also found in Japan. It is proper to add, however, that while the fact of the same species being found in Japan is not entirely free from doubt, a similar doubt, although one of greatly less weight, applies to its absence on the west coast of America. Lewis and Clarke, who, however trustworthy as explorers, can scarcely be cited as authorities in natural history, do state that the red Fox is found on the coast region of Oregon. Dr. Baird, however, has satisfied himself that the species to which they refer is different. There is another American fox which possesses some interest in regard to distribution-the small Kit Fox, C. VELOX, from nearly the very centre of North America, viz. the region about the Nebraska and Missouri district. Its peculiar habitat is the dry desert-like country lying on either side of the Rocky Mountains, extending to the Cascade range on the west, and to the timbered lands of the lower Missouri on the east. In the basin of the Upper Columbia it is more common than any other species. It is said to be possessed of great swiftness, whence its name, but this is now found to have been greatly exaggerated. It is no swifter, indeed it is not so swift as the red or grey Foxes. This is the nearest approach to the Jackals which occurs in either North or South America. It is, however, a true Fox. Its analogue in the Jackals is the Corsac or Adive, which inhabits similarly elevated regions in Central Asia. It is not quite so large as the domestic cat, but a little larger than a stoat, and is a very handsome animal, so that. in the reign of Charles IX. of France it was the fashion for the Parisian ladies to make a pet of it instead of little dogs; † and it is said to have been then common in Paris, although brought from Asia at great expense. The American C. VELOX is a little larger, being about two feet in length. If the central position on highlands in the heart of the two great continents were anything more than an analogical resemblance, we might apply the phenomena of the glacial epoch to explain their occurrence, but it is not called for. The distinction between the Dogs (that is to say, the Dogs, Wolves, and Jackals) and the Foxes, is too well marked to allow of the circumstance being regarded as more than a coincidence. To this section belongs the Zerda or Fennec from North Africa, which Mr. Tristram describes as an amiable and interesting pet.+ Prince Charles Lucian Bonaparte described a Fox from Italy, under the name of CANIS MELANOGASTER. He considered it to resemble the American C. FULVUS more nearly than any other Fox, but it is not generally accepted as more than a variety of our common Fox. The limits of its habitat are not yet very exactly defined, but would appear to comprise the northern half of the * NEWBERRY, in "United States' Pacific Railroad Exploration,” 1856. +CHENUE, "Encycl. d' Hist. Nat." Carniv. vol. ii. p. 75. 1853. "This little animal burrows throughout the whole of the rolling sand deserts which extend from Waregla to Souf, in the north of Africa. We used to see them brought into market by the Arab boys at Waregla, Tuggurt, and Souf. I had two for some months which became very tame, and nestled every night by my side. No pet can rival the Fennec in grace and interest. Not above half the size of a cat, it has all the wiles and actions of a fox; and when alarmed by the sight of a stranger will run under a chair or into a corner, and vociferously give forth its tiny bark. My little favourites were fed on milk and morsels of meat, but showed great fondness for dates. The large ears and long bushy tail of this lovely creature give it somewhat the appearance of a squirrel."-TRISTRAM, H. B., The Great Sahara, p. 383, 1860. || "Iconographia della Fauna Italica," di Carlo Luciano Bonaparte, Principe de Musignano, Fol. Rome, 1837. Mediterranean district, viz. Italy south of the Apennines, Greece, the south of Spain, and the islands of the Mediterranean. It might have been expected that, as is the case with many other animals, it should, seeing it extends over so much of the Mediterranean district, have also ranged over the whole; but this is not the case, for C. NILOTICUS of the French Institute takes its place on the south of the Mediterranean. That species, although very like it, differs from it in the osteology of the head. CHAPTER XIV. CARNIVORA continued MUSTELIDE-WEASELS, POLECATS, OTTERS, BADGERS. Ir has been proposed to divide this family into various sections, which, when limited to the more marked species, are excellent divisions, but when other (transition) species are taken into account will not answer, as the transition species fill up the intervals between the proposed sections so completely as to destroy the characters on which they are founded. De Blainville, for instance, proposed to separate the Badgers, the Polecats and Weasels, under the name of Subursini, or little Bears. This looks very natural, the Badger having much more resemblance to a Bear than a Weasel, but then, by means of the genus MEPHITIS, or the Skunks, the Badgers glide imperceptibly into the Polecats, so that it becomes a better arrangement to keep them all in one group. That group for our present purposes, however, may be conveniently divided into the Otters, the Weasels, the Polecats, the Skunks, the Badgers, and the Wolverenes or Gluttons. About half of this family is found in North and South America; a sixth in Southern Asia, that is to say, in India, Malacca, and the Indian Archipelago; a ninth is found in Europe and North Asia, or Asia and North America; another ninth is confined to North Asia; and the remaining ninth belongs to Africa and the Mediterranean district. None are