Sable
the Mustela zibellina, a digitigrade carnivorous mammal, nearly allied to the common marten and pine marten, found chiefly in Siberia and Kamtchatka, and hunted for its fur. Its length, exclusive of the tail, is about 18 inches. Its fur, which is extremely lustrous, and SABLE the hence of the very highest value, is generally brown, grayish-yellow on throat, and with small grayish-yellow spots scattered on the sides of the neck.
It is densest during winter. Two other species of sable are enumerated, the Japanese sable (M. melanopus) and a North American species (M. (M. leucopus).
The Tartar sable (M. siberica) is the name given to a species of the weasel genus found in northern Russia and Siberia, and the pekan (M. canadensis or M. pennantii) of North America is some- SABLE times known as the Hudson Bay sable.
Sable hair is used in the manufacture of artists' pencils.