WHICH is found in most parts of North America, is curiously marked with a pair of white stripes running down the sides of the back. It feeds upon mice and other small quadrupeds, and also in summer upon frogs. The Skunk is of a stout and rather heavy form, and runs but slowly, so that when pursued it would have but a small chance of making its escape, but for a singular provision with which it has been endowed by nature. This consists of a yellow fluid of the most horrible odour, contained in a small bag or pouch under the root of the tail; which the creature is enabled to discharge to a distance of more than four feet, so that even if the noisome discharge does not actually reach and smother the animal’s pursuers, it forms between them and their intended victim, a sort of invisible barrier, which few noses are able to pass. The smell is so strong that it has been known to produce sickness at a distance of a hundred yards, and so persistent, that the spot where a Skunk has been killed, will retain the taint for many days. The flesh of this animal is, however, considered excellent food by the Indians. [Illustration: THE SABLE. (_Mustela_, or _Martes Zibellina_.)] THIS animal is a native of Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Asiatic Russia, and it frequents the banks of rivers, and the thickest parts of the woods. It lives in holes under the ground, and especially under the roots of trees; but sometimes makes its nest, like the squirrel, in the hollows of trees. The skin of the Sable is more valuable than that of any other animal of equal size. One of these skins, not more than four inches broad, has sometimes been valued at as high a rate as fifteen pounds; but the general price is from one to ten pounds, according to the quality. The Sable’s fur is different from all others, its peculiarity being, that the hair turns with equal ease either way; on which account fur dealers sometimes blow the fur of any article they may be selling, to show that it is really Sable. The tails are sold by the hundred, at from four to eight pounds. The AMERICAN SABLE (_M. leucopus_) is considered to be a distinct species. [Illustration: BEECH MARTIN] The common, or BEECH MARTEN, (_Mustela Martes_ or _Martes foina_,) like the Sable, boasts the honour of adorning with his fur the rich and the beautiful; as princes, ladies, and opulent people of all nations, pride themselves in wearing his spoils. He is about as big as a cat, but his body is much longer proportionately, and the legs shorter. His skin is of a light brown, with white under the throat. The fur of the Marten fetches a good price, and is much used in European countries, though very far inferior to that of the Sable: the best, which is called Stone Marten fur by the furriers, is imported from Sweden and Russia. [Illustration: YELLOW-BREASTED MARTEN]