere vertical, nor developing a posterior convexity. Depth of emargi nation ^of palate greater than dis- tance thence to the molars. Skull as a whole less massive than in either Gulo or Putorlus. Vertebral formula. — According to Gerrard, the vertebr:e of If. martes, type of the genus, is c. 7, d. 16, 1. 6, s. 3, cd. 18 or 19 ; other species of the genus differ in the number of caudals. Size medium and large for this subfamily. Form moderately stout ; claws strong, curved, acute. Tail longer than the head, bushy, cylindrical or taper- ing. Soles densely furry, with naked pads. Pelage long and soft, but not shaggy ; whole-colored, or nearly so, never whitening in winter. Progression digitigrade. Habits highly arboreal as well as terrestrial ; not aquatic. This genus forms the link between Gulo and Futorius^ as will be evident upon comparison of the diagnoses of the three. The skull, however, is lighter than in either of the two other genera of 2IusteUnce^ with more produced aud tapering rostrum ; in height, relative to length or breadth, it is intermediate. The species have a somewhat Fox-like or Cat-like superficial aspect, rather than that appearance we usually associate with the name of *' Weasel" , being much stouter-bodied, more copiously haired, and bushier-tailed; one species, indeed, is commonly called black " fox" or black " cat ". They appear to be more decid- edly arboreal than the Weasels, spending much of their time in trees, aud are not aquatic, like several of the Weasels proper. They are agile and graceful in their movements; and, if not really more active than the Weasels, their actions seem to possess a quality of lightness and elasticity different from the writhing and insinuative motions of the very slender-bodied, short-legged Weasels. Although strictly carnivorous, predacious, and de- structive to many kinds of small Mammals and Birds, they appear less ferocious and bloodthirsty than the Weasels, whose sanguinary impulses seem insatiable ; aud at times they exhibit a playful and comparatively amiable disposition. The name of the genus is the Latin mustela or mustella, a kind of Weasel; the word being apparently derived from, or related to, the more general term mus.* Its adjectival deriva- * This seems to have included, besides Mice, various kinds of small de- structive animals, such as now might be collectively referred to as "vermin". Thus, mus pont'icus is supposed to have probably been an Ermine. The word may be simply a long form of nms, like ma.cUla or axilla from mala and ala. THE GENUS MUSTELA. 61 tive, mustelinus^ refers primarilj' to general Weasel-like quali- ties ; secondarily, to the peculiar tawny color of most species of Weasels in summer, and is transferable to other animals, just as "foxy" signifies the peculiar red of the Common Fox. For an example, familiar to ornithologists, the "tawny" thrush of Wilson, Turdus ^^ mnst€linus^\ may be cited. This genus comprises the Martens and Sables, of which there are several species, inhabiting the northern portions of both Old and New Worlds, and particularly abundant in the higher latitudes. Aside from the very distinct Fisher, or Pekan, Mus- tela pemia7iti, peculiar to North America, the species are so closely related that some authors have contended for their identity. There appear, however, to be good grounds upon which at least three if not four species may be established; one confined to America, the rest belonging to the Old World. The high commercial value of the pelts of these animals, and their corresponding economic importance, has sharpened the eyes of those pecuniarily interested to such degree that nu- merous kinds of "sable" and "marten" are recognized by the furriers; and the caprices of imperious fashion set a wholly fictitious value upon slight shades of color or other variable conditions of pelage, which have no zoological significance whatever. The Sable par excellence is the Russian and Asiatic animal, Mustela zihellina^ a variety of the common European Marten, M. martes^ or a closely allied species; but, as all Sables are Martens, it is perfectly proper to speak of our species, M. americmiay as the American Sable or Marten. Some of its for- tuitous conditions of pelage — the darker shades — represent the " sable " of furriers, while in the ordinary coloration it may be called by another name. The meanings of the various terms employed to designate animals of this genus are more fully discussed elsewhere, under heads of the several species. The two North American species of Mustela may be readily distinguished by the following characters : — Analysis of the North American species of Mustela. Larger : length two feet or more ; tail a foot or more, the vertebrse about half the length of head and body, tapering from base to point. Ears low, wide, semicircular. Blackish ; lighter on fore upper parts and head ; darkest below; no light throat-patch M. peyinanti. Smaller : length under two feet ; tail less than a foot long, the vertebrie less than half the length of the body, uniformly bushy. Ears high, subtrian- gular. Brown, &c.; not darker below than above; usually a large yellow- ish or tawny throat-patch M. americana. 62 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. The Pekan, or Peiiaiaiit's Iflarten. ^Iiistela pennauti. Plate II. Mustela pennantii, Erxl. Syst. Au. 1777, 470, no. 10 (baseJ on the Fisher of Pennant: for discussion of name, in question of priority over canadensis Schreber, cf. Bd. op. infra fit. p. 151).— Zim?n. Geogr. Gesch. ii. 17S0, 310, no. 208.— J", Sab. Frank. Jonrn. 18-2.3, 651.— GriVf. Cuv. R. A. v. 1327, 125, no. 354. — Less. Man. 1827, 150, no. 405— Fisch. Syn. Mam. 1829, 217.— Godm. Am. N. H. i. 1831, 203.— Bd. M. N. A. 1857, 149, pi. 36, f. 1.— Xeicb. P. R. R. Rep. vi. 1857, 41.— Coop. <£ Suckl. N. H. W. T. 1860, 92, lU.—Ross, Canad. Nat. vi. 1861, 24.— Gilpin, Tr. Nov. Scot. Inst. ii. 1870, 9, 59.— All. Ball. M. C. Z. i. 1869, 161 (Mass.); Bull. Ess. Inst. vi. 1874, 54 (Colorado).— Am««, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69. Manes pennantii, Oray, P. Z. S. 18G5, 107; Cat. Carniv. Br. Mus. 1869, 85. Mustela canadensis, Schreb. Saug. iii. 1778, 492, pi. 134 (based on the Pekan of BofFon ; not AT. canadensis of Erxl.. which is Patorins vison).—Zim,m. Geog. Gesch. il 1780, 309, no. 207.— JBodd. Elench. An. i. 1784, B6.—Gm. S. N. i. 1788, 95.— Turt. S. N. i. 1806, 59 (not same name on p. 57, which is the American Otter). — Kuhl, Beitr. 1820, 74. — Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 183, no. 284 ; Ency. Meth. pi. 80, f. 4 ; Noav. Diet. xix. 379.— HarZ. Fn. Amer. 1825, 65.— Less. Man. 1827, 149.— Grif. Cuv. R. A. v. 1827, 124, no. 353.— Fisch. Syn. 1829, 216.— Rich. F. B. A. i. 1829, 52, no. lb.— Rich. Zocil. Voy. Blossom, 1839, 10*.— Fr. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xix. 256.— Martin, P. Z. S. 1833, 97 (anat. ).—i?mmons. Rep. Quad. Mass. 1840, 3Q.— Wagn. Suppl. Schreb. ii. 1841, 223.— De Kay, N. Y. Zool. i. 1842, 31, pi. 13, f. 1 (skull). -^Mil (£• Bach. Q. N. A. i. 1849, 307, pi. 41.—DeKay, Fifth Ann. Rep. Reg. Univ. N. T. 1852, 33, pi. (orig. fL^).—Thom.ps. N. H. Vermont, 1853, 32.— Kenn. Trans. 111. State Agric. Soc. 1853-4, 578 (Illinois.)— S'neeJ. Proc. Boat. Soc. vi. 1853, 41^.—Qiehel, Odontog. 36, pi. 12, f. 1; Siiug. 1855, 1'l3.—Maxim. Arch. Naturg. 1861, 2i9.— Billings, Canad. Geol. and Nat. ii. 1857, 116.— Kneeland, Proc. Bost. Soc. vi. 1859, 418 (skeleton).— J3"aZ;, Canad. Nat. vi. 1861, 296.— Maxim. Yerz. N. A. Saug, 1862, 43. Mustela canadensis var. alba, Rich. <>p. cit. 54 (""White Pekan"; albinism). Mustela (Martes) canadensis, Schinz. Syn. Mamm. i. 1844. 334. Martes canadensis. Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 63.— Gerrard, Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1862, 91. Vlverra canadensis, Sha%o, Gen. Zool. i. 1800, 429. Mustela melanorhyncba, Bodd. Elench. An. 1784, 88, no. 13 (based on Fisher of Pennant).— Zimm. in Penn. Arkt. Zoiil. 1787, 85. Ylverra piseatOP, Shaw, Gen. Zool. 1. 1800, 414 (based on Fisher of Pennant). Mustela nigra, Turt. ed. L. S.N. i. 1806, 60 {= Fisher Weasel of Pennant). Mustela godmani, Fisch. Syn. Mamm. 1829, 217.— Xes«. Mamm. 1842, 150. Mustela piscatoria, Less. ?ilan. 1827, 150, no. 403 (< inotes pennanti Erxl. with query). "Oulo castaneus et fcrrus\neu%, H. Smith. '—{J. F. Gray.) Pekan, Oharlev. Nouv. France, iii. 1744, 134.— Baf. Hist. Nat. xiii, 1765, 304, pi. 42 (basis of M. canadensis Schreb.).- J?o»jw, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. iii. 1768, 40\. —Pekano, Scataglia, An. Quad. iv. 1775. pi. 155, f. 1 (ex Butfun).— Pefran, Penti. Syn. Quad. 1771, 2.34, no. 159; Hist. Quad. 1781, no. 204; Arct. Zool. i. 1784, 78, no. 28 (apparently same as the animal of Brisson AndBuSon).— Pekan of French Canadian. {"Pecan" is also found.) Pekan -marder, Maxim. I. c. Fisher, Penn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 223, no. 157; Hist. Quad. 1781, 328, no. 202; Arct. Zool. i. 1784, 82, no. 31 (basis of M. pennantii, Erxl.). — Fisher, American, Yulgo. Marte-pecheur, Desm. op. cit. 184. Pennant's Marten, Godm. op. et loc. cit. Wejack, Heame, Journ. . 378. (Also written Weejack.) Otcboek, Cree Indians (Richardson) = Ofschilik, Ojibwaya (Maxim.) — Wejack, Fur Traders — Woodshock, Anglic^. Tba*Cb6, Chippewayans (Ross). Black Fox, Black tat, Yulgo. Hab. — North America, approximately between 35^ and 65*^, in wooded portions of the country. DESCRIPTION OF MUSTELA PENNANTI. 63 Specific CHARACTERS. — Black or blackish, lif^litening Ijy mixture of brown or gray on the upper fore part and head; no conspicuous light throat- patch; generally darker below than above; very large and stout; length 2 or 3 feet ; tail over a foot long. Description of external characters* Form. — With its large size, this auimal combines a stout- ness of form not seen in other species of the genus. The genera] aspect is rather that of a Fox than of a Weasel, but, in place of the acute muzzle and pointed ears of the former, we have a fuller face, somewhat canine in physiognomy.! The muzzle is thick and short ; the prominent nasal pad has the ordinary T-shape, and is definitely naked ; it is black. The whiskers are stiff, scant, and short, hardly reaching to the ears ; there are other stoutish bristles over the eye, at the corner of the mouth, on the cheeks and chin ; they are all black. The eye is rather large and full for this group. The ears are low, but remarkably broad, being about twice as wide at base as high ; they are rounded in contour, and well furred, both sides, to the entrance of the meatus. The feet are broad and flat, furred both sides, and armed with very stout, compressed, much curved, acute claws, not hidden by the bristles at their base; they are light-colored. On the palm may usually be seen the following pads (though they are sometimes hidden by the overgrowing fur): one at the end of each digit ; a V-shaped area of four nearly coalesced pads, indicated by mere sulci be- tween them, situated opposite the first digit, and indicating the bases of, respectively, the first, the second, the third and fourth combined, and the fifth digit. There is a tenth pad, isolated from the rest, far back, on the wrist, near the outer border. On the hind feet, the arrangement of the naked bulbs is essen- tially the same, excepting that the hindermost (tenth) one is wanting. The tail-vertebrae are about half as long as the head *Frora various specimens in the Smithsonian Institution. +"The physiognomy of the Pekan is very different from that of the Marten. When the latter is threatened, its features resemble those of an enraged cat, but the expression of the Pekan's countenance approaches to that of a dog, though the apparent obliquity of its eyes gives it a sinister look. The head has a strong, roundish, compact appearance, and contracts suddenly to form the nose, which terminates rather acutely. The ears, low and semicircular, are far apart, so as to leave a broad and slightly rounded forehead. They are smaller in proportion than the ears of the Pine-martin. The eyes, situ- ated where the head curves in to form the nose, appear more oblique than they really are."— (Richardson, I. e.) 64 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. and body. The tail is cyliudric-conic, rapidly tapering to a sharp point from the enlarged and bashy base. The general pelage is much coarser than that of the true Martens, and looser, if not longer ; it consists of the usual under fur, with loDg, glossy, bristly hairs intermixed. The pelage is very short on the head. Color. — Color is very variable, according to age, season, or other fortuitous circumstances j in general, however, a particu- lar pattern, if not also tone, is preserved. The animal is darker below than above, at least on parts of the belly, contrary to the usual rule in this group. The belly, legs, and tail, in most ma- ture examples, are black or blackish-brown, and the hinder part of the body above is much the same. On the rest of the upper parts, however, there is a progressive lightening toward the head, from increasing admixture of light brown and gray shades, which colors, occupying but little, if any, of the length of the hairs on the dark parts of the body, on the lighter parts so increase in extent that they give the prevailing tone, over- powering both the smoky-brown bases and the blackish tips of the hairs. The ear has usually a light bordering. On the under parts, even of the blackest individuals, are usually found irregular white (not tawny or buffy) blotches on the chest, in the arm-pits, and on the lower belly between the thighs. The throat may also show a few white hairs, though I have never observed anything like the conspicuous light gular area com- monly displayed by the Marten. Smaller specimens before me lack much of the general black- ishness above indicated ; still the feet, tail, and at least a me- dian abdominal area are darker than the upper parts in general, though the darkness is rather brown than black. The light upper parts are pale or hoary gray, overlaid with the blackish tips of the hairs. Both Richardson and Audubon note nearly white specimens. Dimensions. — Of the full-grown animal, about 30 inches from nose to root of tail (many specimens are only about 2 feet long, while others a third larger than this are noted). Tail-vertebrre about 14 inches (12 to 16), the terminal hairs 2 to 4 inches longer. ]S"ose to eye 2 inches ; to occiput, over curve of head, ()J ; ear 1 inch high, about twice as broad ; distance between tips of ears 7 inches ; hind foot 4^ ; fore leg, from elbow, 6 or 7 inches ; hind leg, from hip, nearly 12. Individuals are said to range in weight from SJ to 18 pounds. SKULL AND VERTEBRAE OF M. PENNANTL 65 Skidl avid i^ertehrcv. Cranium. — The skull of this species is instantly distinguished from that of M. martes by its obviously superior size. The larg- est of six examples before me measures 4.40 in extreme length by 2.40 in greatest zygomatic width. The under jaw is 3.00 in length. There are other points. The zygomatic arch is nota- bly lower. The skull is more contracted behind the orbits. The lambdoidal (occipital) crest is stronger and more flaring ; its termination as a broad flange back of the meatus audito- rius is conspicuous when the skull is viewed from above, whereas in the skull of M. martes, held in the same position, the terminations of this crest are almost hidden by the bulge of the brain-box. The bony palate is more narrowly and deeply emarginate behind. The bullse auditoriie are relatively smaller and flatter ; the meatus is absolutely smaller. Some other minor points might be established. I observe no noteworthy dental peculiarities, aside from superior size of the teeth. This skull exceeds in length the large fossil one mentioned by Prof. Baird from the Bone Cave of Pennsylvania, which is little over 4 inches long. Several New York skulls are less than 4 inches in length by little over 2 in greatest breadth. One skull, of a very old animal, in which the sutures are all obliterated, is remarkably massive, and broad for its length, measuring only just 4 inches long by full 2.40 in breadth. This series of skulls, like others in this group, shows that the character of the sagittal crest, or elevation, is wholly transi- tory; in old specimens, the crest is a thin laminar ridge, while in others there is a median longitudinal elevation half an inch or more in width. The lambdoidal crest is subject to the same modifications. The constriction of the skull back of the supra- orbital processes also increases with age. Vertebrce :—G. 7, d. 14, 1. 