ustela_, should be _Putorius_, which is an instance of
the disagreement which exists among naturalists. I have however
followed Gray in his classification, although perhaps Cuvier, who
classes the weasels and pole-cats under the genus _Putorius_, has
the claim of priority. Ray applied the name of _Mustela_ to the
restricted weasels, and _Martes_ to the martens, but Cuvier gives
_Mustela_ to the martens, and brings the weasels and pole-cats
together under _Putorius_.

NO. 180. MUSTELA (VISON: _Gray_) SUB-HEMACHALANA.
_The Sub-Hemachal Weasel_ (_Jerdon's No. 97_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Zimiong_, Bhotia; _Sang-king_, Lepcha; _Kran_ or
_Gran_, Kashmiri.

DESCRIPTION.--"Uniform bright brown, darker along the dorsal line;
nose, upper lip, and forehead, with two inches of the end of the tail
black-brown; mere edge of upper lip and whole of lower jaw hoary;
a short longitudinal white stripe occasionally on the front of the
neck, and some vague spots of the same laterally, the signs, I suspect,
of immaturity; feet frequently darker than the body or dusky brown;
whiskers dark; fur close, glossy and soft, of two sorts, or fine hair
and soft wool, the latter and the hair basally of dusky hue, but the
hair externally bright brown; head, ears, and limbs more closely clad
than the body, tail more laxly, tapering to the point."--_Hodgson_.

SIZE.--Head and body about 12 inches; tail, 6 inches.

Jerdon calls this the Himalayan Weasel, but I have preferred to
translate Hodgson's' name, which, I confess, puzzled me for some time
till I found out there was a Hemachal range in Thibet.

NO. 181. MUSTELA (GYMNOPUS: _Gray_) KATHIAH.
_The Yellow-bellied Weasel_ (_Jerdon's No. 98_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Kathia-nyal_, Nepalese.

HABITAT.--Nepal, Bhotan.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark brown; upper lip, chin, throat, chest, underside
of body and front of thighs, bright yellow; tail dark brown, shorter
than the body and head, tapering, and of the same colour to the tip;
the soles of the hind feet bald; pads well developed, exposed.

SIZE.--Head and body, 10 inches; tail, 5 inches.

Hodgson states that a horribly offensive yellowish-grey fluid exudes
from two subcaudal glands. He says that the Nepalese highly prize
this little animal for its services in ridding houses of rats. It
is easily tamed; and such is the dread of it common to all murine
animals that not one will approach a house wherein it is domiciled.
Rats and mice seem to have an instinctive