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nature to subsist on animals, many of which have great strength and courage, the Weasels possess an undaunted and ferocious disposition. The species are extremely numerous.

THE ICHNEUMON.

The length of the Ichneumon, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, is from twenty-four to forty-two inches, of which the tail occupies nearly half. Its color is pale reddish-gray, each hair being mottled with brown or mouse-color. The eyes are of a bright red; the ears almost naked, small, and rounded; and the nose is long and slender. The tail is very thick at the base; and gradually tapers towards the point, where it is slightly tufted. The hair is hard and coarse, and the legs are short.

The estimation in which this animal is held, by the inhabitants of Egypt, and other hot climates, is so great, that it was formerly ranked among their deities. The natural enemy of serpents and other noxious reptiles that infest these countries, it unsparingly attacks them whenever it has an opportunity. It combats, without dread, that most fatal of all serpents, the Cobra di Capello. The eggs of Crocodiles it digs out of the sand, and devours; and it even kills great numbers of young Crocodiles.

The Ichneumon is frequently domesticated, and kept in houses, where, in destroying Rats and Mice, it is found more useful than a Cat. It is easily tamed, is very active, and springs with great agility on its prey. It will slide along the ground almost like a Serpent. It sits upright to eat, uses its fore-feet, and catches at any thing that is flung to it. The Ichneumon is a great enemy to poultry, and will feign itself dead to attract them within its reach; and the address with which it seizes a Serpent by the throat, is very remarkable. · Fouche d' Obsonville had an Ichneumon very young, which he brought up. He fed it at first with milk; and afterwards with baked meat mixed with rice. It soon became even tamer than a Cat; for it would come to him when called, and would even follow him into the fields without attempting to escape.

One day M. d' Obsonville brought to this animal a small WaterSerpent alive, being desirous of ascertaining how his instinct would lead him to act against a creature with which he was hitherto totally unacquainted. His first emotion seemed to be astonishment mixed with anger, for his hair became erect; but in an instant afterward, he slipped behind the reptile, and with astonishing agility leaped upon its head, seized it, and crushed it between his teeth. This essay, and new aliment, seemed to have awakened in the Ichneumon his innate and destructive voracity, which, till then, had given way to the gentleness he had acquired from his education. M. D'Obsonville had in his yard several curious kinds of fowls, among which the animal had been brought up, and which, till then, he had suffered to live unmolested and indeed unregarded but, a few days after this he strangled every one of them.

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In a wild state, the Ichneumon is said to frequent principally the banks of rivers; and in times of flood to approach the higher grounds and inhabited places, in quest of prey. He is reported to swim and dive occasionally, in the manner of an Otter; and to continue beneath the water for a great length of time. When he sleeps, he folds him. self up like a ball, and is not easily awaked. Ichneumons are shortlived, and grow very rapidly. In northern climates, they cannot, without difficulty, be either reared or preserved. Whatever care be taken, the frosts incommode them, and they generally soon fall victims to the change.

THE STRIATED WEASEL, OR SKUNK.

The length of this animal, from the nose to the tail, is about eighteen inches; and of the tail fourteen inches. The upper parts of the body are variegated or striped with black and white. The neck and legs are very short. The tail is clad, towards its extremity, with long, whitish hair.

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THE SKUNK.

This is one of three or four species of Weasel, natives of America, whose only mode of defence against their ene mies (and it is a perfectly secure one) is to emit from their bodies a vapor so fetid, that few animals can bear to come within its influence. Cattle that are near are so alarmed, as to utter the most dreadful bellowings. Dogs are indeed sometimes trained to hunt them; but, in order to relieve themselves, they are under the necessity of frequently thrusting their noses into the earth. The odor may be perceived to an amazing distance; and so abominable is it, that provisions tainted by it can never afterwards be rendered eatable. When a Striated Weasel is irritated or killed near a dwelling, the whole place becomes infected; the clothes, provisions, and all the rooms are, in a few minutes, so saturated with the vapor, that no one can live in or use them for a long time afterwards. Clothes, although several times washed, soaked, and dried in the sun, retain their smell sometimes for weeks.

Professor Kalm says, that a Striated Weasel being one day perceived in its cave, a woman, unthinkingly, attacked and killed it. The whole place was in a moment filled with such a dreadful stench, that the woman was taken ill, and continued so for several days; and the provisions were so infected, that they were all thrown away.

It appears that these animals are, in some degree, attached to the society of mankind. They approach without apprehension, and boldly enter the country houses to search for eggs, passing fearlessly, even through the midst of Dogs, which, instead of attacking them, generally run away at their approach. The husbandmen themselves dislike to shoot them on such occasions, lest they should fail of killing them,

THE HONEY WEASEL, OR RATEL.