6, s. 3, cd. 20 or 21 (Gerrard). Knee- land [loc. su2)ra cit.) gives the caudals as 20; the rest of his formula agrees with Gerrard's. Of the 14 ribs, he gives 10 as apparently '' true " (sternal). The Pekan is much the largest of the genus, and indeed of the whole Weasel kind (subfamily Mustelincv)^ excepting only the Wolverene and Grison. In size, as in some other points of form, vigor, and ferocity, it approaches the Wolverene, and is obviously the connecting link between Miistela and Gido. It has no immediate representative in the Old World. 5 M 66 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. GENERAL HISTORY, HABITS, AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBU- TION OF THE SPECIES. As this species is coDfiued to Xorth America, aud as it pre- sents marked zoological characters, its written history is less extensive and less involved than that of animals which have a circumpolar distribution in both the Old and New World. In tracing up this matter, we go back to the works of Buffon, Brisson, and Pennant, all of whom appear to have described the animal from the same specimen — one in the cabinet of M. Aubry at Paris. It is the Pel'an of Buffon, 1765, and the Fisher of Pennant, Syn. Quad. 1771. Pennant's account of his Fisher is unmistakable; but he describes, in addition, the Pekan of Buffon, not recognizing in it the same species. These two accounts furnished for many years the bases of all the sci- entific binomial names imposed by various authors. The 2Ius- tela canadensis of Schreber, 1777. is the Pekan of Buffon ; the M. pennantii of Erxleben, 1777, and J[. meJanorhyncha of Bod- daert, 1781, are the Fisher of Pennant. This is perfectly plain ; but a question of priority arises between the names pennantii Erxl. and canadensis Schreb., owing to some uncertainty of actual date of publication of the works of Erxleben and Schreber, since the supposed earlier author quotes the other in various places. Judging, however, by the printed dates of publication, as the proper means of arbitration, pennantii of Erxleben takes precedence. The question is, however, further complicated by the fact that Erxleben has also a 2Iustela cana- densis (p. 155), which included both the Vison and Pekan of Buffon — the Mink and the Fisher: and many authors have adopted the name for the latter. But, as Prof. Baird has clearly shown, Erxleben's description of .1/. canadensis applies solely to the Mink, and, indeed, will take precedence over M. vison^ if Brisson be not quotable as an authority in binominal nomenclature. As a summary of the subject, therefore, it may be said that -1/. canadensis Erxl. goes to the Mink, while 21. ca- nadensis Schreb. and authors sinks to a synonym of JT. pennantii Erxl. In later years, various nominal species have been established upon the Pekan, none of which, however, require special dis- cussion. The name Fisher, very generally applied to this species by others as well as authors, is of uncertain origin, but probably HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE PEKAN. 67 arose from some misconceptiou of its babits, or from coufound- ing tbem with those of the Mink. The name is entirely inap- plicable, as the animal is not aquatic, does not fish, nor habitu- ally live upon fish, and it should be discarded, as likely to perpetuate the confusion and misunderstanding of which it has always to a greater or less extent been the cause. Pekan is a word of unknown,* or at least of no obvious, application, but is less objectionable, inasmuch as it does not mislead. As to the supposed piscatorial exploits of the Pekan, we find refuta- tion in some of the very earliest accounts of those who, unlike certain compilers of books, had actual knowledge of the ani- mals they recounted. Thus Bartram, who is quoted by Pen- nant, states that " though they are not amphibious, and live on all kinds of lesser quadrupeds, they are called Fishers^\ Hearne states that they dislike water as much as cats do. In fact, the universal testimony of those who are best informed is that the economy of the Pekan is as nearly as possible like that of the Pine Marten, as indeed one would expect, judging by analogy. Godman, a naturalist who has perhaps not always been fully appreciated, states the case correctly in criticising the same points: — ''That it will eat fish when thrown on shore there is little doubt, as almost all the carnivorous animals are delighted with such food : but we have no proof that this 3Iarten is in the habit of fishing for itself.*' Sir John Richardson has a para- graph which may be quoted in continuation of this point, as well as for its affording further insight into the character of the species : — "The Pekan is a larger and stronger animal than any variety of the Pine Marten, but it has similar manners ; climbing trees with facility, and preying principally upon mice. It lives in the woods, preferring damp places in the vicinity of water, in which respect it differs from the Martin, which is generally found in the dryest spots of the pine forests. The Fisher is said to prey much upon frogs in the summer season; but I have been informed that its favorite food is the Canada porcu- pine, which it kills by biting on the belly. It does not seek its food in the water, although, like the Pine-martin, it will feed upon the hoards of frozen fish laid up by the residents It brings forth, once a year, from two to four young.'^ Doubt has been cast by Audubon upon Richardson's state- * Compare Ptan or Felan, the AssiDibome name of the Otter, "which may possibly have become transferred with modification to the present species. 68 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. ment that the Pekan kills the Porcupine ; but its accuracy is attested by Mr. Gilpiu iu the article above quoted, who states that Porcupine quills have been found in its stomach. A moditied derivation of the name Fisher is given by De Kay: — " We are informed by a person who resided many years near Lake Oneida, where the Fisher was then common, that the name was derived from its singular fondness for the fish used to bait traps. The hunters were in the practice of soak- ing their fish over night, and it was frequently carried off by the fisher, whose well known tracks were seen in the vicinity. In Hamilton County it is still [1842] numerous and trouble- some. The hunters there have assured me that they have known a fisher to destroy twelve out of thirteen traps in a line not more than fourteen miles long.'' The same author contin- ues:— ''The hunting season for the fisher, in the northern part of the State, commences about the tenth of October, and lasts to the middle of May, when the furs are not so valuable. The ordinary price is $1.50 per skin; but it is not so fine, nor so highly valued as that of the sable." According to all ac- counts, the animals were formerly very abundant in the State of New York, where, however, they have latterly become re- stricted to northern mountainous and thinly settled portions. The bone caves of Pennsylvania, according to Baird, have furnished numerous remains of Pennant's Marten, among them one skull larger than some recent ones examined (but compare p. 65). The animal may be still found occasionally in the mountains north of Carlisle, in Perry County, where the liv- ing animal figured by Audubon was procured. The distribution of the Pekan is general in wooded districts throughout the greater part of Xorth America. As indicating approximately the southern limit of its distribution (for, like the Marten and Ermine, it is essentially a northern animal), we may refer to its occurrences in ^S'orth Carolina and Tennessee, as attested by Audubon and Bachman. The parallel of 30° may be near its limit. Mr. Allen recently ascertained its pres- ence in Colorado. West of the Eocky Mountains it was long ago noted by Lewis and Clarke, whose accounts of the "Black Fox*' are checked by numerous later observers, as Newberry, Cooper, and Suckley. who found it in Washington and Oregon Territories. From California, however, I have no advices, though the animal probably inhabits at least a part of that State. Dr. Newberry says it is rare in Oregcn, but less so in HISTORY AXD HABITS OF THE PEKAN. 69 WasbiDgtou Territory. According to Dr. Suckley, it is found quite plentifully in the thickly wooded districts along the eastern, and probably also the western, slopes of the Cascade Eange, especially in the neighborhood of streams; it also in- habits the Blue ^Mountains of the same region. In the eastern United States, it must not be presumed that it actually occurs now throughout its ascribed range ; for the settlement of the country practically restricts it to the more inaccessible or at least unfrequented wooded districts. Many years ago, as we have already seen, it had become greatly thinned out in the Middle States, and this process has been steadily progressing, until, at the present day, the Pekan is almost unknown in most of the United States east of the Mississippi. Writing in 1853, Mr. Kennicot states it " used frequently to be seen'' in Illinois in the heavy timber along Lake Michigan. In Xew England, according to Mr. Allen, it probably still occurs, though rarely, in the Hoosac ranges. In 1840, Dr. Emmons reported it as occasionally found in the vicinity of Williamstown, Mass., especially in the mountainous ranges which extend through Stamford, Vt. It is stated to be rare in Canada, and not found at all in the populous districts. In 2sova Scotia, according to Dr. Gilpin, it was never very plenty, and is being rapidly exterminated, only two hundred at most being taken yearly, chiefly in the high wild region of the Cobequid Hills in Cum- berland. In British America, Sir John Eichardson states that it is found as far north as Great Slave Lake, latitude 63^ ; and the specimens I have examined confirm this dispersion, ex- tending it to include Alaska also. The Pekan is stated to breed but once a year; it brings forth its young in the hollow of a tree, usually 30 or 40 feet from the ground. Two, three, and four young, but not more, so far as I have learned, are produced in a litter. It has been known to offer desperate resistance in defence of its young, as on the occasion when the individual figured by Audubon was procured. This animal, a young one, was kept in confinement for several days. " It was voracious, and very spiteful, growl- ing, snarling and spitting when approached, but it did not appear to suffer much uneasiness from being held in captivity, as, like many other predacious quadrupeds, it grew fat, being better supplied with food than when it had been obliged to cater for itself in the woods." Another mentioned by the same author as having been exhibited in a menagerie in 70 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. Charlestou, S. C, some mouths after its capture, coutinued sulleu aud spiteful, hastily swallowiug its food nearly whole, and then retiring in growling humor to a dark corner of its cage. Hearne, however, has remarked that.the animal is easily tamed, and shows some affection at times. AYhen taken very young, it may become perfectly tame, and as playful as a kitten ; such was the case with a pair mentioned by Mr. B. K. Eoss. The Pekan is sometimes forced, by failure of other sources of supply, to a vegetarian diet, when it feeds freely upon beech- nuts. In continuation of the history of this animal, which I have had no opportunity of studying in the living state, the following paragraphs are quoted from the authors just mentioned, as illustrative of its habits and manners : — '^Pennant's Marten appears to prefer low swampy ground; we traced one which had followed a trout stream for some dis- tance, and ascertained that it had not gone into the water. Marks were quite visible in different places where it had scratched up the snow by the side of logs and piles of timber, to seek for mice or other small quadrupeds, and we have no doubt it preys upon the !N'ortliern hare, gray rabbit, and ruffed grouse, as we observed a great many tracks of those species in the vicinity. It further appears that this animal makes an occasional meal on species which are much more closely allied to it than those just mentioned. In a letter we received from Mr. Fothergill, in which he furnishes us with notes on the habits of some of the anioials existing near Lake Ontario, he informs us that ' a Fisher was shot by a hunter named Marsh, near Port Hope, who said it was up a tree, in close pursuit of a pine marten, which he also brought with it.' . . . " Whilst residing in the northern part of our native State (^ew York), thirty-five years ago, the hunters were in the habit of bringing us two or three specimens of this Marten in the course of a winter. They obtained them by following their tracks in the snow, when the animals had been out in quest of their i^rey the previous night, thus tracing them to the hollow trees in which they were concealed, which they chopped down. They informed us that as a tree was falling, the Fisher would dart from the hollow, which was often fifty feet from the ground, and leap iuto the suow, when the dogs usually seized and killed him, although not without a hard struggle, as the Fisher was HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE PEKAN. 