HEUI'I 



va* israad. Body very much aloagated ; tail long, troiijf at iu 

 &ura of tho for Mnnk*L DcaUl formula : 



a i-l e- 



_ 



fcUowtac oat (F. Carkr) exhibits the dentition generally of tbc 

 la. !<4>iii. GoBDoH and .fNuWonu-i ; fur. though UMTS arc 

 icular .l.ffrrmcr.. th.y an. not sofflcient in UM opinion of K. 



Tntb of Ichneumon (IlrrftUn). 



Mr. Bennett ha* noticed Home pcculinritim in tho dentary system 

 f tb-w aniaala, In //. f-it-iaim and //. (!aml>\an<u he bund the 



nt r 



Th i 



; .mix.. = ; molan, 

 O, 



30. 



II, simple, and regular; the canines of mode- 

 rat* aia< ; UM Aral two false molars of the normal form ; the third 

 airr of rather small aUo, compared with iU analogue in genera 

 decidedly carnivorous; and the but two, in both jaws, tuber- 

 is. Tb rudimentary false molar mentioned by K. Cuvier wa-, 

 Mr. UMUMU oban-rea, wanting ia both theae ipeoiei ; nor could iU 

 abasao* be owing to UM 

 far bo tails us <* 



.-I! 



td as he remark*. 



. J evidently young animals, though arrived 

 aladuHaira. IU ratirw absence waa furthw confirmed by the situation 

 of UM teeth raap*ctiv*ly In UM reciprocal position of the jawa, the 

 n* inferior UM molar Ailing up the entire vacant |wce between 

 UM enrre.poBdiug superior tooth and UM canine of the same jaw. 

 - TW. ryatom," writes Mr. Bennett, " differs considerably from that 

 " Mrtc* by F. Cuvtsr (' Donto dea Mammiforea,' i. 99), 

 I raopoota with UM description of M. Deamareat The 

 vr ia equally foreign to the aooounU of both these 

 Mhora, aad. wars M* all th. other character, so perfectly accordant 

 , would docklmlly indicate a new genus. 

 ' my note* under the name of Mtingot, but with 

 MMIwUua, M 1 have only been able to examine a single 



i // rinieollu, Bennett). DroUl formuU : 



42 



> nave nothing remarkable either in form 



Tk. An* fal*. molar in either iaw ia tul-erculous ; the 

 I and third ooMist of one large conical fang in the centre, and a 

 _ x taborow oa nok side of ft ; then follows the oarnaaaier, and 

 flor H two tubrrculotu teeth in the upprr and three in the lower 

 aw. Tfco Ant of UMM in UM upper jaw is large and triangular; the 



aecond abort and broad, ita latitudinal dimenuoug more tlmn doubling 

 iU longitudinal ; the three of the lower jaw are amall, aiinplo, rather 

 diatant from each other, and of cylindrical furm. This ia a xyntoin of 

 dentition which a* far aa I am aware ia altogether peculiar, and if 

 confirmed by the examination of other specimens will undoubtedly 

 form the type of a new genus. Perhaps further and more rigid exa- 

 mination may even detect different species from the difiereut localities, 

 aa specimens have arrived for the Society from Trarancore and Bombay, 

 and one from Madras, at the British Museum." 



The species of the genus Htrpttta are found in Asia and Africa, 



Arrangement and Natural History. Liunicus, in his last edition <.f 

 the 'Hystcma Natunc,' gives one species of Ichneumon uml> 

 name of IVirrro Irhntumvn, his genus Yirerra being placed between 

 the Cats (Ptlii), and Weasels (Mtutda). It stands aa the first speciea 

 of the genus, and three varieties are noticed, one of them with a query 

 whether it may not be a distinct specie*. The first of theae varieties 

 ii- evidently the celebrated Egyptian Ichneumon (Ichneumon J'ltaraonu 

 of Oeoflroy, Ilrrjxttet Pharaonit of Dctmareat and others). 



Omelin gives three species, namely Vinrra Ichneumon (the 

 Kgyptian), 1'. Mango, and, apparently, I", cafra. 

 .nt places it among the ' Wecaels.' 



Cuvicr gives the form (Lea Mangoustes) a position between Para- 

 doj-urtu and Ryvrna (the Suricates). 



Dr. (Jr.iv arranges the Ichneumons (Herptttet, Illiucr) un! 

