Of this animal there are several varieties upon the American continent,
to which it is confined; though we have but one in this quarter of the
United States. This is of the size of a cat, and striped with black and
white. Its celebrity depends exclusively upon its peculiar mode of
defence--that of discharging upon its foe a liquid of the most
revolting and intolerable odor, and of such vigor as to fill the air
for half a mile around.
Some years ago, a Frenchman, who had settled at Hartford, Connecticut,
was going home from Wethersfield, a place renowned for raising
_onions_. It was evening, and in the twilight the man saw a little
animal crossing the path before him. Not knowing or suspecting its
character, he darted upon it, caught it, and put it in his pocket. When
he reached home, he took it out, and a general exclamation of
astonishment burst from the household, at the extraordinary flavor of
the little beast. "What is it?" "What can it be?"--was the general
inquiry. "I cannot say," said the Frenchman; "but I suppose it must be
a _Wethersfield_ kitten!"
On a certain occasion, Dr. B----, an eminent divine, was walking at
evening in a by-way, when he saw a small animal trotting along before
him. He easily guessed its true character, and having a volume of
Rees's Cyclopedia under his arm, he hurled it with all his might at the
suspicious quadruped. It took effect, but the animal retorted by
discharging, both upon the Cyclopedia and the D.D., a shaft from his
abominable quiver. It seems that the event made an indelible impression
both upon the garments and the memory of the divine; the former he
buried; and when, some years after, he was advised to write a book
against a rival sect, he replied, "No, no!--I once threw a quarto at a
skunk, and got the worst of it. I shall not repeat such folly."
"In the year 1749," says Kahn, "one of these animals came near the farm
where I lived. It was in winter time, during the night; and the dogs
that were on watch pursued it for some time, until it discharged
against them. Although I was in a bed at some distance from the scene
of action, I thought I should have been suffocated, and the cows and
oxen, by their lowing, showed how much they were affected by the
stench.
"About the end of the same year, another of these animals crept into
our cellar, but did not exhale the smallest scent when undisturbed. A
foolish woman, however, who perceived it one night by the shining of
its eyes, killed it, and at that moment the fetid odor began to spread.
The cellar was filled with it to such a degree that the woman kept her
bed for several days; and all the bread, meat, and other provisions
that were kept there, were so infected, that they were obliged to be
thrown out of doors."