71 infinitely more dangerous to their hounds than either the gray or red fox. They usually called this species the Black Fox. *'A servant, on one occasion, came to us before daylight, ask- ing us to shoot a raccoon for him, which, after having been chased by his dogs the previous night, had taken to so large a tree that he neither felt disposed to climb it nor to cut it down. On our arrival at the place, it was already light, and the dogs were barking furiously at the foot of the tree. We soon per- ceived that instead of being a raccoon, the animal was a far more rare and interesting species, a Fisher. As we were anx- ious to study its habits we did not immediately shoot, but teased it by shaking some grape vines that had crept up nearly to the top of the tree. The animal not only became thoroughly frightened, but seemed furious 5 he leaped from branch to branch, showing his teeth and growling at the same time ; now and then he ran half way down the trunk of the tree, elevating his back in the manner of an angry cat, and we every moment expected to see him leap off and fall among the dogs. He was brought down after several discharges of the gun. He seemed extremely tenacious of life, and was game to the last, holding on to the nose of a dog with a dying grasp. This animal proved to be a male; the body measured twenty-fiv^e inches, and the tail, including the fur, fifteen. The servant who had traced him, informed us that he appeared to have far less speed thdn a fox, that he ran for ten minutes through a swamp in a straight direction, and then took to a tree. . . . " Species that are decidedly nocturnal in their habits, fre- quently may be seen moving about by day during the period when they are engaged in providing for their young. Thus the raccoon, the opossum, and all our hares, are constantly met with in spring, and early summer, in the morning and after- noon, whilst in autumn and winter they only move about by night. In the many fox hunts, in which our neighbours were from time to time engaged, not far from our residence at the north, ... we never heard of their having encountered a single Fisher in the daytime ; but when they traversed the same grounds at night, in search of raccoons, it was not unusual for them to discover and capture this species. We were informed by trappers that they caught the Fisher in their traps only by night. *' On several occasions we have seen the tracks of the Fisher in the snow; they resemble those of the pine marten, but are 72 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. double tlieir size. To judge by tbem, the animal advances by sbort leaps in tbe manner of a mink." I will supplement tbis account witb tbe interesting experi- ences of Mr. B. K. Eoss (as recounted I. s. c.) witb tbis species in tbe Mackenzie River region : — " In tbis district it is not found except in tbe vicinity of Fort Resolution, wbicb may be con- sidered as its nortbern limit. In tbe numerous deltas of tbe moutb of Slave River it is abundant, frequenting tbe large grassy marsbes or prairies, for tbe purpose of catcbing mice, its l)riucipal food. In appearance it bears a strong family likeness to botb tbe martin and tbe wolverene. Its general sbape assimi- lates more to tbe former, but tbe bead and ears bave a greater similitude to tbose of tbe latter. It is named by tbe Cbippe- wayan Indians 'Tba cbo,' or great martin. Its neck, legs and feet are stouter in proportion tban tbose of tbe martin, and its claws mucb stronger. In color and size it varies greatly. Young full-furred specimens, or tbose born tbe previous spring, can scarcely be distiuguisbed from a large martin except by a darker pelage and a less full, more pointed tail. As it advances towards old age, tbe color of tbe fur grows ligbter, tbe long bairs become coarser, and tbe grayisb markings are of greater extent and more conspicuous. "Tbe largest fisber wbicb I bave seen was killed b}' myself on tbe Riviere de Argent, one of tbe cbannels of tbe moutb of Slave River, about 15 miles from Fort Resolution. It was fully as long as a Fulvus fox, mucb more muscular, and weigbed 18 pounds. In tbe color of its fur tbe greyisb tints preponderated, extending from balf way down tbe back to tbe nose. Tbe fur was comparatively coarse; tbougb tbick and full. Tbe tail was long and pointed, and tbe wbole sbade of tbe pelage was very ligbt and bad ratber a faded look. Its claws were very strong and of brown color; and as if to mark its extreme old age tbe teeth were a good deal worn and very mucb decayed. I caugbt it witb difficulty. For about two weeks it bad been infesting my martin road, tearing down tbe traps and devouring tbe baits. So resolved to destroy it, I made a strong wooden trap. It climbed up tbis, entered from above, and ate the meat. A gun was next set but with no better success, it cut the line and ran off witb tbe bone that was tied to tbe end of it. As a * dernier resort' I put a steel trap in the middle of the road, covered it carefully, and set a bait at some distance on each side. Into tbis it tumbled. From tbe size of its footprints my HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE PEKAN. 73 impression all along was that it was a small wolrereae that was annoying- me, and I was surprised to find it to be a fisher. It shewed good fight, hissed at me much like an enraged cat, bit- ing at the iron trap, and snapping at my legs. A blow on the nose turned it over, when I completed its death by compressing the heart with my foot until it ceased to beat. The skin when stretched for drying was fully as large as a middle sized otter, and very strong, in this respect resembling that of a wolverene. "In their habits the fishers resemble the martins. Their food is much the same, but they do not seem to keep so gener- ally in the woods. They are not so nocturnal in their wander- ings as the foxes. An old fisher is nearly as great an infliction to a martin trapper as a wolverene. It is an exceedingly pow- erful animal for its size, and will tear down the wooden traps with ease. Its regularity in visiting them is exemplary. In one quality it is however superior to the wolverene, which is that it leaves the sticks of the traps where they were planted: while the other beast if it can discover nothing better to hide, will cache them some distance off. It prefers meat to fish, is not very cunning, and is caught without difficulty in the steel- trap. Fishers are caught by methods similar to those employed in fox-trapping." It may not be generally known that the Pekan successfully assaults an animal as large as the Kaccoon; indeed, that the abundance of the latter in some districts depends in a measure upon the rarity of the former. The following letter, addressed to Prof. Baird, in 1857, by Mr. Peter Ptcid, of Washington County, Xew York, sufficiently attests these facts: — "Kaccoons are more numerous here now than they were at the first set- tlement of the country, or for some time subsequent. Thirty years ago they were so seldom found, that many boys 15 or 18 years old had scarcely seen one. Before the increase in their numbers I once witnessed a circumstance that satisfied my mind on this score. Whilst hunting, early one winter I found the carcase of a freshly killed sheep, and by the tracks around it in the light snow perceived that a Fisher had sur- prised a Eaccoon at the feast. A hard chase had ensued, the Raccoon tacking at full speed to avoid his pursuer, the Fisher outrunning and continually confronting his intended victim. I saw where at length the Fisher had made an assault, and where a bloody contest had evidently ensued. The Eaccoon, worsted in the encounter, had again broken away, and the chase 74 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. was resumeel, but with diminislied energy on the part of the Rac- coon j the animal had been soon overtaken again, and a still more desperate encounter had taken place. The Coon had failed fast, and it had at length become merely a running fight, when both animals had entered a swamp where it was impossible for me to trace them further; but I have no doubt the Coon was killed. 1 have witnessed similar engagements between the Mink and Musk rat, the Weasel and House Rat, always ending in the death of the assaulted. The Fisher has been nearly extinct in these parts for about twenty-five years, and this to my mind accounts for the great increase in numbers of the Raccoon." INTERPOLATED MATTER RELATING TO THE EXOTIC MUSTEL^, MM. MARTES, FOINA, AND ZIBELLINA. Before entering upon the discussion of the intimate relationships of the American Sable or Pine Marten with its extralimital allies, some notice of the latter seems to be required in order to a better understanding of the in- tricate questions concerned. I accordingly present the three exotic species, Trith such remarks as seem called for and as I am able to offer. The ma- terial before me indicates, with little hazard of error, that the American form is specifically distinct from both the Beech Marten and the Pine Marten of Europe. Its relationships with the Asiatic Sable seem to be closer, but these I am unable to discuss satisfactorily, owing to lack of specimens of the Asiatic animal. Kote,— "Much of the synonymy relating to these exotic species has been rather summa- rily compiled at second hand, and should be taken with the allowance for " probable error " Tvhich usually obtains in such cases. 1. The Eiiropeaai Pine iHai^teii. Mastela niartes. Plate III. Martes, Antiquonnn.—Aldrov. Quad. Digit. 1645. 33l.—Charlet. Esercit. 1677, 20.—Wagn. Helvet. 16c0, 1'^l.—^iW. Scots. lUust. 1684, ii. 11.— ^^acz. Polon. 17-21, 22-2 ; 1736, 314.— Linn. S. X. i. 2d ed. 1740, 44 Jonst. Theatr. Quad. 1755, pi. 64. Martes SjivestriS, Gesn. Quad. 1551, 865, fig Jonst. Theatr. Quad. 1755, 156. Martes arborea, Schwenckf. Theriotroph. 1603, 110. Martes in arboribus, Agric. Anim. Subter. 1614, 38. Martes abtetum, Ray, Syn. Quad. 1693, 200.— Klein, Quad. 1751, 6i— Fleming, Br. An. 182d, 14.— Bell, Brit. Quad. 1837, 174 ; 2d ed. 1874, 217— Gerr. Cat. Bones. Br. Mus. 1862, 90.— Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 63; P. Z. S. 1865, 104 ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 81.— Fitz. Xaturg. Saug. i. 1861, 325, f. 67. Martes abietam vars. martes, vulgaris, aliaica, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 104; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 82 (but obviously not Mustela altaica Pall., which is a Putorius). MMStela fulTO uigrloaiis, giila pallida, Linn. Fn. Suec. 1st ed. 1746, 3, no. 7 ; Syst Nat. ed. 6th, 1743, 5, no. 2.— Hill, Hist. An. 1752, 546, pi. 21.—Kram. Elench. An. 1756, 311. MUSTELA MARTES. 75 Mustcia martes, Briss. Quad. 1756, 247, no. 8.—L. Fn. Suec. 2d ed. 1761, 6, no. 15 ; S. X., 10th ed. 1758, 46, no. 5; i. 1766, 67, no. e.—Milll Zool. Dan. Prod. 1776, 3, no. U.—Erxl. Syst. 1777, 455, no. 4.—Schreb. Siiug. iii. 1778, 475, pi. VSO.—Zimm. Geol. Gesch. ii, 1780, 303, no. I91.—Herm. Obs. Zool. 45.— Wildung. Tasch. 1800, 24, pi. 3.—Gm. S. N. i. 1788, 95, no. S.—Bechst. Natarg. Deutschl. i. , '!^9.— Yielol. Mem. Soc. Xat. Mosc. i. 1806, 249 (hy- bridity with cat).— Titrt. S. X. i. 1806, 59.— Pall. Zoog. i. 1811, 85.— Destn. Mamm. i. 1820, 181, no. 280 ; Ency. Metb. pi. 81, f. 4.—Fr. Cuv. Mamm. iii. livr. 62 ; Diet. Sci. Nat. xxix.255, flg.l.— Geo/. Diet. Cla9S.x.209.— Less. Mam. 1827, UB.—Fisch. Syn. 1829, 214.— Jenym, Brit. Yert. 1835, 11.— Siem.-Piet. Arch. Naturg. 1839, •251.— Keys. <& Bias. Wirb. Eur. i. 1840, ei.—Selys-L. Fn. Belg. 1842, 8.—Blainv. Compt. Kend. xiv. 1842, p. 210 seq. pis.; Osteogr. 1842, —.—Bark. N". Act. Leop. xxv. 1843, 660.— Schim, Syn. 1844, 35.— Bp. Fn. Ital. iv. f. —.— Gieb. Fn. Vorw. Saug. , 56 ; Odout. , 33 ; Saug. 1855, 'n4.—Hensel, Arch. Xaturg. xix. 1853, 11.— Brandt, Bern. Wirb. Nord. Eur. Ru8sl. 23; Beit. Kennt. Saug. Russl. i. 1855, pi. W.—Midd. Sib. Saug. 69, pi. 2, i.—.—Schrenck., Eeise Amurl. , m.—Blas. Wirb. Deutschl. 1857, 213, f. 121. 122.— Jackel, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 457 (albino). Mustela martes var. abletum, L. S. N. i. 1766, 67. Viverra martes, Shaiv, G. Z. i. 1800, 4io. Martes sylvatica, ^'ilss. Skand. Fn. {Martes sylvestris Gesn.). Mustela vulgaris, Grif. Cuv. E. A. v. 1827, 123. no. 349. Harder, Riding. Abbild. Thiere. 1740, pi. 19.— 2full. Samml. iii. , 515 ; Naturs. 1773, 267.— Martens, Zool. Gart. xi, 1870, p. 254 (philological).— Germrtn. Martre, Charlev. Nouv. France, iii. 1744, 134.— French. Baummarder, Roller, Naturg. Vierf. Th. 1757, 451.— German. Marte, Briss. I. c. Buff. Hist. Nat. vii. 186, pi. 22.— Bom. Diet. iii. 1763, [M.— French. Marte commune, Ouv. R. A. i. 149. Marter, Routt. Nat. Hist. Dieren, ii. 1761, 193.— Belgic. Maar, Pontopp. Dan. i. 1763, 610.— Danish. Martora, Scatag. An. Quad, ii, pi. 69. (from BaEon) .