offensive animal, nocturnal and
solitary in its habits, sleeping by day in its burrow, and issuing forth at
night to feed on roots, beech-mast, fruits, the eggs of birds, small
quadrupeds, frogs and insects. It is said also to dig up the nests of wasps
in order to eat the larvae, as the ratel--a closely allied South African
form--is said to rob the bees of their honey. The male and female are
seldom seen together, and are supposed to trace each other by the odour of
the secretion in the anal glands. Fossil remains of the badger have been
found in England in deposits of Pleistocene age. In eastern Persia this
species is replaced by the Persian badger (_M. canescens_); two
species--the white-tailed badger (_M. leucurus_) and the Chinese badger
(_M. chinensis_) occur in eastern Asia; and another (_M. anacuma_) is found
in Japan. The American badger (_Taxidea americana_) ranges over the greater
part of the United States, and in habits closely resembles the European
species, but seems to be more carnivorous. When badgers were more abundant
than they now are, their skins, dressed with the hair attached, were
commonly used for pistol furniture. They are now chiefly valued for the
hair, that of the European badger being used in the manufacture of the best
shaving-brushes while the softer hair of the American species is employed
for the same purpose, and also for painters' pencils, and the fur is used
for articles of ladies' apparel and trimmings. The Malay badger (_Mydaus
meliceps_) is confined to the mountains of Java (where it is called the
teledu), Sumatra and Borneo. The head and body are about 15 in. long, and
the tail no more than an inch; the fur is dark brown, with the top of the
head, neck and a broad dorsal stripe, white. Like the skunk, this animal
can eject the foetid secretion of the anal glands. The sand-badgers
(_Arctonyx_) are Asiatic; the best-known species (_A. collaris_) ranges
from the eastern Himalayas to Burma; the smaller _A. taxoides_ is found in
Assam, Arakan and perhaps in China; and there is probably another in Tibet.
In these the tail is much longer in proportion to the body than in the rest
of the group.

The badger does not usually seek to attack, but, when driven to bay, its
great muscular power and tough hide render it a formidable antagonist. The
cruel sport of _badger-drawing_ was formerly popular throughout Great
Britain, but was prohibited about the middle of the 19th century, together
with be