156 MAMMALIA-CIVET. 



are perfectly black ; there is a large, black patch round each eye, which 

 passes thence to the corner of the mouth ; and two or three bands of the 

 same color stretch obliquely from the base of the ears towards the shoulders 

 and neck, the latter of which is marked with a black patch. 



The perfume of the civet is very strong ; and though the odor is so strong, 

 it is yet agreeable, even when it issues from the body of the animal. The 

 perfume of the civet we must not confound with musk, which is a sanguine- 

 ous humor, obtained from an animal altogether different from either the 

 civet or the zibet. 



The civets, though natives of the hottest climates of Africa and of Asia, are 

 yet capable of living in temperate, and even in cold countries, provided they 

 are carefully defended from the injuries of the air, and provided with deli- 

 cate and esculent food. In Holland, where no small emolument is derived 

 from their perfume, they are frequently reared. The perfume of Amster- 

 dam is esteemed preferable to that which is brought from the Levant, or 

 the Indies, which is generally less genuine. That which is imported from 

 Guinea, would be the best of any, were it not that the negroes, as well as 

 the Indians and the people of the Levant, adulterate it with mixtures of 

 laudanum, storax, and other balsamic and odorous drugs. 



Those who breed these animals for the sake of their perfume, put them 

 into a long and narrow sort of box, in Avhich they cannot turn. This box 

 the person who is employed to collect the perfume, opens behind, for this 

 purpose, twice or thrice a week ; and, dragging the animal which is con- 

 fined in it, backward by the tail, he keeps it in this position by a bar before. 

 This done, he takes out the civet with a small spoon, carefully scraping with 

 it, all the while, the interior coats of the pouch tinder the tail, which secretes 

 and contains it. The perfume thus obtained, is put into a vessel, and every 

 care is taken to keep it closely shut. 



The quantity which a single animal will afford, depends greatly upon its 

 appetite, and the quality of its nourishment. It yields more in proportion 

 as it is more delicately and abundantly fed. Raw flesh hashed small, eggs, 

 rice, small animals, birds, young fowls, and particularly fish, are the food 

 in which the civet most delights. 



As to the rest, the civet is a wild, fierce animal, and, though sometimes 

 tamed, is yet never thoroughly familiar. Its teeth are strong and sharp ; 

 but its claws are feeble and blunt. It is light and active, and lives by prey, 

 pursuing birds, and other small animals, which it is able to overcome. It 

 generally attacks at night, and by surprise. They are sometimes seen 

 stealing into yards and out-houses, like the fox, in order to carry off poultry. 

 Their eyes shine in the night ; and it is very probable that they see better 

 by night than by day. When they fail of animal food, they are found to 

 subsist upon roots and fruits. They very seldom drink ; nor do they ever 

 inhabit humid ground ; but in burning sands, and in arid mountains, they 

 cheerfully remain. There is another animal called 