—Italian. Feldmarder, Mart. Buff. Vierf. Th. iv. 156. Edelmarder, Germ. Mart a, Spanish. Mard, Swedish. Martln,|Fe?m. Syn. Quad. 1771, 215, no. 154 ; Brit. Zool. 38, fig. Pine marten. Sweet Marten, Yellow-breasted Mar ten, -Bnglish. Descr\])t}on of the skull and teeth of Al. martes. (See Plate III.) The skull and teeth of M, martes may be described in general term.s to illustrate this part of the structure of the genus, and to serve as a standard of comparison for the other closely related species. The points in which they specially differ from that of Putorius are elsewhere summed. The skull indicates considerable strength, particularly in the rostral portions, where it is massive (still it is not so strong relatively as in either G-ulo or Putorius); the cranial part is thinner, and usually gives indication of the cerebral folds within. Most of the sutures are early obliterated ; those of the nasals, bullae auditoriie, and zygomatic processes of squamosal and malar are the last to disappear. The nasals persist separate from each other long after they fuse wdth the maxillaries. The zygomatic width of the skull is more than half its length ; these arches are upright, but are borne well away from the skull by the outward obliquity of their roots, both fore and aft. From an egg-shape cerebral part, the skull tapers to a decided postorbital constriction ; this is approxi- mately of the same (more or less) width as the rostral part. The cerebral part is rather broader than high. The upper profile of the skull is slightly 76 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. convex, slopiug more rapidly dowu bebiud, with a frontal concavity and oblique nasal oritice. The roof of the brain-box is convex in every direction : a temporal "fossa" being only indicated by the ridges (sagittal and lamb- doidal), which indicate the extent of the temporal mnscle. The sagittal crest divaricates anteriorly to rnn out to each supraorbital process ; in old ani- mals, it is a thin high ridge ; in the young, a tablet of greater or less width. The occipital crest rises and flares with age, but is always a thin edge. The occipital depression below this is well marked; the condyles are notably projecting, and connected by a sharp ridge below the foramen magnum. The mastoids are not conspicuous. The bulhe are large, elongate, oblique, convex forward ; a slight constriction across them, and some outward pro- longation, develops a tubular meatus. Excepting the bullie, the general floor of the skull is quite flat. The palate is completely ossified some dis- tance back of the molars, and nearly plane. A broad, deep emargination lies between the pterygoids ; these are simply laminar, vertical, and terminate in a well marked hamular process. The palatal plates of the intermaxil- laries, when not fused, are seen to be of very slight extent ; the small incisive foramina do not reach as far back as the hinder border of the canines. The orbits are pretty well defined by the curve of the zygoma and presence of supraorbital processes, but are not otherwise distinguished from the general temporal cavity. The anteorbital foramen is large, high up over the fore edge of the last premolar. The nasal orifice has a well-iiiarked and little irregular bony parietes. The jaw has a lightly and somewhat irregularly convex inferior profile. The coronoid plate is large, erect, its apex reaching or slightly overlapping the zygomatic arch. The angle of the jaw is a slight sharp process. The con- dyle is low, about on the level of the teeth, broad from side to side, but very narrow in the opposite direction. Its reception in the glenoid fossa is close, but the articulation does not lock as in JJeles or Taxidea. The single upper molar is completely tubercular, low, flat, with irregular minor elevations and depressions, much broader transversely than length- wise, subquadrate in general contour, partly divided by a slight median constriction (both vertical and horizontal), with an inner and outer moiety, whereof the former more or less considerably exceeds the outer in length. The inner border of this inner moiety is always strongly convex, with a raised brim. In typical M. martcs, the inner moiety is twice (to speak roundly) as large as the outer. In M. americana, much as in foina, the disproportion is obviously less. The outer border of the outer moiety in vtartes is simply convex; in the other forois just mentioned it is more or lessemarginate. The inner moiety shows one tubercle within the brim ; the outer has two such. The next tooth — last premolar — is the largest of all, and sectorial in char- acter, but with a promiueut fang projecting inward from the anterior end. In profile, it shows a large, pointed, central cusp, flanked before and behind with a small one. There is quite an excavation between the large central and small posterior cusps. The next two molars, of nearly equal size, are much smaller than the last, but repeat its characters in diminishing degree, minus the antero-internal faug. The remaining anterior premolar is very small. It is a simple conical cusp, with a slight heel behind, but none be- fore; it occasionally aborts. The large canines are not peculiar. The six EUROPEAN BEECH MARTEN, MUSTELA FOINA. 77 incisors are closely crowded ; the outer pair are mucli larger thaa the rest ; these are all alike. The outer are regalarly curved, with an enlarged cin- gulum around the base; the others start obliquely forward from the jaw, then turn vertically downward with an appreciable angle. In the lower jaw, of the two molars the hindermost is small, circular, and completely tuberculous. The next is the largest of the under teeth, chiefly sectorial in character, but with a depressed, rimmed, tubercular, posterior moiety. This rim at each of its ends rises into a slight cusp, but the inner one is merely a slight heel to the central cusp, instead of a prominent point as in M. foina. The two main cusps of the tooth are much higher, the hinder one highest, compressed, with cutting edge, forming with each other the usual V-shape reeutrance, continued further down as a closed slit. The last premolar is a conical cusp augmented posteriorly by a secondary cusp half as high, and with a heel both before and behind at the base. The next premolar is like the last, but smaller, with a mere trace of the secondary €usp, though it is well heeled fore and aft. On the next premolar, the sec- ondary cusp entirely subsides in a general gentle slope from the summit of the tooth to its base behind, and the front heel is not developed. The first premolar is simply a minute knob. It looks Jlike a tooth hardly yet estab- lished, or else about to disappear. The lower canines are shorter, stouter, and more curved than the upper. The six incisors are greatly crowded be- tween the canines, so much so that, through lack of room, one at least some- times fails to develop, leaving only five, as in more than one specimen before me. They are smaller than the upper ones, and not so regular, for one or a pair — most frequently the middle one — on each side is crowded back out of the plane of the rest. As in the upper jaw, the outer pair of under inci- sors are the largest, and have slightly clubbed and bilobate tips. 3. The Eiiropeaai ISeecli iflarteii. Mnstela foiiia. Plate IV. Martes domestica, Gesn. Quad. 1551, 865, fig.— Aldrov. Qjad. Digit. 1645, 332.— /ous<. Theatr. Quad. 1755, 156. Martes SaxatiliS, Schwenckfeld, Tberiotroph. 1603, 110. Martes in saxis, AgricAnim. Subter. 1614, 38. Martes fagorum, Fay, Syu. Quad. 1693, 2i}0.—Flem. Br. An. 1823, 14. Martes saxorum, Elein, Quad. 1751, 64. MllStela foyiia, BHss. Quad. 1756, 246, no. l.—Pall. Zoog. E. A. i. 1811, 86. Mustela foina, White, Pbil. Trans. Ixiv. 1774, VJG.—JSrxl. Syst. An. 1777, 45S, no. 5.—Sch)-eb. Siiug. iii. 1778, 494, pi. 129.—Zimm. Geogr. Gesch. ii. 1780, 302, no. 196.— Gm. S. N. i. 1788, 95, no. 14.— Herm. Obs. Zool. i^.— WUdung. Tascli. fiir 1800. —.—Bechst. Naturg. 1. , 755.— Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 182 ; Nouv. Diet. xix. 380 ; Ency. M6th. pi. 81, f. 1.— Fr. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxix. 254.— 7.s\ Geoff. Diet. Class, x. 209.— Griff. An. Kingd. V. 1827, 123, no. 350.— Jen. Br. Vert. 1835, 11.— Selys-L. Fn. Belg. i. 1842, 9.— Keys. £ Bias. Wirb. Eur. 1840, 61.—Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. 1344, 336.— fiiainv. Compt. Rend. siv. 1842, 210 seq. pis.— Gu'&. Odont. 33, pi. 12, f . 3 ; Saug. 1855, 115.— Hensel, Arch. Naturg. xix. J 853, 11.— Power, Ann, Mag. N. H. 2d ser. xx. 1857, 416.— Brandt, Bemerk. Wirb. Eur. N. E. Russl. , 24.— Bias. Wirb. Deutschl. 1857, 217, f. 123.— Jcickel, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 457 (albino). Viyerra foina, Shaw, Gen. Zoiil. i. 1600, 409. 78 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. Martes foilia, Bell, Brit. Quad. 1837, 167: 2d ed. 1874, '208.— Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mas. 1843. 63; P. Z. S. 1865, 108; Cat. Caru. Br. Mus. 186y, S6.—Uerr. Cat. Boues Br. Mus. 1862, 91. Mustela niartes var. loiua, L. S. N. i. 1766, 67. MuslelaCfoisna, Ohatin, Ann. Sci. Nat. 5th 6>er. xix. 1874, TH (anat.). FouiDf, Briss. op. loe. cit.—Bomarc, Diet. d'H. N. ii. 1768, 232.— £?!e or ^larteii. Hastela auierieaiia. Plate V. Mustela martes, Forst. Phil. Trans. Ixii. 1772, 372.— J". Sab. Frankl. Journ. 1S23, 651.— ffarZ. Fn. Amer. 1825, 67 (quotes a '' Mxistela visoji yar.'')— Warden, Hist. U. S. t. 1819, 613.— Rich. F. B. A. i. 1829, 51, no. iH.— Gapp. Zool. Journ. v, 1830, 203— Godm. Am, N. H. 1. 1831, 200.— Emmons, Kep. Quad. Mass. 1840, 40.— De K. N. Y. Zool. i. 1842, 32, pi. 11, f. 2, pi. 19. f. 2 (skull).— J.u(Z. <£ Bach. Q. N. A. iii. 1853, 176, pi. IZt^.—Thomps. N. H. Vermont, 1853, :S2.— Billings, Canad. Nat. and Geol. ii. 1857, 463.— AZ^en, Bull. M. C. Z. i. 1870, 161 (critical).— JSTemi. Tr. 111. State Agric. Soc. for 1853-54, 1855, bl8.—All. Bull. Ess. Inst. vi. 1874, 54, 59 (Colorado and Wyoming).— iTaZi, Canad. Xat. and Geol. vi. 1861, 295. Mustela americana, Txirton, ed. L. S. X. i. 1806, m.—Bd. M. X. A. 1857, 152, pi. 36, f. 2 (skull), pi. 37, f. 1 (skull).— Te2C'&. P. E. K. Rep. vi. 1857, 41.— Kneel. Pioc. Bost. Soc. X. H. vL 1858, 41d.—Coop. <£ Suckl. X. H. W. T. 1860, 92.— Eoss, Canad. Nat. vi. 1861, 25.— Gilpin, Tr. Nov. Scot. Inst. ii. 1870, 10, 59.— Ames, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69.— Coues cC- Yarrow, Zool. Expl. W. 100 Merid. v. 1875, 61 (Taos, N. M.).— Allen, Bull. TJ. S. Geol. Surv. vol. ii. no. 4, 1876, 328 (skull). Alartes americana, Graij, P. Z. S. 1865, 106; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 84. Martes americana vars. abietinoides, huro, et leucopus, Gray, II. cc. Mustela zibellina var. americana, Brandt, Beit. Saug. Russl. 1855, 16, pi. 3, f. 10 (critical). Mustela zibellina, Godm. Am. Nat. Hist. i. 1831, 208 (refers to true Sable, but the Amer- ican species described). Mustela TUlpina, Baf. Am. J. Sc. i. 1819, 82; Phil. Mag. 1819, 411; Isis, 1834, 452.(rpper Missouri Eiver) (tail white at eud).—Fisch. Syu. 1829, 215. Mustela (Martes) TUlplna, Schinz, Sjn. Mamm. i. 1844, 337. Mustela leucopus, Kuhl, Beit. 1820, 14.—Fisch. Syh. 1829, 216. Mustela (Martes) leucopus, Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. 1844, 337. Martes leucopus, Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 63.—Gerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mus. 1852, 91. Mustela leucopus. Griff. Cuv. E. A. v. 1827, 126, no. 357. Mustela huro, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxix. 1823, 256 ; Suppl. Batf. i. 1831, 221.— Zs. Geoff. Diet. Class. X. 211.— Fisch. Syn. 1829, 217. Mustela (Martes) huro, Schinz, Syn. Mamm. i. 1844, 337. Mustela marlinus, Ames, Bull. Minn. Acad. Nat. Sci. 1874, 69. Martin or Marten, Pine Marten, American Sable, of American writers. Wawpeestau, Wawbeechins, Wappanow, Indian (Richardson). Description and discussion of tJie species.* This animal is about the size of a large House Cat, tliough standing much lower on account of the shortness of the legs. The length of the head and body is about a foot and a half, more or less ; the tail with the hairs is a foot long or less ; the tail- vertebrae are less than half as long as the head and body. The tail is very full and bushy, particularly toward the end, the reverse of the tapering pointed shape which obtains in 21. pennanti. The longer hairs of the tail at and near the end measure about 3 inches. The head is quite broadly triangular, or rather conical, with the contraction of the muzzle beginning * Prepared from numerous specimens in the Smithsonian Institution. 6m 82 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. at the site of the eyes. These are oblique, aud situated about over the angle of the mouth, midway between the suout and the ears. The latter are quite high, somewhat poiuted, though obtusely so, but not regularly orbicular as in M. pennanti ; their height above the notch is rather greater than their width at base; they are closely- hairy on both sides. The longest whiskers reach to the back of the ears ; there are other bristles over the eyes, on the cheeks, and chin. The end of the snout is defi- nitely naked in T-shaped area, as usual in this genus. The limbs are short and stout ; the feet appear small in comparison with the calibre of the legs. The outstretched hind legs reach more than half-way to the end of the tail. The soles are ordi- narily densely furred, only the ends of the pale-colored claws a])pearing. But in the frequent specimens observed with scant- haired soles, the tubercles may be distinctly seen, without part- ing the fur ; they have the ordinary disposition. The pelage is long and extremely soft aud full. It consists of three kinds of fur. The first is very short, soft, and wool- like, immediately investing the skin, as may be seen upon pluck- ing away both kinds of the longer hairs. The second is soft and kinky, like the first, but very much longer, coming to the general surface of the pelt. The third is the fewer, still longer, glossy hairs, bristly to the roots. It is almost impossible to describe the colors of the Pine Marten, except in general terms, without going into the de- tails of the endless diversities occasioned by age, sex, season, or other incidents. The animal is " brown", of a shade from orange or tawny to quite blackish ; the tail and feet are ordi- narily the darkest ; the head lightest, often quite whitish ; the ears are usually rimmed with whitish; on the throat, there is usually a large tawny-yellowish or orange-brown patch, from the chin to the fore legs, sometimes entire, sometimes broken into a number of smaller, irregular blotches, sometimes want- ing, sometimes prolonged on the whole under surface, when the animal is bicolor, like a Stoat in summer. The general *' brown " has a grayish cast, as far as the under fur is con- cerned, and is overlaid with rich lustrous blackish-brown in places where the long bristly hairs prevail. The claws are whitish; the naked nose-pad and whiskers are black. The tail occasionally shows interspersed white hairs, or a white tip. Upon this subject, I cannot do better than quote again from DESCRIPTION OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 83 the article of Mr. B. E. Ross, who describes the Marten from long experience of its variations : — " The winter fur of this species is full and soft, about an inch and a half deep, with a number of coarse black hairs interspersed. The tail is densely covered with two kinds of hair, similar to those of the back but coarser. The hairs on the top are longest, measuring 2^ inches, and giving the end a very bushy appearance. The fur is in full coat from about the end of October until the beginning of May, according to locality. When in such condition the cuticle [sic, meaning skin viewed from inside] is white, clean, and Very thin. From the latter of these dates the skin acquires a darker hue, which increases until the hair is renewed, and then gradually lightens until the approach of winter, the fur remaining good for some time before and after these changes. When casting its hair the animal has far from a pleasing appearance, as the under fur falls off leaving a shabby covering of the long coarser hairs, which have then assumed a rusty tint. The tail changes later than any other part, and is still bushy in some miserable