Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/232

 212 BADGER campaign of 1702, in the war of the Spanish succession, and took Landau, but was subse- quently defeated by Villars at Friedlingen and at Hochstadt. He built the famous lines of Stollhofen from the Black Forest through Buhl and Stollhofen to the Rhine. BADGER (meleg, Ouv.), a carnivorous plan- tigrade quadruped of the order mammalia, originally classified with the bears, raccoons, and coatis by Linnimis, but separated by more recent naturalists. The badgers have 4 false molars in the upper and 8 in the under jaw, 2 and 4 on each side respectively, followed by a carnassier and a single tuberculous tooth of large size. They are the least carnivorous of the family to which they belong, with the sin- gle exception of the bears. They have 5 toes, before and behind, deeply buried in the flesh, and provided with powerful, compressed claws, adapted for burrowing in the earth, or digging for roots, which are their principal food. The body is long, flat, and compressed ; the head small and flat, with an elongated snout; the legs sturdy and powerful ; the tail short. Be- low the anus there is a slit, from which exudes a very fetid oleaginous matter, similar in character, though not in odor, to that of the civets and genets. The badgers are inoffensive, timid, nocturnal animals, sleeping during the day in their burrows, which are curiously con- structed, with a single entrance, but with many different chambers within, terminating in a cir- cular apartment, well lined with dry grass or hay, in which the male dwells alone, eschewing the company even of his female. The badger is a very cleanly animal, carefully removing everything that might become offensive from his dwelling, never depositing his excrements near its entrance, and instantly evacuating it in case of its being polluted by any other ani- mal. The flesh is in some places much es- teemed as an article of food, and it is usually very fat. The badger makes a vigorous defence when attacked ; and as its bite is terrible, it requires a brave and powerful terrier dog to drag it from its burrow. The geographical distribution of the badger extends over the whole of Europe, northern and central Asia, and the northern parts of North America. It does not extend into Africa or South America, in the former of which continents it is repre- sented by the rattel (gulo mellivora), as it is in the latter by the various kinds of moufette (mephitis). In Australia there exists no plan- tigrade animal of any kind. In the eastern peninsula and the Indian isles the place of the badger is supplied by the telagon (mydaus me- liceps). This genus contains at the most only three species, and some writers have reduced it to a single one, asserting that the American badger is a mere variety of the European, and the Indian a distinct genus ; for neither of which opinions does there appear to be any foundation. 1. The common badger of Europe (M. vulgaris or taxus) is about the size of a moderately large dog, but longer and fatter in the body, and lower on the legs. The head is long and pointed, the ears so short as to be con- cealed by the fur. The tail barely reaches to the mid-thigh. The hair is long and coarse, Badger (Meles vulgaris). except that on the belly and breast, which is short and resembles fur. The head is white, with a black chin and two black bands passing backward from the corners of the mouth, in- cluding the ears and eyes, and meeting at the nape. Every hair of the upper part of the bad- ger has three distinct colors, yellowish white at the roots, black at the middle, and ash-gray at the top, which gives a uniform sandy gray color to all its upper parts. The throat, breast, belly, and limbs are jet black. The female bad- ger produces three, four, or five young in the early spring, suckles them for about five weeks, and then gradually accustoms them to shift for themselves. When taken early the young cubs are easily domesticated. Badgers are hunted in some parts of England by moonlight, principal- ly for their hides, which, when properly dressed, are held to make the best pistol furniture. Their hair is of great value for shaving brushes and for paint brushes. The hind quarters, when salted, are good eating, but are not much in use in England. In China badgers' hams are a choice dainty. 2. The American badger (M. Labradoricd) measures about 2i feet from the snout to the origin of the tail, which extends to American Badger (Melea Labradorica). 6 inches more. Its head is less attenuated than that of the European species, though equally elongated. The claws of its fore feet are much