the hair) 9 to 12 in. This species is extensively distributed throughout northern Europe and Asia, and was formerly common in most parts of Great Britain and Ireland. It is still found in the northern counties of England and North Wales, but in decreasing numbers. In Scotland it is rare, but in Ireland may be found in
almost every county occasionally. Though commonly called
“pine-marten,” it does not appear to have any special preference for coniferous trees.
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| The Pine-Marten (Mustela martes). |
Next comes M. zibellina, the sable (German, Zobel and Zebel; Swedish, sabel; Russian, sobel, a word probably of Turanian origin), which closely resembles the last, if indeed it differs except in the quality of the fur—the most highly valued of that of all the group. The sable is found chiefly in eastern Siberia.
Very distinct is the brilliantly coloured orange-and-black Indian marten (M. flavigula), found from the Himalaya and Ceylon to Java.
The North American M. americana is closely allied to the pine-marten and Asiatic sable. The importance of the fur of this animal as an article of commerce may be judged of from the fact that 15,000 skins were sold in one year by the Hudson’s Bay Company as long ago as 1743. It is ordinarily caught in wooden traps of simple construction, being little enclosures of stakes or brush in which the bait is placed upon a trigger, with a short upright stick supporting a log of wood, which falls upon its victim on the slightest disturbance. A line of such traps, several to a mile, often extends many miles. The bait is any kind of meat, a mouse, squirrel, piece of fish or bird’s head. It is principally trapped during the colder months, from October to April, when the fur is in good condition, as it is nearly valueless during the shedding in summer. It maintains its numbers partly in consequence of its shyness, which keeps it away from the abodes of men, and partly because it is so prolific, bringing forth six to eight young at a litter. Its home is sometimes a den under ground or beneath rocks, but oftener the hollow of a tree, and it is said to take possession of a squirrel’s nest, driving off or devouring the rightful proprietor.
The pekan or Pennant’s marten, also called fisher marten, though there appears to be nothing in its habits to justify the appellation, is the largest of the group, the head and body measuring from 24 to 30 in., and the tail 14 to 18 in. It is also more robust in form than the others, its general aspect being more that of a fox than a weasel; in fact its usual name among the American hunters is “black fox.” Its general colour is blackish, lighter by mixture of brown or grey on the head and upper fore part of the body, with no light patch on the throat, and unlike other martens generally darker below than above. It was generally distributed in wooded districts throughout the greater part of North America, as far north as Great Slave Lake, lat. 63° N., and Alaska, and extending south to the parallel of 35°; but at the present time is almost exterminated in the settled parts of the United States east of the Mississippi. (W. H. F.)
MARTENS, FRÉDÉRIC FROMMHOLD DE (1845–1909),
Russian jurist, was born at Pernau in Livonia. In 1868 he
entered the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, was admitted in
1871 as a Dozent in international law in the university of St
Petersburg, and in 1871 became lecturer and then (1872) professor
of public law in the Imperial School of Law and the
Imperial Alexander Lyceum. In 1874 when Prince Gorchakov,
then imperial chancellor, needed assistance for certain kinds of
special work, Martens was chosen to afford it. His book on
The Right of Private Property in War had appeared in 1869,
and had been followed in 1873 by that upon The Office of Consul
and Consular Jurisdiction in the East, which had been translated
into German and republished at Berlin. These were the first
of a long series of studies which won for their author a world-wide
reputation, and raised the character of the Russian school of
international jurisprudence in all civilized countries. First
amongst them must be placed the great Recueil des traités et
conventions conclus par la Russie avec les puissances étrangères
(13 vols., 1874–1902). This collection, published in Russian and
French in parallel columns, contains not only the texts of the
treaties but valuable introductions dealing with the diplomatic
conditions of which the treaties were the outcome. These
introductions are based largely on unpublished documents from
the Russian archives. Of Martens’ original works his International
Law of Civilized Nations is perhaps the best known;
it was written in Russian, a German edition appearing in 1884–1885,
and a French edition in 1887–1888. It displays much
judgment and acumen, though some of the doctrines which it
defends by no means command universal assent. More openly
“tendencious” in character are such treatises as Russia and
England in Central Asia (1879); Russia’s Conflict with China
(1881), The Egyptian Question (1882), and The African Conference
of Berlin and the Colonial Policy of Modern States (1887).
In the delicate questions raised in some of these works Martens
stated his case with learning and ability, even when it was
obvious that he was arguing as a special pleader. Martens was
repeatedly chosen to act in international arbitrations. Among
the controversies which he helped to adjust were that between
Mexico and the United States—the first case determined by
the permanent tribunal of The Hague—and the difference
between Great Britain and France in regard to Newfoundland
in 1891. He played an important part in the negotiations
between his own country and Japan, which led to the peace of
Portsmouth (Aug. 1905) and prepared the way for the
Russo-Japanese convention. He was employed in laying the
foundations for The Hague Conferences. He was one of the
Russian plenipotentiaries at the first conference and president
of the fourth committee—that on maritime law—at the second
conference. His visits to the chief capitals of Europe in the
early part of 1907 were an important preliminary in the preparation
of the programme. He was judge of the Russian
supreme prize court established to determine cases arising during
the war with Japan. He received honorary degrees from the
universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Yale; he was also awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1902. In April 1907 he addressed a
remarkable letter to The Times on the position of the second
Duma, in which he argued that the best remedy for the ills of
Russia would be the dissolution of that assembly and the election
of another on a narrower franchise. He died suddenly on the
20th of June 1909.
See T. E. Holland, in Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation for October 1909, where a list of the writings of Martens appears.
MARTENS, GEORG FRIEDRICH VON (1756–1821), German
jurist and diplomatist, was born at Hamburg on the 22nd of February 1756. Educated at the universities of Göttingen, Regensburg and Vienna, he became professor of jurisprudence at Göttingen in 1783 and was ennobled in 1789. He was made a counsellor of state by the elector of Hanover in 1808, and in 1810 was president of the financial section of the council of state of the kingdom of Westphalia. In 1814 he was appointed privy cabinet-councillor (Geheimer Kabinetsrat) by the king of
Hanover, and in 1816 went as representative of the king to the diet of the new German Confederation at Frankfort, where he died on the 21st of February 1821.
Of his works the most important is the great collection of treaties Recueil des traités, &c. from 1761 onwards. Of this the first seven volumes were published at Göttingen (1791–1801), followed by four supplementary volumes partly edited by his nephew Karl von Martens (see below). These were followed by Nouveau recueil, of treaties subsequent to 1808, in 16 vols. (Göttingen, 1817–1842), of which G. F. von Martens edited the first four, the fifth being the
