The common Ichneumon or Pharaoh's Rat, as it is popularly but most 

 improperly termed, is plentifully found in Egypt, where it plays a most useful i)art 

 in keeping down the numl)crs of the destructive quadrupeds and the dangerous 

 reptiles. Small and insignificant as this animal appears, it is a most dangerous 

 foe to the huge crocodile, feeding largely upon its eggs, and thus preventing the 

 too rapid increase of these fierce and fertile reptiles. Snakes, rats, lizards, mice, 

 and various birds, fall a prey to this Ichneumon, which Avill painfully track its 

 prey to its hiding-place, and wait patiently for hours imtil it makes its appearance, 

 or will quietly creep up to the unsuspecting animal, and flinging itself boldly upon 

 it destroy it by rapid bites with its long shar}) teeth. 



Taking advantage of these admirable qualities, the ancient Egyptians were wont 

 to tame the Ichneumon, and permit it the free range of their houses, and on 

 account of its habits paid it divine honom-s as an outward emblem of the Deity. 



Although the diminutive size of this creatm-e renders it an impotent enemy to 

 so large and well mailed a reptile as the crocodile, yet it causes the destruction of 

 innumerable crocodiles annually by breaking and devouring their eggs. The egg of 

 the crocodile is extremely small, when the size of the adult reptile is taken into 

 consideration, so that the Ichneumon can devour several of them at a meal. 



While eating, the Ichneumon is very tetchy in its temper, and will \ery seldom 

 endure an inteiTuption of any kind. In order to secure i)erfect quiet while taking 

 its meals, it generally carries the food into the most secluded hiding-place that it 

 can find and then commences its meal in solitude. 