look- ing summer specimens now lying before me. After the fall of these long hairs, and towards the end of summer, a fine short fur pushes up. When in this state the pelage is very pretty and bears a strong resemblance to a dark mink in its winter coat. It gradually lengthens and thickens as winter approaches, and may be considered prime after the first fall of ^now. '' It is diflBcult to describe the color of the martin fur accu- rately. In a large heap of skins (upwards of fifty) which I have just examined minutely there exists a great variety of shades darkening from the rarer of yellowish-white and bright orange, into various shades, of orange brown, some of which are very dark. However, the general tint may with propriety be termed an orange brown, considerably clouded with black on the back and belly, and exhibiting on the flanks and throat more of an orange tint. The legs and paws as well as the top of the tail are nearly pure black. The claws are white and sharp. The ears are invariably edged with a yellowish white, and the cheeks are generally of the same hue. The forehead is of a light brownish gray, darkening towards the nose, but in some specimens it is nearly as dark as the body. The yellowish marking under the throat, (considered as a specific distinction of the pine martins) is in some well defined and of 84 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. an orauge tiut, while in others it is almost perfectly white. It also varies much in extent, reaching to the fore legs on some occasions. At other times it consists merely of a few spots, while in a third of the specimens under consideration it is entirely wanting. "After minutely comparing these skins with Prof. Baird^s and Dr. Brandt's description of the martins, and the latter gentleman's paper on the sables, I find that the M. Americana of this district agrees in general more closely with the latter, and am therefore disposed to coincide with that gentleman in his opinion that they are only varieties. The martins of this district bear a greater resemblance to the sables of Eastern Siberia than to the martins of Europe, holding, as it may be with propriety said, an intermediate position. I am also in- clined to believe that the various colors found in these regions are simply varieties of the same species, and that the differ- ences if any, seen in the Zib. [stc, lege zibellina] are merely continental. In summer, when the long hairs have fallen off, the pelage of this animal is darker than in winter. The fore- head changes greatly, becoming as deeply colored as any other part of the body, which is of an exceedingly dark brown tint on the back, belly and legs. The yellow throat-markings are much more distinct at this season, but vary much both in color and extent, though in only one summer skin are they abso- lutely wanting. The white edging on and around the ears still remains, but the cheeks assume a grayer tint. The tail is not so full, but from the high ^N'orth latitude (the Arctic coast) from which these skins were procured it is still rather bushy. One of the specimens has the dark hairs laid on in thin longi- tudinal stripes, causing a curious appearance." The last paragraph brings us directly to the consideration of the position which the American Marten holds among its congeners. Upon this vexed question it is incumbent upon me to review the testimony for and against the specific dis- tinction of this animal from the Old World Pine Marten and Sable, and to state clearly the grounds upon which my own conclusions rest. Passing over some earlier accounts, which, owing to inadequacy or lack of point, are entirely superseded by later and better investigations, we may examine four au- thors who have made the subject a matter of special examina- tion, namely. Gray, Brandt, Baird, and Allen. In the first place, If. foina may be thrown entirely out of RELATIOXSHIPS OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 85 the question. It is dow almost universally admitted to be a distinct species, eveu by the most cautious and conservative writers, some among whom, like Bell, were formerly inclined to the contrary opinion. Some external characters, more or less obvious and constant, like the white gular patch, are correlated with perfectly definite and satisfactory cranial and dental peculiarities, as elsewhere detailed in this paper. In discussing the European and American Pine Martens, to which I will now direct attention, Gray, Brandt, and Baird were agreed upon specific distinction. Allen dissented from such view, reviving the case as presented by Eichardson, Audubon, and others. Dr. Gray made the separation entirely upon the character of the posterior upper molar. Dr. Brandt elaborately detailed external characters of size, proportion, color, and char- acter of pelage. Baird adduced certain cranial and dental as well as external features. Allen confined himself to external points. Finding that the accounts of authors are unsatisfac- tory or conflicting in these respects (as may be truly said to be the case), observing the great admitted range of variation, and not examining the skulls and teeth, he disallowed specific valid- ity. I myself, with ample material before me, do not find suffi- cient grounds derived from examination of the skins alone for admitting the specific distinction of M. americana and martes (but it is otherwise when the skull and teeth are considered). Some of the alleged distinctions obviously fail. Thus, there is no difference in the furring of the soles (cf. Baird, oj). clt. p. 154); in the animal from either country, the pads may be ex- posed or concealed according to season or locality. Many of the minute points of coloration adduced by Brandt cannot be verified, and, indeed, are negatived in the examination of suffi- cient series of specimens. Prof. Baird has, I think, most perti- nently summed the case in the following terms (?. c): — "The Swedish specimens are much larger, although the skulls appear to indicate the same age. The fur is harsher and coarser, and the prevailing tints paler; the tail and feet are not very dark brown, instead of being almost black. The color of the fur at base is lighter. The throat-patch does not touch the fore legs. The tails of the European specimens appear longer in propor- tion to the body . . . . " This greater length of the tail is also attested by Brandt, who says that the tail-vertebr;^ in 71/. martes equal one half or more of the length of head and body, and extend nearly oue-third beyond the outstretched 86 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. hind legs. This distiuctiou is confirmed, as an average char- acter, by the specimens before me, though, like other matters of mere degree, it is subject to some uncertainty of determina- tion. I similarly endorse, on the whole, a lighter, grayer, more uniform coloration of J/, martes, although in the interminable variations of ^1/. ainericana probably no infallible distinctions can be substantiated. But all these points have a certain value wheu correlated, as they should be, with the cranial and dental i:>eculiarities. These are decided, and, I think, not open to reasonable question as affording good specific characters. Baird has tabulated most of them, and the specimens I have examined confirm nearly all the distinctions he has sought to establish. While he has uot, as asserted by Gray, overlooked certain dental peculiarities, he has perhaps not laid the stress upon them which is warranted. Gray rests secure, I think, iu basing the primary distinction upon the remarkable features presented by the back upper molar. We may bring the points to mind by saying that in M. martes we find an hourglass- shaped tooth with one bulb (the inner) very much larger than the other; while iu M. americana there is less median constric- tion, nearly an equality iu size of the two bulbs, and an emar- ginate instead of simply convex exterior contour of the outer bulb. There are coordinated dental characters : the last upper premolar in M. martes has a strong, directly transverse, inner fang; the same in M. americana is smaller and oblique. The penultimate lower molar iu M. martes develops a compara- tively strong supplementary cusp at the base on the inner side of the main cusp, represented in M. americana merely by a slight heel. It is to these dental characters that I primarily refer in predicating, as I do, specific validity of M. americana. I coordinate them with the cranial characters elsewhere de- tailed, and supplement them with the less essential external features already noted, in coming to the conclusion that the American is not the Pine Marten of Europe. The question then narrows to the characters of .1/. americana iu comparison Avith those of M. ziheUina, the true "Eussian^ Sable. Gray separates the two upon dental peculiarities; the Sable having, according to his determination, the same dental characters as M. martes. I regret that I have not been able to verify this. If it indeed holds, it would be sufficient to settle the issue between 21. ziheUina and M. americana., whatever might then become of the ascribed and supposed differences RELATIONSHIPS OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 87 between the former of these aud M. martes. Viewing the un- questiouably close relations between the American and Asiatic Sables, it becomes very desirable to clear up this point. With- out reference to dental or cranial characters, Baird says that '^the true Sable is readily distinguishable by the short tail, which does not extend as far as the end of the outstretched hind feet, and by the balls of the toes covered entirely with woolly fur ". The latter distinction does not hold, as we have seen; the former is disallowed by Brandt, who finds that in both the Asiatic and American Sable the tail has much the same length, being, without the hairs, about one-third the body, ^nd not reaching as far as the outstretched hind feet. Certain supposed color distinctions which Brandt found in the Ameri- can specimens he examined are clearly negatived by the more extensive series before me. He, however, finds in the Ameri- can animal a pelage less dense and lighter-colored, with a less bushy tail, and, upon such considerations, is induced to regard it rather as a variety of the zihellina than as a distinct species or as the Pine Marten of Europe. The very close relationships of the American and Asiatic Sables are unquestionable. Brandt properly alludes to intermediate specimens he had seen ; Mr. Boss reaffirms such a state of the case; in fine, external char- acters, when thoroughly sifted, are seen to be inadequate as a means of specific diagnosis. The case really hinges upon the validity of the dental characters ascribed by Gray, of which it is seen that Brandt makes no note. If these characters hold, there is no doubt of the propriety of separating M. americana specifically ; otherwise, it must be referred to M. zihellina as a continental race, as Brandt has done. In the present state of the case, this may be considered the proper reply to the often-asked question, have we the true Sable in America ! The animal is, to all external appearance, indis- tinguishable except in some of those slight points of pelage which, through the whims of fashion, aftect its commercial value, but there may be a technical zoological character of im- portance in the teeth. I will only add that I see nothing tending to give weight to a supposition that there might be mbre than one species or va- riety of Marten on this continent. All the endless diversity in minor points which inspection of large series reveals comes clearly within the range of individual variability as a result of climate, season, age, sex, or other incidents. 88 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. Measurements" of thirty-four fresh q'tviriieus of Mustela Americana. Locality. 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1035 1045 1046 1649 1656 1651 1654 1655 1658 1662 1663 1706 1634 1635 1636 1637 1640 1648 1624 1625 1626 1627 1630 1631 1632 Yukon (Xovember).. do do do ..(October) do ..(December) .. ..do do ....do ....do ....do .(March) .-..do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do Peel's Eiver (December) ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do .(November). do do do . (December). do do do .(November) .do..-. do .do do .do do .do (December) .do (October) .- ,.. do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do ...do --.do .do .do .do do .do .do .do .do From tip of nose to— I 6013. 70 3. 40 2. 45 2. 55 2. 65 2. 1. 60 2. 1. 70 2. 1. 50 2. 1. 75 3. 1. 45 2. 1. 45i2. 1. 60 2. 1.40i. 1. 70 2. 1. 45 2. ...do do I c'" 65 3. 60 2. 60 2. 60 3. 60 2. 40 2. 45 2. II, 1. 1 1, 1, 1, 1 :i.60 2. 1.65 3. |1.55 2. I1.6O2. !l.60 3. I. 60 2. II.6O2. ;i. 60 3. II. 60 2. !l. 50 2. 11.40 2. 00 4. 40 004. 30 6013. 80 60 13. 45 6OI3. 60 90 3.951 90; 3. 95| 75 3. 90{ 65'3. 60 10 4. 05| 60 3. 50 80 3. 50| 90 3. 85' 70 3. 45' 85 4. 10 50 3. 55 00 3. 95; 90 3. 85! 90 3. 90j 0(1:3. 85 85 '3. 75I 50 3. 50 60 3. 60 80 3. 80 10 4. lOi 80 3. 80 90 3. 85j 20 4. 00 1 95 3. 95' 75 3. 85i 10 4.00 90 3. 80 i SO 3. 85] 70 3.50 Tail to end of— 18. 50 7. 60 18.75 8.30 15. 60 6. 25 16. 00 6. 30 16. 20 7. 30 18. 25i8. 25 17. 50!s. 00 19.308.50 16.60 7.10 18. 75 7. 80 16.00 6.50 16. 70 6. 60 17. 75 8. 00 15. 50 6. 50 18. 20 7. 85 16. 30 7. 15 17. 60 7. 20 18. 30 8. 00 18. 40 7. 60 17. 40'7. 90 17. 40 7. 30 16. 00 7. 00 16. 50 7. 25 17. 90 7. 90 18. 30 7. 80 17. 00 7. 25 17.10 7.40 18. 00 7. 15 17. 00 7. 10 17. to 7. 75 17. .50 7. 50 17. 50 7. 60 17. 70 7. 35 15. 80 6. 90 I Length of— 10. 00 3. 25 4. 12.00 3.40 4. 9. 85 2. 70 3. 9. 80 i 2. 90 3. 10.60,2.80 3. 11. 85i3. 10 4. 11.0013. 00 4. 12.00 3.10 4. 10. 40 2. 50 3. 11.40 3.10 4. 9. 80 2. 65 3. 10. 50 2. 80 3. 11.603.20 4. 10. 10 2. 60 3. 10. 603. 25 4. 10. 15[2.60 3. 10.20 3.10 4. 12.00 3.00 4. 11.30 3.10 4. 10. 70 3. 05 4. 10. 30 3. 10 4. 9. 50 2. 70 3. 10. 00 2. 75 3. 11.10 3.05 4. 10. 80 3. 15 4. 10. 25 3. 00 4. 10. 70 3. 00 4. 19. 35 3. 00 4. 10. 30 2. 80 4. 11.05 3.00 4. 11.10 3.05 4. 10. 70 3. 00 4. 9. 85 3. 00 4. 9. 80 2. 65 3. 45 l. 40 30 .. 5.51 1.30 65; 1. 251 80 30 30 40 I. 551 65 I. 20: 10: 1. 60 80|l.30 80 .--. 30;.... 60,1.35; 45 1. 65; 7011. 401 201.45' 2(,1.50: 25.1.50 10 1. 35 201.40 70 1. 25 7511.30; lOil.SOl ioil.55 IC 1.60' 00; 1.50; 00 1.55, 00| 1.5.5. 10!L45 25' I. 55 lOl I. 50 70] 1.40 Fresh. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...do. ...du. ...do. ...do. ...do. As recorded by the collectors on the labels of the specimens. The foregoiug table of careful fresh measuremeuts satisfac- torily indicates the average dimensions and range of variation of this species in the higher latitudes. The female is seen to be considerably smaller than the male on an average, though the dimensions of the sexes inosculate. The range is from 15.