inkard of Java, the Helietis of India
and China, the Taira and Grison of Brazil, the Ratel or honey badger of
Africa, the Zorille of the Cape, the Zorilla or Maikel of Patagonia, the
Sand bear of India, and the numerous varieties of the celebrated
Polecat, or Skunk, of North and South America--we may well say that
there are weasels, or their representatives, in every hole and corner of
the earth.

With regard to the Polecats of America, they form a sort of link between
the weasels and civets; and although there was long supposed to be but
one kind--as in the case of the opossum--it is now ascertained that
there are several distinct species, with an endless list of varieties.

The _Water Weasels_, or _Otters_, are not so numerous either in species
or individuals--though there are at least a dozen of them in all, and
they are widely distributed over the world.

In Britain, there is but one--the Common or European otter; and in North
America, a very similar species was supposed, until recently, to be the
only one inhabiting that continent. The rivers of California, however,
have presented us with a second, known as the Californian otter; and the
singular Sea otter, whose beautiful fur is so prized under the name of
Sea otter, is also an animal inhabiting the coasts of California--as it
does most part of the western seaboard of the American continent.

The Grey otter is a South African animal, and in India we have the
Wargul; while in the rivers of Nepaul--a country so rich in mammalia--
there is the Golden brown otter. China, in common with other
Indo-Chinese countries, possesses the Chinese otter; and South America
has the Brazilian Contra, and in all probability several other species.

With regard to the _Civet-Weasels_--or Civet Cats, as they are commonly
called--there is a still greater variety, both in genera and species: so
many, indeed, that, as already stated, they have been arranged in a
family by themselves. They may be regarded, however, as large weasels,
distinguished from the others by their having a sort of pouch or gland
under the tail, in which is secreted an unctuous and highly odorous
substance. This, in some species, as in the true civets, is relished as
a perfume or scent, while in others it is an extremely disagreeable
odour. The true civet is a native of North Africa; where it is kept in
a tame state, for the purpose of obtaining from it the well-known
perfume of commerce. An allied species,