1-158-380 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Polecat (Mustela putorius), member of the weasel family, 1828. Its reputation for the strong smell from anal gland secretions is hinted at in its Latin name and in the expression that something smells like a polecat. The ferret is a domesticated form. From British Quadrupeds by William MacGillivray, one of the volumes in William Jardine's Naturalist's Library series. (Edinburgh, 1828).