CIVET CATS. 103 



of a Civet, and Dr. Gray, consequently places it with the Viverrid^.* It inhabits the Cape, 

 Natal, and other parts of South Africa. 



The Lycaox pictus or Venaticus, whicli occupies an intermediate position between the Hj^ainas 

 and Dogs, I place among the Dogs. 



YivERRiD.E — Civet Cats, Ichneumons, &c. (Map 19.) With one solitary exception, the Civets 

 are confined to the Old Woild. The exception is, the Cacomixle, Bassaris asttjta of Lichstenstein, 

 from Mexico, which has been jjlaced by most naturalists among the Yiverrid^. It is a puzzling 

 aberrant form, and being the only Viverra found in the New World, its right to a place in that 

 family has been viewed mth suspicion by naturalists. There is, however, little doubt that it truly 

 belongs to it. Its feline character is recognised by the American miners, who call it the "Civet" 

 and Mexican or Ring-tailed Cat. 



" This beautiful animal," says Dr. Newberry, " which was formerly supposed to be peculiar to 

 Texas and Mexico, has since been found somewhat abundantly in California. The district in which it 

 occurs, if not exclusively, certainly most abundantly, is that including the foot-hills of the Sierra 

 Nevada, on the eastern side of the great trough of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. In this half- 

 wooded region, the home of the gold-hunter, it is well known. The miner calls it the ' mountain 

 cat ; ' it frequently enters his tent, and plunders his provision bag. AVhen caught, as it often is, it 

 becomes so familiar and amusing, and does so much to relieve the monotony of the miner's life, that it 

 is highly valued and commands quite a large price. 



" The Bassaris is, perhaps, equally efficient as a mouser with the common cat, is much more 

 playful, and, to a large nimiber of the members of every community who are cat-haters, might be a 

 desirable substitute." f 



Putting aside this animal there is not a single Civet in the New World, while of Weasels 

 and Martens there are plentj'. 



Dr. Gray has lately published a careful revision of the Viverridte, + containing the result of 

 much study and observation, the group having for long been a favourite one with him. He divides 

 it into no fewer than thirty-six genera ; but for our present purposes it will be sufficient to divide 

 them into two groups, which Dr. Gray distinguishes as cat-footed and dog-footed. The former 

 contains the Civets, best known from the perfume secreted by one or two of them, from which 

 the whole group has been named, and the Paradoxuri, so named in reference to their habit of 

 carrying the tail cuiIed up, which justifies the meaning of its derivation, " miexpected-tailed ; " 

 and the latter the Ichneumons, celebrated for their exploits in destroying venomous snakes and the 

 eggs of crocodiles. 



Fossil remains of both groups have been found in miocene strata in the south of France. The 

 living species are nearly equallj' di\dded between iVsia and Africa, but no species is found in both, 

 unless the animal caUed the Tunga, which is common on the island of Anjuan, one of the Commoro 

 Islands, near Madagascar, shoidd prove to be the same as the Javan Viverra rasse of Dr. Horsfield, 

 which Dr. Gray mentions that Dr. Peters, of Berlin, considers probable.i^ Dr. Peters observes that 

 the fauna of these islands agrees more with that of Madagascar and India than with that of 



* Gray, in " Proc. Zoolog. Soc," 1864, p. 507. J Gray, in "Zoological Society's Proceedings," 1864, 



+ Newberry's " Report on Mammals, in U. S. Pacific p. 502. 

 Railroad Exploration," vol. vi. pp. 40, 41. § Ibid. p. 515. 