 J-'eiiiltr, in his fourth sub-family IVremna, bu-tween 

 and Vrouarchu* (F. Cuvicr). 



Dr. Fischer places the form, under the name of Mongolia, between 

 iffphitit and Crouarchta : he enumerates nine species. 



H. Leaaon, in his ' Manuel,' arranges it, under the name of Jc/tneu- 

 moo, between Gtnetta and Croaarchta. 



Mr. Swainson's ' I'irerina,' Musk-Weasels (Viverrina-\ form tlir 

 first sub-family of his family Miulrlidrr. Jlcrptittt, which i- : 

 between Cynictit and Virerra (Linnaeus), is tho second genus of ilna 

 sub-family. 



H. Ichneumon, the Ichneumon (Ichneumon Pharaonit, Virerra 

 Ichneumon, a, of Linmcus). The fur a mixture of chestnut-brown 

 ami yellow, each hair being aunulated with those two colours; tin: 

 feet and muzzle black or deep chc.--tnut ; the tail terminated by a 

 tuft of long hairs. 



This appears to have been one of the sacred animals of tho ancient 

 Egyptians ; and wo read in Herodotus (ii. 67) that the Ickneuta: 

 (ixMi/TaJ), which the best critics consider to be synonymous with Ich- 

 neumons, were, as well as dogs, buried " in holy repositories." 1 

 ia no good reason to doubt that it is the Ichneumon Clxvevjuw) of 

 Aruitotle (' Hist Anim.,' ix. 6 ; vi. 20, 85), Diodorus Siculug, Strabo, 

 -Klian, and others; and as little that it is the Ichneumon of Pliny. 

 Aristotle (ix. 6) relates, that when the Ichneumon sees the serpent 

 called the Asp or Aspic ('Ainr(s), he does not attack it till he has colled 

 to his assistance other ichneumons, and in order to defend themselves 

 from the venomous bites of the snake, they cover themselves with 

 mud by rolling on the earth after having dipped themselves in the. 

 water. 



I'liny ('Hist. Nat,' viii. 24), gives a somewhat similar account 

 I'ioilorus and Strabo relate a much more m:nv< lions feat ; nor is 

 Pliny slow to lend his aid in spreading the wonderful t:ile, hmv, when 



the crocodile is lulled asleep with oi>en jaws, the Ichneumon dart 

 like a weapon down his throat and gnaws his entrails ( " 

 alviim"). ('Hist Nat,' viii. 25.) It may be thought hardly worth 

 while to refute such a fable ; but it was long entertained as credible, 

 ninl it may not be amiss to turn to Sonniiii's observations on this 

 l)int, more especially aa they contain some interesting rcmni 

 the habits of the animal " Much," says Sonuini, who speaks of tho 

 Ichneumon as one of those animals which the Egyptians have domes- 

 ticated, "has been written concerning it, and much of this writing 

 baa been fabulous. It was one of the animals held sacred in ancient 

 Honours were mult-red to it on its death ; it was maintained 

 "1' the greatest solicitude during life ; funds were set apart for its 

 support ; they served up to it, as to cats, bread steeped in milk, or 

 fish of the Nile cut down into morsels ; and it was generally forl,id- 

 den to kill any of the race. Object of tho worship of a cclei 

 people, the pretended protector of the most singular country in the 

 world against a scourge tho most grievous to an agricultural nation, 

 a stranger and unknown in our elimates what a field for tho pro- 

 duction of the marvellous? Accordingly it has not been s; 

 The greater part of travellers have seen the Mangouste without 

 examining it; and with their minds prejudiced by tho stories which 

 the ancients and tho moderns have spread respecting it, they have 

 miooeasively copied their relations." Sonuini then, after a compli- 

 ment to liuffon, and a statement that he had had it in his power to 

 observe the Mangouste in its native country and in its state of liberty, 

 proceed* as follows : " With very great dispositions to familiarity, 

 the Mongoustes are not altogether domestic in Egypt Not only do 

 they now rear none in their habitations, but the inhabitants have not 

 even the rerolleetion that their ancestors reared any. Most probably 

 ; then those which Belon and Prosper Alpin assert that they had seen 

 I domesticated were merely a few individuals preserved rather as objects 

 of curiosity than for any useful purpose ; for if they hunt away rats 

 and mice, they likewise seize upon the poultry; and this appetite 