211

and be assailed by their nauseous stench. In order to free themselves from such unwelcome visitors, they have recourse to stratagem. Some

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of the company begin by caressing the animal, until an opportunity offers for one of them to seize it by the tail and hold it suspended; and in this position it may be killed without either difficulty or danger.

Strange as it may appear, these animals are sometimes domesticated; and as they never emit their fetor except when alarmed or irritated, they are not dreaded in this state. In February, 1820, there was one exhibited in the Menagerie at Exeter 'Change London.

THE HONEY WEASEL, OR RATEL.

From the nose to the tail, the Ratel measures about two feet. Its back is cinereous; and along the sides runs a light-grey stripe that divides this from the belly, which is black. The legs are short; and the claws long, and formed for burrowing.

Formed by nature to be the adversary of Bees, and the unwelcome visitor of their habitations, the Ratel is endued with a particular faculty of discovering and attacking them within their entrenchments. As a man placed at the mast-head, can most easily descry a sail or land at a great distance in the evening; so, probably, this time of the day is most convenient for the Ratel to look out for his food. Towards sunset he issues from his hole. Near this he sits upright, and holds one

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THE RATEL.

of his paws before his eyes, in order to modify the rays of the sun, and at the same time to procure a distinct view of the object of his pursuit: and when, in consequence of peering thus on each side of his paw, opposite to the sun, he sees any Bees fly, he knows that they are proceeding straight to their habitation, and consequently takes care to keep in the same direction in order to find them. He has, besides, the sagacity to follow the Cuculus Indicator, a little bird, which flies on, with a peculiar and alluring note, and guides him to the Bees'

nests.

The Ratel is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and his hide is so thick and tough that there is scarcely any way of destroying him but by beating him about the head, or plunging a knife into his body. The shortness of his legs will not permit him to make his escape by flight when pursued by hounds. He is, however, sometimes able to extricate himself from them by biting and scratching them in a most

RATEL ATTACKING A WILD BEE'S NEST.

terrible manner; while on the other hand, he is well defended from the assaults of their teeth by the toughness of his hide. For, when a Hound endeavors to bite him, it can lay hold only on this part, which instantly separates from the Ratel's body or flesh, like a sack. Even when laid hold of by the hind part of the neck, and near his head, this animal can, as it were,

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turn round in his skin, and bite his enemy. It is a remarkable cir cumstance, that such a number of Hounds as would be able collectively to tear in pieces a Lion of moderate size, are sometimes obliged to leave the Ratel dead only in appearance. Is it not probable that the Creator, who seems to have destined the Ratel for the destruction of Bees, may have bestowed on it a hide so much tougher than those

THE CIVET.

213 he has given to other animals of the Viverra kind, for the purpose of defending it from the stings of these insects?

Those Bees'-nests that are built in trees, are in no danger whatever from the attacks of this animal. In the first transports of his rage at having sought after such in vain, he gnaws the trunks of the trees; and these marks are sure indications to the inhabitants of the country, that a Bees' nest is to be found there.

THE CIVET.

The Civet is somewhat more than two feet long, and has a tail about half the length of its body. The ground color is yellowish ash-grey, beautifully marked with large blackish or dusky spots. The hair is coarse; and, along the back, it stands up, so as to form a sort of mane. The body is thickish; and the nose sharp, and black at the tip. Three black stripes proceed from each ear, and end at the throat and shoulders.

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THE CIVET.

It is an inhabitant of several parts both of Africa and India.

There are few animals more active and nimble than the Civet; it jumps about like a Cat, in the most animated manner, and runs with wonderful speed. The Civet feeds on small animals, but particularly on birds, which it takes by surprise; and it sometimes commits depredations among poultry, when it can steal unperceived into a farm-yard. It is a very voracious animal. One that M. Barbot had at Guadaloupe was accidentally kept without food for a whole day; the animal on the ensuing morning, gnawed his way through the cage in which he was kept, came into the room where M. Barbot was writing, and, staring about with sparkling eyes for a few seconds, made a leap of five or six feet at a Parrot, that was perched on a piece of wood put into the wall for the purpose: before his master could run to the relief of the bird, the Civet had torn off its head.

This animal is remarkable for the production of the drug called civet, sometimes erroneously confounded with musk. This is a substance which is found in a large double glandular receptacle, situated at a little distance beneath the tail. The Dutch keep at Amsterdam great numbers of Civets, for the purpose of collecting the drug from them. When a sufficient time for the secretion has been allowed, one of these animals is put into a long wooden cage, so narrow that it cannot turn itself round. The cage being opened by a door behind, a small spoon, or spatula, is introduced through the orifice of the pouch, which is carefully scraped. This operation is performed twice or thrice a-week; and the animal is said always to produce the most civet, after being irritated. The quantity also depends in a great measure on the quality of the nourishment which it takes, and the appetite with

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