} to over 19 in length of head and body, with an average near 17J. The tail-vertebra? range from little over 6 to 8}, averaging near 7i. With the hairs, this member. ranges from 9| to 12 inches, being generally about 11 inches. F^r from about 1^ to If, generally about 1 ^. Fore toot 2 J to 3f , settling near 3. Hind foot 3J to nearly 4}, generally a little over 4. These extremes, it will be remembered, are those between the largest males and smallest females ; neither sex has so wide a range. VARIATION IX SKULLS OF MUSTELA AMERICANA. 89 GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION IN THE SKULLS OF M. AMERICANA. Mr. J. A. AUeu has recently* given a table of measurement of length and breadth of forty-six skulls of this species, prepared to show the range of geographical variation. His results are here reproduced, together with his critical commentary on the specific validity of M. amerkana. It will be seen that he aban- dons his former t position, and endorses the distinctive charac- ters of the dentition of MM. martes, foina, and americana. The forty-six male skulls of this spec.es, of which measurements are given below, are mainly from four or five localities differing widely in lati- tude. A comparison of the average size of a considerable number from each shows a well-marked decrease in size southward. Four skulls from Peel River, the largest, and also from the most northerly locality, have an aver- age length of 3.39, and an average width of 2.07, the extremes being 3.50 and 3.3.5 in length and 2.12 and 2.02 in width. Nine skulls from the Yukon (prob- ably mostly from near Fort Yukon) give an average length of 3.34 and an aver- age width of 1.98, the extremes being 3..55 and 3.00 in length and 2.15 and 1.73 in width. Five skulls from Fort Good Hope give an average length of 3.24 and an average width of 1.95, the extremes in length being 3.37 and 3.15 and in width 2.05 and 1.73. Ten skulls from the northern shore of Lake Superior average 3.14 in length and 1.76 in width, the extremes in length being 2.23 and 3.02 and in width 1.89 and 1.65. Eight skulls from the vicinity of Um- bagog Lake, Maine (Coll. Mus. Comp. Zool.), average 2.96 in length and 1.72 in width, the extremes in length being 3.10 and 2.73 and in width 1.85 and 1.50. Five skulls from Northeastern New York average 3.02 in length and 1.61 in width, the extremes being in length 3.10 and 2.92 and in width 1.63 and 1.50. There is thus a gradual descent in the average length from 3.39 to 3.02, and in width from 2.07 to 1.61. The largest and the smallest of the series are respectively 3. .55 and 2.92 in length. Several fall as low as 3.00, and an equal number attain 3:50. The ditfereuce between the largest and the smallest, excluding the most extreme examples, is one-sixth of the dimen- sions of the smaller and one-seventh of the size of the larger. The sexes differ considerably in size, relatively about the same as in Puto- rius vison; but the above generalizations are based wholly on males, and in each case on those of practically the same age, only specimens indicating mature or advanced age being used. The series of fully one hundred skulls of this species contained in the National Museum presents a considerable range of variation in details of structure, involving the general form of the skull, the relative size of differ- ent parts, and the dentition, especially the form and relative size of the last molar. In a former paper, t-I had occasion to notice somewhat in detail the variations in color our American Martens present, and the difficulty of find- * Bull. U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, vol. ii, no. 4, pp. 328-330 (July, 1876). t Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Cambridge, i, pp. J 61-167 ,Oct. 1869). t " Mammals of Massachusetts ", Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. vol. i, pp. 161-167 (Oct., 1869). 90 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E, ing any features of eoloratiou that seemed to indicate more than a single American species, or that would serve to distinguish this even from the Mar- tens of the Old World. Dr. J. E. Gray, it is true, had already called atten- tion to the small size of the last molar in the American Martens as compared •with the size of the same tooth in the Old World Martens ; bat, as his obser- vation was apparently based on a single American skull, and as I was at the time strongly impressed with the wide range of individual variation I had found in allied groups, even in dental characters, and also with the great frequency of Dr. Gray's characters failing to be distinctive, I waa misled into supposing all the Martens might belong to a single circumpolar species, with several more or less strongly-marked geographical races. My friend Dr. Coues some months since kindly called my attention to the validity of Dr. Gray's alleged difference in respect to the size and form of the last molar, which I have since had opportunity of testing. This character alone, however, fails to distinguish Mustela foina from AInstela amerkana, in which the last molar is alike, or so nearly so that it fails to furnish distinctive differences. The size and general form of the skull in the two are also the same, the shape of the skull and the form of the last upper molar failing to be diag- nostic. The second lower true molar, however, in Mastda foina presents a character (shared by all the Old World Martens) which serves to distinguish it from Alustehi anlericana, namely, the presence of an inner cusp not found in the latter. In MusteJa flaviguJa, the last molar is relatively smaller than even in Musiela amerkana, and of the same form. Mustela martes differs in its more massive dentition and in the heavier structure of the skull, but especially in the large size of the last molar and the very great development of its inner portion. Hence, while the size and shape of the last upper molar serves to distinguish Ifustela martes from Mustela americana, it fails as a valid distinction between Mustela amerkana and Mustela Jiavigula and Mustela foina. As already remarked, however, Mustela americana lacks the inner cusp of the second lower molar, which is present in the Old World Martens, or at least possesses it only in a very rudimentary condition. Miasuremenis of forty -six skulls of Mustela amekicaxa. 5« Locality. •A .£3 Remarks. 6043 Yukon River cT J- > 3.55 3.50 3.45 3.37 3.30 3.00 3.28 3.28 3.30 3.37 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.15 3.50 3.37 3.35 3.35 3.40 2.15 1.85 1.83 1.82 1.85 1.73 'i."82' 2.03 2.05 1,96 1^93 1.76 1.73 2.02 2.12 6049 .. ..do 60e5 do 6047 6044 6051 do do do 6048 do Imperfect. 6046 9099- 7159 do Xenai, Alaska 7167 do 7168 do 7164 do 7163 6081 do 6080 6063 6059 3285 do do do Ked River Imperfect, do. 1.94 HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MARTEN. 91 Meusureme)iis of forty-six sJxulls of Mustela Americana — Continued. LocaMty. ii ^ } Remarks. 4670 Lake Superior (north shore) d d" d ■d d d d d 3.23 3.18 3.15 3.16 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.10 3.12 3.02 3.23 3.15 3.03 3.00 3.10 3.03 3.00 2.92 3.03 3.10 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 2.90 2.92 2.73 1.75 1 4668 (\0 L65 4664 4668 4666 4675 do do do do 1.65 1.65 1.87 1.83 1.85 1.89 1.65 1.83 1.90 L72 1.55 4674 do 4667 4672 do do " 4681 do do do Rather young. do. do do. 1668 d d d d d d d d d d d d d 1.57 1.63 1.68 1.50 L68 1.85 1.70 1.72 1.72 1.78 1.78 1.68 1.50 1163 3819 3818 2245 do do do Saranac Lake New York 541 550 TJmbagog Lake, Maine do 542 552 do do 553 do 543 do 545 do ^44 do GENERAL HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE SPECIES. According to the foregoiug consideratious, the history of this interesting animal, one highly valuable in an economic point of view, is to be disentangled from that of the European and Asiatic species, with which it has always been to a greater or less degree intermixed. The first specific name, so far as I have become aware, is that bestowed in 1806 by Turton, in an edition of the Sy sterna Xaturce; if there be an earlier one, it has escaped me. This name, however, appears to have been generally overlooked, or at least unemployed, until of late years revived by Professor Baird. His usage of the term, however, has received but partial support, some of the later writers agreeing with the custom of earlier ones in referring our animal to the European Marten, from which, as I have shown, it is well distinguished. Previous to the appearance of Dr. Brandt's elaborate memoir, only one author, it seems, among those who denied its specific validity, came so near the mark as to refer it to the Asiatic Sable. This was Dr. God- man, but even he used the name under the impression that the true Sable existed in America, as well as the Pine Marten^ ^92 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. which he refers to as J/, martes. As will be seen by reference to the list of synonyms, several nominal species have been established at tbe expense of the xYmerican Sable, upon slight individual peculiarities. The earliest of these is the J/, vulpina of M. Eafiuesque, which represents the occasional anomaly of the tail white-tipped, as alluded to by Mr. Eoss in the article already quoted. A similar condition of the feet constitutes Kuhl's Jf. leucopus ; while the M. huro of F. Cuvier is appar- ently only light-colored individuals. Dr. Gray seeks to estab- lish these last two varieties, and adds another, M. ahietinoides, based upon dark-colored examples, with the " throat-spot large or broken up into small spots". But these pretended species are not such, nor even as varieties are they entitled to more than passing allusion, as indicating to what extent some indi- viduals may depart from the usual style of coloration. Although the American animal was known in very early times, long before it received a distinctive name, having been referred alternately to the European Pine Marten and Asiatic Sable, or to both of these species, very little definite informa- tion upon its range and habits was recorded for many years. Pennant, our i->rincipal early authority on the animals of the Xorth American fur countries, and the source of much subse- quent inspiration on these species, considered it the same as M. martes J and drew its range accordingly. He states that it inhabits, in great abundance, the northern parts of America, in forests, particularly of pine and fir, nesting in the trees, bringing forth once a year from two to four young ; that its food is principally mice, but also includes such birds as it can catch ; that it is taken in dead-falls, and sometimes eaten by the natives. As an article of commerce in comparatively early times, we notice the sale of some 15,000 skins in one year (1743) by the Hudson's Bay Company, and the importation from Can- ada by the French into Kochelle of over 30,000. " Once in two or three years," he adds, they " come out in great multitudes, as if their retreats were overstocked : this the hunters look on as a forerunner of great snows, and a season favorable to the chase.'' Such periodicity in numbers thus early noted is con- firmed by later observations. Sir John Richardson has the following observations upon the distribution of the Sable in British America : "The Pine-martin inhabits the woody districts in the northern parts of America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in great numbers, and have HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MARTEN. 93 been observed to be particularly abundant where the trees have been killed by fire but are still standing. It is very rare as Hearne has remarked, in the district lying north of Churchill Kiver, and east of Great Slave Lake, known by the name of Chepewyan or Barren Lands. A similar district, on the Asiatic side of Behring's Straits, twenty-five degrees of longitude in breadth, and inhabited by the Tchutski, is described by Pen- nant as equally unfrequented by the Martin, and for the same reason, — the want of trees. The limit of its northern range in America is like that of the woods, about the sixty-eighth degree of latitude, and it is said to be found as far south as New England. Particular races of Martins, distinguished by the fineness and dark colours of their fur, appear to inhabit certain rocky districts. The rocky and mountainous but woody district of the Nipigon, on the north side of Lake Superior, has long been noted for its black and valuable Martin- skins. . . . Upwards of one hundred thousand skins have long been collected annu- ally in the fur countries." But the range of the American Sable is now known to be more extended in both directions than appears from the fore- going. In some longitudes, at least, if not in all, it reaches the Arctic coast, as mentioned by Mr. B. E. Eoss, and as attested by specimens I have examined. Mr. Eoss states that it is found throughout the Mackenzie Eiver District, except in the Barren lands, to which it does not resort, being an arboreal animal. It occurs abundantly in Alaska, apparently throughout that vast country; and, in short, we cannot deny it a less highly Arctic extension than that of the Asiatic Sable. Along the Pacific side of the continent, west of the Eocky Mountains, the Sable has been traced to the Yuba Eiver of California by Dr. J. S. Newberry, who represents it as not uncommon in Oregon ; and Dr. George Suckley procured specimens in Washington Terri- tory. Mr. J. A. Allen found the animal in Wyoming and Colo- rado, and considers it as common in the last- mentioned Territory in Park County. But however far south it may extend in such longitudes, there is apparently a great stretch of treeless country in which it is not found at all. I obtained no indications of its presence in any of the unwooded portions of Dakota and Mon- tana, which I have explored with special reference to the dis- tribution of the Mammals and Birds. It is represented as com- mon in Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. In New England, according to Dr. Emmons, writing in 1840, it 94 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. was not iufrequent in the piue and beech forests of Massachu- setts, and Mr. Allen states that it is still occasionally seen in the mountains of Berkshire County. It inhabits the mountain- ous regions of Kew York and some parts of Pennsylvania; but in tracing its extreme southern limit in the Atlantic States, we see that it has not been found so far south as the Pekan has. I find no indication of its occurrence in Maryland or Virginia. The southern limit, which has been set at about 40^ north, is probably correct for this longitude, though in the mountainous regions of the West it may require to be somewhat extended. General considerations aside, its local distribution is determined primarily by the presence or absence of trees, and further affected by the settlement of the country. Being of a shy and suspicious nature, it is one of the first to disappear, among the smaller animals, with the advance of civilization into its woody resorts. In unpeopled districts, even the vast numbers that are annually destroyed for the pelts seems to affect their abund- ance less materially than the settlement of the country does. IS'otwithstanding such destruction, they abound in the northern wilds. Even in Kova Scotia, a thousand skins are said to have been exported annually within a few years, and they may justly be regarded as among the most important of the land fur-bearing animals. Eespecting their comparative scarcity at times, Mr. Eoss has recorded a remarkable fact of periodical disappear- ance. ^' It occurs in decades,'' he says, *' or thereabouts, with wonderful regularity, and it is quite unknown what becomes of them. They are not found dead. The failure extends through- out the Hudson's Bay Territory at the same time. And there is no tract, or region to which they can migrate where we have not posts, or into which our hunters have not penetrated. . . . When they are at their lowest ebb in point of numbers, they will scarcely bite at all [at the bait of the traps]. Providence appears thus to have implanted some instinct in them by which the total destruction of their race is prevented." The Sable is ordinarily captured in wooden traps of very simple construction, made on the spot. The traps are a little enclosure of stakes or brush in which the bait is placed upon a trigger, with a short upright stick supporting a log of wood; the animal is shut off from the bait in any but the desired direction, and the log falls upon its victim with the slightest disturbance. A line of such traps, several to the mile, often extends many miles. The bait is any kind of meat, a mouse, HISTORY AND HABITS OF THE MARTEN. 