THE FERRET. : §1

except in a domesticated state, and it is necessary to keep
it in a box lined with wool; its favourite food is the blood
of small animals, and it is naturally an enemy to rabbits,
. which circumstance man has turned to account, by making
it the instrument of their capture. When sent into the
burrows of rabbits, the ferret is always muzzled, that he may
not kill them in their holes, but only drive them out, to be
caught in the nets prepared for the purpose. If the ferret
becomes unmuzzled, he is often lost, for after sucking the
blood of his victim he frequently falls asleep in the burrow ;
and there, in the midst of abundance, he remains till the
severity of the winter cold destroys him. The ferret is of
an irritable nature, emitting a very disagreeable odour when
provoked, and its bite is difficult to cure. The female has
two broods in the year, each consisting of from six to nine.
Though this little animal has been introduced into Europe
at least two thousand years, it has never become sufficiently
inured to the climate to pass into the wild state.

The ferret is included in the list of unclean animals
mentioned in the 11th chapter of Leviticus; but it seems
much more probable that the translation is an incorrect
one, than that this native of Africa should have been
known so commonly to the Hebrews, as to render its inter-