406 CIVE RVG AM: CHAP. 
Pm¢ M8. The secretion of the prescrotal gland of V. civetta 
yields the civet of commerce. 
The “ Rasse,” genus Viverricula, has been separated generically 
from the true Civets. It is, remarkably enough, common to both 
Madagascar’ and many parts of the Oriental region. It is, 
moreover, capable of climbing trees, which its relatives are not. 
It has no mane like Viverra and is of slighter build. 
Fic. 200.—Civet Cat. Viverra civetta. x. 
Prionodon or Linsang differs from the last two genera in the 
loss of an upper molar. It thus approaches the Cats, with which 
it also agrees in the furry feet. It is a purely Oriental genus. 
It also resembles the Cats in that the claws are apparently quite 
retractile, a feature not common among the group. There are 
three species of the genus. P. pardicolor has large black spots 
and a ringed tail. Its body is some 15 inches in length. 
Dr. Mivart has commented upon the particularly small caecum, 
which, like that of Arctictis, seems to be on the verge of 
disappearance. 
Genetta, including the Genets, is almost purely African. — It 
has the full tooth formula of Viverra ; but is to be distinguished 
by the absence of a scent pouch, and by a naked strip of skin 
running up the metatarsus. These animals are all brownish 
yellowish to greyish with darker spots. The Common Genet, 
G. vulgaris, is South European, and just gets into Asia; it 1s 
also North African. The Genet, an animal “ with an appetite 
for petty carnage,” is one of those smaller Carnivora which are 
possibly to be regarded as meant by the word yady, and appear 
to have “ functioned ” as Cats among the Greeks. So recently as 
1 Where it has probably been introduced. 