95 squirrel, piece of fish, or bird's liead. One of the greatest ob- stacles that the Sable hunter has to contend with in many localities is the persistent destruction of his traps by the Wol- verene and Pekan, both of which display great cunning and perseverance in following up his line to eat the bait, and even the Sables themselves which may be captured. The exploits of these animals in this respect may be seen from the accounts elsewhere given. I have accounts from Hudson's Bay trappers of a Sable road fifty miles long, containing 150 traps, every one of which was destroyed throughout the whole line twice — once by a Wolf, once by the Wolverene. When thirty miles of this same road was given up, the remaining 40 traps were broken five or six times in succession by the latter animal. The Sable is principally trapped during the colder months, from October to April, when the fur is in good condition ; it is nearly valueless during the shedding in summer. Sometimes, however, bait is refused in March, and even early that month, probably with the coming on of the rutting season. The period of full furring varies both in spring and autumn, according to lati- tude, by about a mouth as an extreme. Notwithstanding the persistent and uninterrupted destruc- tion to which the Sable is subjected, it does not appear to diminish materially in numbers in unsettled parts of the country. The periodical disappearances noted by Mr. Ross and the animars early retreat before the inroads of population are other matters. It holds its own partly in consequence of its shyness, which keeps it away from the abodes of men, and partly because it is so prolific; it brings forth six or eight young at a litter. Its home is sometimes a den under ground or be- neath rocks, but oftener the hollow of a tree; it is said to fre- quently take forcible possession of a Squirrel's nest, driving ofl: or devouring the rightful proprietor. Though frequently called Pine Marten, like its European relative, it does not appear to be particularly attached to coniferous woods, though these are its abode in perhaps most cases, simply because such forests pre- vail to a great extent in the geographical areas inhabited by the Marten. The Sable is no partner in guilt with the Mink and Stoat in invasion of the farm-yard, nor will it, indeed, designedly take up its abode in the clearing of a settler, preferring always to take its chances of food supply in the recesses of the forest. Active, industrious, cunning, and predaceous withal, it finds 96 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. ample subsistence iu the weaker Kodents, lusectivora, and birds and their eggs. It hiiuts on the ground for Mice, which con- stitute a hirge share of its sustenance, as well as for Shrews, Moles, certain reptiles, and insects. An expert climber, quite at home in the leafy intricacies of tree tops, it pursues Squirrels, and goes birds'-nestiug with success. It is said to also secure toads, frogs, lizards, and even fish. Like the Wolverene and Fekan. it sometimes makes an entrance upon the hoards of meat and fish which are cached by the natives in the higher latitudes. It is said not to reject carrion at times. It has been stated to eat various nuts and berries, as well as to be fond of honey; but we may receive such accounts with caution, viewing the very highly carnivorous character of the whole group to which the species belongs. The Sable has some of the musky odor characteristic of its family, but in very mild degree compared with the fetor of the Mink or Polecat. Hence the name •• Sweet Marten", by which its nearest European ally is known, in contradistinction tTom Foulimart, or •• Foul Marten*', a name of the Polecat. With a general presence more pleasing than that of the spe- cies of Futorius^ it combines a nature, if not less truly preda- ceous, at least less sanguinary and insatiable. It does not kill after its hunger is appeased, nor does a blind ferocity lead it to attack animals as much larger than itself as those that the Stoat assaults with success. Animals like the Piabbit and Squirrel form less of its prey than the smaller Eodents and Insectivores. In confinement, the Marten becomes in time rather gentle, however untamable it may appear at first ; it is sprightly, active, with little unpleasant odor, and altogether rather agreeable. CHAPTER lY MUSTELIN^E— CoNTixuED : The Weasels. The gennsPutoJuus — Generic characters and remarks — Division of the genns into subgenera — Analysis of the Xorth American species — The subgenus Gale — Putoriiis vulgaris, the Common Weasel — Synonymy— Habitat— Spe- cific characters — €>eneral characters and relationships of the species — Geo- graphical distribution — Habits — Putorius enninea, the Stoat or Ermine — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Discussion of specific charac- ters and relationships — Table of measurements — Xote on the skull and teeth — Description of external characters — Conditions of the change of color — General history and habits of the species — Its distribution in the Old World — Putorius longicauda. the Long-tailed Weasel — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — Description — Measurements — General ac- count of the species — Putorius hrasiUensis frenatus, the Bridled Weasel — Synonymy — Habitat — Specific characters — General account of the species. CONTIXUIXG with the subfamily 2IusteJhi(e, but passing- from the genus Musfehiy we reach the next genus, Puto- riiis^ which contains the true TVeasels or Stoats (subgenus Gale)^ the Ferrets and Polecats (subgenus Putorius proper), the American Ferret (subgenus Cynomijonax), and the Minks (subgenus Lutreola), This chapter is devoted to the considera- tion of the species of the first of these sections, after presenta- tion of the characters of the genus at large. The other sec- tions are reserved for succeeding chapters. The Genus PUTORIUS. (CUYIER.) < Mnstela, or Martes, of some authors. X Yiverra sp.. Lutra sp. of some authors. = Putorius, Cuvier, Eegne Anim. i. 1617, aud of authors generally. = FoetoriUS, Kei/s. cfi Bias. Wirbelth. Eur. lS-10. > Gymiiopus, Gray, Cat. Mamm. Br. Mus. 1842. > Lutreola, " Wajner ', Grat/, P. Z. S. 1865, 117. (Type ifustela lutreola L .) > Gale, ''Wagiier", Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 118. > Neogale, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 114. (Type P. brasiliensk.) > ViSOn, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 115. (Type P. visou.) Generic chx-rj^ctbrs.— Dental formula : I. f^| ; C. ^^ ; Pm. |^; M. ^^ =T-| =3'^ (oiie premolar above and below less than in Gu lo and Mus- tela). Sectorial tooth of lower jaw (anterior true molar) without an inter- 7 m ' 9' 98 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. nal cusp. Anteorbital foramen presenting downward-forward (as in Miis- tela; reverse of Gido), a mere orifice, not canal-like, and opening over the last premolar (the opening more anterior in Giilo and Mustela). Skull as a rule* little contracted at the middle ; the rostral portion extremely short, stout, turgid, scarcely tapering, and much more vertically truncated than in Gnlo or Mustcia ; frontal profile convex, and usually more nearly horizontal than in Gulo or Mastela. Nasal bones widening forward from an acute base. General outline of skull in profile scarcely arched— sometimes quite straight and horizontal in most of its length. Production of mastoids and auditory bulltB and general prominence of periotic region at a minimum ; the bullfe flatter than in Mustela or Gulo, and scarcely so constricted across as to pro- duce a tubular meatus. Zygomatic arch usually not higher behind than in front, nowhere vertical nor developing a posterior convexity. Depth of emargination of palate little if any greater, or less than, distance thence to the molars. Skull as a whole more massive than in Mustela, though smaller. Size medium and very small (including the smallest species of the whole family). Body cylindrical, slender, often extremely so; legs very short; tail long, terete, uniformly bushy or very slender and close-haired, with a terminal pencil. Ears large, orbicular. Soles commonly furry. Pelage usually close and short, whole-, or oftener, parti-colored ; turning white in winter in Northern species. Progression digitigrade. Habits iudetermiu- 4ite — terrestrial, arboreal, or aquatic. The foregoing characters are drawn up from consideration of the European and North American forms, and may require some qualification, in ultimate details, to cover all the modifi- cations of this extensive genus, containing, as it does, several sections or groups of species, probably of subgeneric value. From Gulo or Mustela it is at once distinguished by the differ- ent dental formula. The skull, as compared with that of its nearest ally, Mustela, differs notably in the shortness and bluntness of the muzzle, position and direction of the ante- orbital foramen, slight convexity of the upper profile, and other points noted above. There is a decided difference in the char- acter of the auditory bulla3, more readily perceived on compar- ison than described 5 the bulLe are usually less inflated — some- times quite flat, as in P. vison ; and even when, as in some cases, the inflation of the basal portion is not much less than in Mustela, we miss the constriction which in the latter genus produces a well-determined tubular meatus. The skull of Fu- tor'ius is decidedly heavier for its size than that of Mustela, in this respect more like that of Gulo, though it is comparatively' much flattened and otherwise dissimilar from the latter. The name of the genus is from the Tiatin putor, a stench * In some species of Putorius, however, the constriction is as great as is ever found in Mustela. ANALYSIS OF THE GENUS PUTORIUS. 99 {puteo^ to stink), as one of its synonyms, FwtoriuSj is from foetor, foeteo, of the same signification. The relation of the YiUglish 2)utri(l, fetid, &c., is obvious. The extensive genus Putorius is divisible into several well- marked sections, doubtless of subgeneric value. Three such groups exist in Xorth America. These may be analyzed as follows, in connection with a fourth group, Putorius proper, introduced to further elucidate the position and relations of a new subgenus I propose for the reception of the Putorius ni- gripes. Division of the genus into subgenera. 1. Gale. * — The Stoats or Ermines, and Weasels. — Skull smooth, without well-developed sagittal crest. Frontal profile strongly convex and decli- vous. Pterygoids with small hamular processes, or none. BuIIjb auditoria? nicked at end by orifice of the meatus. Skull moderately abruptly con- stricted near the middle; postorbital processes slight. Species of small and smallest size, with very slender, cylindrical, " vermiform " body, very Jong neck, and tail (of variable length) slenderly terete, with terminal pencil, usually black ; pelage, including that of the tail, short and close set (the Northern species usually turning white in winter), bicolor, of uniform color above, lighter below. Ears large, high, and orbicular. Palmar pads all separate. Toes scarcely webbed. Habits terrestrial, and somewhat arbo- real ; not aquatic. Of general distribution in both hemispheres. 2. CynomyonaxI (nob., subg. nov.). — American Ferret. — Skull developing sagittal crest. Frontal profile scarcely or not convex, strongly declivous. Pterygoids with slight hamular process. Bulhie auditoria? nicked by orifice of meatus. Sectorial tooth of upper jaw with its outer border nearly straight, developing no decided antero-external process, and the antero-internal pro- cess merely a slight spur. Skull abruptly and strongly constricted in ad- vance of the middle, with strongly developed postorbital processes. Last molar of under jaw minute, merely a cylindrical round-topped stump, without trace of cusps or other irregularity of surface. Animal of large size, equal- ling or exceeding a large Mink, yet retaining the attenuate^ elongate and cylindrical body, long neck, large suborbicular ears, slenderly terete black- tipped tail, and close short pelage of Gale. Coloration not distinctively bicolor ; legs darker than body ; peculiar facial marking. Toes not semi- l)almate. Palmar pads discrete. Habits terrestrial. No seasonal change of colors. One species known, peculiar to North America. 3. Putorius I (proper). — The Ferrets or Polecats. — Skull finally develop- ing sagittal crest, and roughened muscular impressions. Frontal profile *Etym. — The Greek ya7Ji, a weasel. \Etym. — Greek kvov, dog, five, mouse, o)va^ (or ava^), king. — The genus Cynomys (kvov, fiv^') is that of the so-called "' prairie-dogs", among which the species lives, and upon which it largely subsists. — Cynomyonax, " king of the prairie-dogs ". t Etyni. — See above. 