peculiar to Europe alone; but about nine species are spread over the whole extent of the north of Europe and Asia. One species is found both in Europe and North America, and two in both America and Asia. The family is better represented in cold and temperate climates than in warmer countries, and even in the latter many of the tropical species are only found in mountainous districts or at high elevations, or in some way or other indicate that they are not naturally tropical in their character. Fossil remains of extinct species have been found in recent deposits both in the Old and New World in the same districts as are now inhabited by existing species. OTTERS. (Map 23.) The common English Otter is found all over Europe and the north of Asia as far as Japan, but is becoming scarce, it being much sought after for its fur; a good skin is worth as much as 3. or 41. on the spot. It must have abounded in former times in Ireland, as we read of their skins being an article of commerce, felting forming a large part of the exports of Ireland in very early times.* Besides the common Otter and the Sea Otter, ENHYDRIS MARINA, which is * "In 1408 we find John, son of Dermod, charged with two otters' skins for his rent of Radon (Rathdown) for the same year; five otters' skins for the two years and a half preceding; and one hundred and sixty-two otters' skins for the arrears of their rent for many years then past, making a total of one hundred and sixty-nine otters' skins. This, which is the last entry accessible relative to the family of Giliamocholmog, is recorded in an unpublished Pipe Roll of 10 Henry IV."-See the "History of Dublin," by J. T. Gilbert, quoted in a paper by Mr. Wilde, on the Unmanufactured Animal Remains belonging to the Academy, in "Transactions of Royal Irish Academy," May, 1859. Q confined to the northern shores of Asia and North America, there are five or six species from China, India, or the Indian Archipelago (one, if not two, of which are from Sumatra and Borneo), three from Africa, two good species from North America, and eight, some of which are doubtful, from Central or South America. We know of none from New Guinea, and, of course, none from Australia; but some years ago Mr. Walter Mantell called attention to the possibility of an indigenous quadruped called by the natives "Kaurcke," which he supposed to be either a badger or an otter, existing in New Zealand; and a naturalist in that country lately announced the fact that although he had not seen the animal in question, he had observed certain tracks on the mud flats near the source of the River Ashburton, which exactly resembled those of the Otter of Europe, and which he considered to afford indications that such an animal existed in the Alpine lakes and rivers of New Zealand.* Such a discovery would be of the greatest interest. As yet no terrestrial mammals have been found in New Zealand with the exception of a small rodent; and in whatever direction the affinity of this other animal might lead, it would be sure to throw light on the past history of that quarter of the globe. It would be especially interesting if it should confirm some of the deductions, already drawn from peculiarities in the fauna and flora of New Zealand; if, for instance, it should be found most nearly allied to one of the Peruvian or other South American Otters. That it should turn out to be a Badger is opposed to all probabilities, the Badger being confined to the north of Europe, Asia, and America. WEASELS, POLECATS. (Map 24.) Of the genus MUSTELA, the Weasels are the most northerly section. The common Weasel of this country is found all the way to the Amour, although in fewer numbers on the high Steppes, but has not been noticed in Japan. It formerly inhabited Ireland, but is no longer found there. The Stoat, or ERMINE, has the same range, but is not found to the south of the Middle Amour. Whether it extends into North America or not has been a question. Dr. Baird† says that none of the specimens collected in America and sent to the Smithsonian Institution were of this species, and he doubts whether it is found in America even in the highest latitudes. The Polecats, although they also inhabit high latitudes, have a greater number of tropical or sub-tropical species than the Weasels. This, however, is more the case in the Old World than in the New. The Polecats in tropical America are mostly, if not all, mountain species. Six different species stretch across the whole of Europe and Asia, and there are about as many more that are found in Asia and not in Europe. The European Polecat has been supposed not to extend entirely across the Asiatic continent, but to be replaced in southern Russia and the Caucasus by a species named by Lichtenstein M. EVERSMANNI, and further on, in eastern Siberia, by another brightercoloured species; but RADDE ‡ maintains them both to be mere climatal varieties common species. His inclination, however, appears to be to swamp all species which approach closely to each other, and to treat them as varieties. Knowing his proclivity, we understand what we have to deal with, and looking at species as they are regarded by nine-tenths of living naturalists, we should hold the species of Polecat which he has here suppressed as distinct species * HAAST JULIUS, "Report of a Topographical and Geological Exploration of the Western Districts of the Nelson Province, New Zealand." Nelson, 1861. Cited in "Natural History Review," January 1864, p. 30. + BAIRD in "Report on the Zoology of the United of the States Pacific Railroad Explorations and Surveys." Washington, 1857, p. 166. GUSTAVE RADDE, "Reisen im Süden von Ost-Sibcrien." St. Petersburg, 1862. |