which it eats. In confinement, its favorite food is boiled meat, eggs, birds, and small animals, and particularly fish.

There is a Civet in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, which has been there several years. Its odor is at all times very powerful, but unusually so whenever it is irritated. It sleeps with its body rolled round, and its head between its legs. This posture it seldom changes either in the night or day; and it sleeps so soundly, that it cannot be roused without severe blows.

With respect to the civet procured from Amsterdam, it is less adulterated, and therefore held in higher estimation, than that imported from India or the Levant. Its average value in Holland is about fifty shillings an ounce; but this is subject to considerable fluctuation. The substance is accounted best when new, of a whitish color, a good

JAVANESE CIVET.

consistence, and of a strong, disagreeable smell. This perfume is excessively powerful; but in small quantities it is more pleasant than musk, to which it bears some resemblance.

In a native state these animals are found in Guinea and the central parts of Africa. They inhabit only arid and sandy countries, and never frequent such as are humid and shady. A species of the Civet is found in Java with a long pointed tail.

THE COMMON MARTIN AND PINE MARTIN.

These animals are each about eighteen inches long. They are of a dark chesnut color on the upper parts. The Common Martin is white on the throat and breast; and the Pine Martin yellow.

They are natives of Great Britain; and of various parts both of the old and new continent.

THE MARTIN.

The general retreats of the Martin and Pine Martin are the hollows of decayed trees, so high up, and in other respects so situated, as to afford them perfect security. The place adopted for the nest of a Squirrel is generally preferred to any other. Of this the Martin dispossesses the ingenious architect by killing him. The new tenant now enlarges the dimensions of its habitation, lines it with softer materials, and, in this secure retreat, produces its young.

The courage of the Martin is so great, that it will attack animals much larger and stronger than itself. In a wild state it is sometimes

THE MARTIN.

215 very ferocious; but it may be rendered tame and docile. Gesner says, he kept a Pine Martin which was extremely playful and entertaining. It used to go to the houses of the neighbors, and it always returned home when it wanted food. It was particularly fond of a Dog with which it had been bred up; and would play with him as Cats do, lying on its back, and pretending to bite him. M. de Buffon ad one, which, though it had lost its ferocity, did not, however, dis cover any marks of attachment, and continued so wild as to require being chained. It frequently escaped from its confinement. At first it returned, after some hours' absence, but without appearing pleased; the time of absence of each succeeding elopement gradually increased, and at last it took a final departure. During its confinement, it sometimes slept for two days without intermission.

These animals have a musky smell, which to many persons is very agreeable. Their cry is sharp and piercing; but is never uttered except when in pain or distress. Their principal food consists of rats, mice, and other small quadupeds; of poultry, and game. they are also remarkably fond of honey.

The female produces three or four young-ones at a litter, which soon arrive at a state of maturity. She is able to afford them but a small quantity of milk; but she compensates for this defect, by bringing to them eggs and live birds in abundance; and she thus early accustoms them to a life of carnage and plunder. As soon as the young-ones are able to leave the nest, she leads them through the woods; where they begin to seize on their prey, and to provide food for themselves.

Pine Martins are hunted in the North for the sake of their furs, which are held in

great estimation: the most valuable part is that which extends along the back. In England these are used to line the robes of magistrates, and for several other purposes. They form a considerable article of commerce; above twelve thousand being annually imported into England from Hudson's Bay, and more than thirty thousand from Canada.

Among the

This animal is about eighteen inches in length; and, in its general shape, has a great resemblance to the Martin. The head is longish, and the muzzle somewhat sharpened. Its color is a deep glossy brown. It is a native of North America, Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Asiatic Russia.

Sables frequent the banks of rivers, and the thickest parts of the woods. They live in holes under the ground, and especially under the roots of trees; but they sometimes make their nests (consisting

THE SABLE.

of moss, small twigs, and grass) in the hollows of trees. In winter they live on berries of different kinds; but in summer-time, before these are ripe, they devour Hares, Weasels, Ermines, and other small animals. They are sprightly and active creatures; and are able, with wonderful agility, to leap from tree

to tree, in the pursuit of Squirrels and Birds.

Two of these animals which had been in some measure domesticated, are described by M. Gmelin. He says, that whenever they saw a Cat, they would rise on their hind feet to prepare for combat. In the night, they were extremely restless and active; but during the day, and particularly after eating, they generally slept so sound for half an hour, or an hour, that they might be pushed, shaken, and even pricked without bing awakened.

