104 



THE REASON WHY: 



" Lady, I would descend to kiss your hand, 

 But that 'tis gloved, and civet makes me sick." MASSINOEB. 



319. Why is the rivet commonly called the "civet cat?" 



Merely from some slight 

 resemblance in the far of the 

 body, and the form of the 

 tail ; and from their habit of 

 catching mice. The name 

 eat is, in all other respects, 

 inapplicable. They are great 

 destroyers of eggs, are ex- 

 pert in catching birds, and 

 some of them occasionally 

 pursue their prey by coursing. They frequent the banks of streams, 

 the woodlands, or open glades, preying upon the smaller reptiles 

 and the eggs of the larger in the first of those places, on birds and 

 small quadrupeds in the second, and on the smaller lizards in 

 the third. 



320. The perfume called civet is produced from an orifice under the anus in botl 

 sexes, secreted by peculiar glands. The persons who keep them are said to procure 

 the ciret by scraping the inside of their legs twice a week with an iron spatula, 

 getting about a drachm each time ; but it is seldom sold pure, being mixed with 

 suet or oil to make it more weighty. The males yield the most, especially when 

 they are irritated. They inh.ibit India, the Philippine Isles, Guinea, Africa, 

 and Madagascar. 



321. Why is the leopard, so catted? 



The name is composed of two words, leo (lion), and par$u$ 

 (panther), and has a fabulous application: the fable being that 

 the leopard was a mule or hybrid between these two species, 

 partaking of the fabled generosity of the one, and the savage 

 disposition of the other. 



322. What is the distinction between the panther and the 



The only differences between them are in the size_and marking, 

 and in the more active and playful disposition which seems to be 

 connected with smallness of size in this genus of animals. It 