100 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. convex, strougly declivous. Pterygoids developing large hamular processes. Bullao aiulitorijB nicked by orifice of meatus. Skull scarcely constricted near the middle, where, if anything, it is broader than rostrum ; postorbital pro- cesses poorly developed. Sectorial tooth of upper jaw as in Cynomyonax. Back molar of lower jaw of ordinary size, circular, developing irregularities of the crown. Animals rather large, comparatively stout-bodied, less length- ened, with rather bushy, tapering tail, and low, orbicular ears ; pelage long and loose, instead of close-set, variegated above, or there not notably darker than below ; do not turn white in winter. Palmar pads separate. Toes not semipalmate. Terrestrial in habits. The species confined to the Old World. 4. LuTREOLA*. — The Minks. — Skull of adult developing sagittal crest and muscular impressions. Frontal outline nearly straight and scarcely declivous. Pterygoids with strong -hamular process. Bullae auditorise notably less inflated than in the foregoing, prolonged into a somewhat tubular meatus, not nicked at orifice. Constriction of skull and development of postorbital processes intermediate in degree between FiUorius proper and Cynomyonax. Sectorial tooth of upper jaw with its outer border concave, owing to devel- opment of a strong antero-exterior spur, which lies out of the axis of dentition, and forms with the antero-interior cusp (present in all Miistelince) a rather open V, into which the antecedent premolar fits, the antero-internal process developing to a conical cusp. Back lower molar as in Putorius proper. Animals of large to largest size in the genus, stout-bodied, rather long and very bushy tail, cylindrico-tapering ; pelage moderately loose, but thick, to resist water, very bristly and lustrous, dark-colored, unicolor or only varied with irregular white patches on under parts ; no seasonal changes of pelage. Ears very low. Feet semipalmate, natatorial. Palmar pads with- out hairy intervals. Habits highly aquatic. Species common to both hem- ispheres. The first of these subgenera is represented in North America by several species, some of which are not clearly- distinguished from their congeners of Europe, while another is specifically identical with an animal which ranges through Central into South America. The second and fourth each contain a single North American species, as far as known, the fourth having a closely allied European congener ; while the second, peculiar to Amer- ica, is the nearest analogue of the third, which has no exact American representative. The North American species of Putorius at large may be determined by the following analysis of subgeneric and specific characters : — * Eiynt.—" Lutreola ", " Little Otter " — diminutive form of the Latin hiira, an Otter, which the Mink much resembles. For von Marten's exposition of the word Intra in its several forms, and discussion of the philological ques- tions involved, see p. 29. ANALYSIS OF N. A. SPECIES OF PUTORIUS. 101 Analysis of North American species of Putorius. A. (Gale.) Of smallest size (length of head and body under 12 inches), most slender and attenuate body, and longest neck. Ears conspicuous, orbicular. Tail slenderly terete, with the tip usually (rarely in vulgaris) black. Toes cleft. Palmar pads separate. Coloration bicolor, in distinct upper and under areas, latter not darker than former, feet not black ; or, entirely white, excejatiug black tip of tail. (Weasels, Stoats or Ermines.) a. Head not darker than rest of upper parts, nor variegated with -streaks or spots. a'. Tail pointed at end, scarcely or not black-tipped, 2 inches or less in length, including h^irs ; belly white or scarcely tinged with sulphury 1. P. vulgaris. ¥. Tail with a terminal pencil of black hairs, and over 2 inches long, including hairs. a". Belly pure sulphury-yellow; tail- vertebrae 2-5 inches long, the black tip not confined to the terminal pencil. . . 2. P. ekminea. h". Belly tawny, saffron or salmon-yellow ; tail 6-7 inches long, the black tip reduced to terminal pencil. ... 3. P. longicauda. &. Head darker than rest of upper parts, with light stripes or spots ; belly as in h" 4. P. brasiliensis frenatus. B. {Cynomyonax.) Much larger; length of head and body over 12 inches; body scarcely stouter, and equally close-haired, and tail very short, slenderly terete, black-tipped. Ears conspicuous, orbic- ular. Toes cleft. Palmar pads separate. Coloration not bicolor in distinct areas. (American Ferret.) Pale brown, nearly uniform, or brownish-white, scarcely darker on the back ; feet, end of tail, and broad bar across the face black. 5. P. NIGRIPES. C. (Lutreola.) Size of the last, or rather less ; body as stout or stouter. Ears low. Toes semipalmate. Palmar pads fused. Tail uniformly bushy. (Mink.) Dark chestnut-brown or blackish, uniform, or only varied by white patches below ; tail without differently colored tip. 6. P. VISON. The Subgenus GALE. (Wagner.) This subgenus, which iuchides the Weasels proper and the Stoats or Ermines, comprises a large majority of the species of Fiitorms, widely distributed over the globe. The leading char- acters which distinguish it from its nearest allies have already been given (p. 99), together with an analysis of the four species known to inhabit North America. Further details of the skull, teeth, and external form are presented beyond, under head of G. erminea, which, as a typical member of the subgenus, may serve as a standard of comparison. We may at once, there- fore, proceed to consider the several North American species. 102 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. The liVea!*el. Piitorius (Gale) vulg'aris. Plate YI. Figs. 2, 4. (rt. Old World references.) Mustela, Variorum ('Ocsn. Qaad. 1551, 851, f.—.—ScTuPcncA;/. Theriotroph. 1603, 116.— Charh't. Esercit. 1677, ■2(i.—Rzacz. Polon. 1721, 235"). Mustela vulgaris. Aldrov. Qaad. Digit. 1645, 301.-Sibb. Scot. Illust. ii. 1681, 11.— Ray, Syn. 1693, 195 —X. S. N. eds. 2d-5th, 1740-47, H.— Klein. Qaad. 1751, 62.—Jonst. Theatr. 1753, 152, pi. 64.—Bri.ss. Quad. 1756, 241, no. l.—Erxl. Syst. Anim. 1777, 471, uo. 12 (synon. muchmixedwithtbat of other species).— Schreb. S'a.aesm. Mamm. i. 1820, 179, no. 275; Xouv. Diet. xix. 372; Ency. Meth. pi. 84,f. l.—Fr. Cm: Diet. Sci. Xat. xxix.1823, 251, no. l.—Is. Geoff. Diet. Class, x. ^U.-Less. Man. 1827, lA&.—Fisch. Syn. 1829, 223.— K^m. Br. An. 1828, 13.— J"cn. Br. Vert. 1835, 1%—Bell Br. Quad. 1837, 141 ; 2d ed. 1874, 182, f. — .— Selys-L. Fn. Belg. 1842, 10. — Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 65.— Gieb. Saug. 1855, lS2.—Fitz. Katurg. Siiug. i. 1861, 335, f. 69.—Gerv. Cat. Br. Mas. 1862, 93.— Farivick, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 17 (albino). Mustela vulgaris a. x^tUa, /?. nivalis, Gm. S. X. i, 1788, 99, nos. 11 a, life. Viverra vulgaris, Shaic, G. Z. i, 1800, 420, pi. 98, upper fig. Mustela (Gale) vulgaris, ScAm2,Syn. Mamm. i.l844, 344. — G/o!/,P. Z.S. 1865,113; Cat. Carn. Br. Mus. 18C9, 90. Putorius vulgaris, Griff. An. Kingd. V. 1827, 121, no. 344 (but not .same name on p. 120, no. 339).— Brandt, "Wirb. Eur. X. E. Rassl. , 26. FcPtorlus vulgaris. Keys, d- Bias. Wirb. Eur. 1840, 69, no. Ul.—Blas. Wirb. Deut-scbl. 1657, 231.— Jdckel, Zool. Gart. xiv. 1873, 459 (albino). Mustela nivalis, Linyi. Fn. Suec. 2d ed. 1761, 7, no. 18; S. X. i. 1766, 69, no. U.—Miill. Zool. Prod. 1776, 3, no. 15.— Erxl. Syst. An. 1777, 476, no. U.—Schreb. Saug. iii. 1778, pi. 138.— Eell. Kon. Vet. Akad. Stockb. \i. 1785, 212, no. 9, pi. l.—Less. Man. 1827, 146. Mustela gale. Fall. Zoog. E.-A. i. 1831, 94, no. 32. Belette, Briss. op. et loc. cit.—Buff. Hist. Xat. vii. 225, pi. 29, f. l.—Bomare., Diet. i. 1768, 262.— F;-(?/ic7i.— Mareot, Marcotte, French. Common AVeesel, Fenn. Syn. Quad. 1771, 212, no. 151 ; Brit. Zool. i. , 95, pi. 7, f. 11.— Shaw, op. loc. ci^— Weasel or Weesel, English. Scheeuwiesel, Miill. X'aturs. i. 1776, 276 (— M. nivalis). >Viesel, Klelne Wiesei, German (cf. v. ATartens, Zool. Gart. xi. 1870, p. 276, philological).— Wezel. Belgic.—\xsv\, La;katt, Danish.—Sneemnu^, Danish (white).— Snbmus, ,siced!sh (white).— Ballottula, JtaKfln.— Comadreja, Spanish. (h. American references.) Mustela nivalis, Forst. Phil. Tr. Ixii. 1772. 373. Mustela vulgaris, Rarl. Fn. Amer. i. 1825, 61.— Maxim. Reise, ii. 1841, 9S.—Thomps. X. H. Verm. 1853, 30.— Hall Canad. X'at. and Geol. vi. 1861, 295. Mustela (Putorius) vulgaris, Mich. F. B.-A. i. 1829, 45. Putorius vulgaris, Fmm. Eep. Quad. Mass. 1840, 44.—All.'Pr. Bost.Soc. xiii. 1869, 183; Bull. M. C. Z. i. 1870, 167. Mustela ((iale) vulgaris rar. aniericana, Gray, P. Z. S. 186.5, 113; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, 91. Mustela pusilla. Be K. X. Y. Zool. i. 1842, 34, pi. 14, f. l.—Beesley, Geol. Cape May, 1857, 137. Putorius pusillus, Aud. d- Bach. Q. X. A. ii. 1851, 100, pL 64.— Bd. M. X. A. 1857, 159.— Suckl. X. H. W. T. 1860, 92.— Sam. Rep. Mass. Agric. for 1861 (1862), 154, pi. 1, f. 2, 4.— Maxim. Arch. Xat org. 1861, —; Verz. X. Am. Saug. 1862, 49.— i?oss-, Canad. Xat. and Geol. vi. 1861, 441.— Aferriam, Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. 1872, 661 (Idaho).— Ame^, Bull. Minn. Acad. X'at. Sci. 1874,69. Putorius "Cicognani", Rich. Zool. Beechey's Yoy. 1839, 10' (err.). Common Weesel, Fenn. Hist. Quad. 1761, no. 192; Arct. Zool. i. 1784, 75, no. 25. Hab. — In America, the northern portions of the United States and north- ward. Europe aud Asia, northerly. CHARACTERS OF PUTORIUS VULGARIS. 103 Specific characters. — Very small ; length of bead and body 6 or S inches ; of tail- vertebra^ 2 inches or less ; tail-vertebne about one-fourth or less of the head and body; tail slender, cylindrical, pointed at tip, which is con- color or not obviously black ; under parts white, rarely, if ever, tinged with sulphury; coloration otherwise as in P. erminea. Caudal vertebr:e 15 (Geirard). General characters and relationsMps of the species. To describe the general body-colors of this animal would be to repeat, in substance, most of what is beyond said of P. erminea. I find no differences susceptible of intelligible description ex- cepting those given in the foregoing diagnosis, although, as usual in this genus, there is considerable individual variation in the shade of the mahogany-brown upper parts, in the details of the line of demarcation with the white of the under parts, and in the color of the feet, which appear to be indifferently like the back or like the belly. I do not observe, however, in any of the specimens before me, that the under parts are nota- bly tinged with sulphury-yellow, as is frequently or usually the case with F. erminea. They are quite purely white. The i)oints of this animal to which attention should be di- rected in comparison with its ally, P. erminea, are the general dimensions and the color of the tail. This member is both abso- lutely and relatively shorter than in P. erminea; it is cylin- drical, very slender, and usually terminates in a point, without the slightest bushy enlargement. In most specimens, as in all the European examples I have seen, there is no black whatever at the end of the tail ; on the contrary, the tip is frequently mixed with a few white hairs. In other specimens, however, the end of the tail is dusky, as in No. 6491, from the Yukon (Kennlcott) ', while in Xo. 3316, from Oregon (Wayne), the tip is quite blackish. The tail-vertebrae range from rather less than an inch in length to full two inches, if not a trifle more, though the latter dimension seems to be rarely reached ; the terminal pencil of hairs from ^ to J. According to Gerrard, there are fewer (15) caudal vertebrae than in P. erminea. Accounts of authors are surprisingly at variance in assigning dimensions to this animal. De Kay says in one place 12-13 inches (nose to end of tail), but this is probably a slip of the pen, for his detailed measurements amount to 8.80 for head and body and 1.80 for tail-vertebrie ; Audubon, 8; Bachman gave 7 inches, the tail- vertebrae 2. Baird gives 6 ; the tail from 0.83 to 1.60; the head, 1.45; fore foot, 0.58; hind foot, 0.92. The 104 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. smaller dimeiisious seem to be nearer the average. The skiu from the YnkoD, above mentioued, probably well stretched, measures 7.50 ; tail- vertebrae, 1.25 ; hind foot, 1.10. The Ore- gon specimen was apparently about 7 inches; the tail 2. Two skins from British America (4411, Fort Kesolution, Kennicott^ and 4231, Moose Factory, Brexler) are notably smaller and shorter-tailed than any others I have seen. They are about 6 inches long, the tail-vertebne an inch or less, the hind feet about 0.75.* They are also somewhat peculiar in the intensity of a liver-brown shade. With only such small and dark-colored specimens as these last before us (strictly representing P. imsiUus of Andabon and Bachman), there might be little difficulty in distinguishing at least an American race; but, as already indicated, such distinctions disappear on examining larger series, and consequently fail to substantiate a geographical race. Whatever minute discrep- ancies may be noted in comparing certain American with cer- tain other European examples, assuredly these do not hold throughout the series ; and, moreover, the differences inter se between animals of either continent are as great as any of those which can be detected when the animals of the two continents are compared. Thus, holding in my hands the Yukon speci- men and No. 2290, from Leeds, England, I find that I have in- contestably the same species. In size and color, these two are much more nearly identical than Nos. 2290 and 2279, the latter being also from Leeds. The Yukon animal has, indeed, a bushy tip to the tail ; but, again, the one from Moose Factory has not. A specimen from Scotland (No. 1658) has proved susceptible of overstuffing up to more than 10 inches for length of head and body ; but No. 2290 was scarcely 7 inches long. The presence of true M. vulgaris on our continent may be considered estab- lished. So that the question practically narrows to whether we have not also an additional species. This I cannot admit; for if minute differences of the grade allowed to distinguish a supposed ''^inisillus " be taken into account, we must, to be con- sistent, also separate from this latter the specimen from Oregon, t with its longer blackish-tipped tail, and so have three North * Reliable European writers assign a length of about 8 inches of head and body, the head If, the tail '2. The female is usually an inch, if not more, smaller than the male. tThis furnishes a case parallel with that of Rexperomys "hoyVii" and ff. " aui