The skin of the Sable is more valuable than that of any other animal of equal size. One of these skins, not more than four inches broad, has sometimes been valued at as high a rate as fifteen pounds; but the general price is from one pound to ten pounds, according to the quality. The Sable's fur is different from all others, in the hair turning with equal ease either way. The bellies of Sables, which are sold in pairs, are about two fingers in breadth; and are tied together in bundies of forty pieces, which are sold at from one to two pounds a bundle. The tails are sold by the hundred, at from four to eight pounds.

The manner in which the natives of Kamtschatka catch these animals is very simple. They follow the track of the Sable, in snowshoes, till they have detected his covert, which is generally a burrow in the earth. As soon as the little creature is aware of his pursuers, he escapes into some hollow tree. This the hunters surround with a net, and then they either cut it down, or force the animal by fire and smoke to abandon his retreat, when he falls into the net and is killed. The tree in which a Sable is lodged, they sometimes surround with Dogs trained for the purpose; and then, making a running noose on a strong cord, they find means to get the creature's head into the snare, and thus haul him down an easy prey.

The chase of the Sable, during the more barbarous periods of the Russian empire, was the principal task of the unhappy exiles who were banished into Siberia; and who, as well as the soldiers sent there, were obliged to furnish, within a given time, a certain quantity of furs: but as Siberia is now become more populous, the Sables have, in a great measure, quitted this part of the country, and retired further to the north and east, into the desert forests and mountains.

THE POLECAT, OR FITCHET.

The length of the Polecat, exclusive of the tail, is about seventeen inches; and of the tail three inches. In shape this animal resembles the Martin. The ears are short, and tipped with white. The tail is covered with longish hair. The general color is a deep chocolate, nearly approaching to black.

THE POLECAT.

The Polecat is not afraid of the presence of mankind, but approaches with confidence our dwellings, mounts to their roofs, and often resides in barns, hay-lofts, or other places that are not much frequented. Thence he issues, under the shadow of night, to commit his depredations on eggs and poultry. He is exceedingly agile, and runs very fast. In the act of running, his belly seems to touch the ground; but, in preparing to jump, the animal arches his back very much, and by this means the projectile force of his body is greatly increased. In farm-yards, the Polecat makes less noise but commits more mis

chief than the Martin. If, deterred by the narrowness of the entrance, he cannot convey the fowls away, he is said to eat the brain on the spot, and to carry off the heads to his place of concealment, leaving the bodies behind.

In Lorraine, and some of the adjacent cantons, Polecats are very numerous; and consequently there, as elsewhere, they commit great havoc in the poultry-yards. Yet, says M. Sonnini, such are the superstitious prejudices in their favor, that the inhabitants will on no account attempt to destroy them. They pretend that Polecats never commit any damage in the dwellings where they reside; thus, at the same time that they know and acknowledge their voracious disposition, they believe that the animals entertain a singular respect for hospitality.

The Polecat, during summer, generally lives in woods, thick brakes, or about Rabbit-warrens. Here, if he cannot find ready-made a hole that suits him, he forms for himself, in the ground, a retreat not usually more than two yards in length, which if possible, he contrives to end among the roots of some large tree. Issuing thence, he often commits surprising depredations on game and Rabbits. A single family of Polecats, left undisturbed, are sometimes sufficient to destroy a whole warren. It is asserted that these animals are so fond of honey, that, in winter, when the Bees are weakened by the rigors of the season, they have been known to attack the hives, and voraciously to devour their contents.

That the Polecat will sometimes prey upon Fish, is a circumstance that was known to several of the old writers on Natural History, and is noticed both by Aldrovandus and Johnston. A curious fact, illustrative of this propensity, is recorded in Bewick's History of Quadrupeds. During a severe storm, a Polecat was tracked in the snow, from the side of a rivulet to its hole, at some distance. On examining this hole, it was found to contain eleven eels, the fruits of some of the animal's nocturnal excursions.

The smell of the Polecat is proverbially fetid, the animal being furnished, like several others of its tribe, with certain receptacles for secreting a thickish fluid, which has a peculiarly strong and offensive odor. When the Polecat is heated or enraged, the stench is sometimes perceptible to a considerable distance. Notwithstanding this, its fur is both beautiful and valuable. The skins taken from animals killed in winter, are the most valuable.

The female Polecats produce their young ones, from three to six in number, in the beginning of summer. This is usually done either in or near the out-house of some farm. Like the Martins, these animals do not suckle them long, but soon accustom them to animal food.

THE FERRET.

The Ferret is somewhat smaller than the Polecat. Its eyes are red; and the general color of its body a dingy but pale yellow.

Great as is the general resemblance, in their manners and habits,