The fur merchants of Canada have long been acquainted with the name
of _pekan_, without any knowledge of the animal to which it belongs.
Naturalists have not even mentioned its name; and travellers have
employed it to denote different animals, particularly stinkards, so
that it was impossible to derive any precise knowledge of it from their
erroneous remarks. The origin of the name of the _vison_ is no less
difficult to be traced than that of the _pekan_, and it is only said
that they belong to two different animals of America. M. Aubry, in his
cabinet, has two animals under this denomination, and from which, by
his indulgence, we have been enabled to give a sketch of their figures,
and the following description:
The pekan (_fig. 189._) so strongly resembles the marten, and the
vison (_fig. 190._) the pole-cat, that we are inclined to consider
them as varieties of those two species. They are of the same make and
proportion, have the same length of tail, quality of hair, and number
of teeth and claws; from which facts there is certainly sufficient
reason to conclude that they are merely varieties, or at least as
species approaching so near each other, that it is difficult to point
out any real difference, except that the hair of the pekan and the
vison is more soft, brown, and glossy, than that of the marten and
pole-cat; but this difference is common to them as well as to the
beaver, otter, and other animals of North America, whose fur is more
beautiful than those of the same kind of animals in the north of
Europe.