81 



HERPESTES. 



HESPERIIDJ'. 



would more than overbalance the good which they could do in purging 

 the houses of noxious animals, which cats would destroy more cer- 

 tainly and with less inconvenience. Having some resemblance in 

 their habits to weasels and polecats, they fe r d upon rats, birds, and 

 reptiles. They ramble about the habitations of men ; they even steal 

 into tbem, in order to surprise the poultry and devour their egcs. It 

 is this natural fondness for eggs which prompts them frequently to 

 scratch up the sand with the intention of discovering those which the 

 crocodiles deposit there, and it is in this manner that they prevent, 

 in reality, the excessive propagation of these detestable animals. But 

 it is absolutely impossible to abstain from laughing, and not without 

 reason, when we read of their leaping into the extended mouths of 

 the crocodiles, of their sliding down into their belly, and not returning 

 till they have eaten through their entrails.* If some Mangoustcs 

 have been seen springing with fury on little crocodiles presented to 

 them,t it was the effect of their appetite for every species of reptiles, 

 and no at all that of a particular hatred, or of a law of nature, in virtue 

 of which they would have been specially commissioned to check the 

 multiplication of those amphibious animals, aa many people have 

 imagined. J It had been equally reasonable to say that nature placed 

 Mangoustes on earth merely to prevent the too treat propagation of 

 chickens, to which they are far more hostile in reality than to croco- 

 diles. And what proves more clearly that men have been mistaken 

 in ascribing such intentions to nature respecting Mangoustes is this 

 in more than half of the northern part of Egypt, that is to say, in 

 that part comprised between the Mediterranean Sea and the city of 

 Siout, they are very common, although thre are no crocodiles there ; 

 whilst they are more rare in Upper Egypt, where the crocodiles are, 

 in their turn, more numerous. The Mangoustes are nowhere more 

 multiplied than in Lower Egypt, which, better cultivated, more 

 inhabited, more humid, and more shaded, presents also more abund- 

 antly the means of supplying them with prey and with food, and, I 

 again repeat it, crocodiles never appear there." 



Kjrrptian Ichneumon (Ichneumon F/iaraonii}. 



That Belon saw this Ichneumon in Egypt there can be no doubt. 

 That accurate observer, in the ' Portraits," gives a figure of it super- 

 scribed " Portrait de 1'Ichneumon, que les Egyptiens nominent Rat 

 de Pharaon." Beneath is the following ' quatrain : ' 

 " Voy le portrait du Rat de Pharaon, 

 Qui chit8o aux Rats, comme fait la Belcttc : 

 An demeurant fort cauteleiue beate, 

 Qui antrement est nommi'e Ichneumon." 



Hasselquist mentions the Viterra Ichneumon, the Ichneumon of the 

 Nile, as met with in Upper and Lower Egypt, living, during the inun- 

 dation of the Nile, in gardens and near the village?, but, in the dry 

 season, as dwelling in the fields and near the banks of the river. He 

 says that it creeps slowly along, aa if ready to seize its prey, and that 

 it feeds on plants, eggs, and fowls, killing the latter in the night, when 

 it frequents the villages. He states that in Upper Egypt it searches 

 for the egtfs of the crocodile, which lie hid in the sand on the shore, 

 and eats them, preventing by that means the increase of that dangerous 

 animal. " The Ichneumon," he continues, " may easily be tamed, and 

 frequently goes about the houses like a cat >Ir. Barton, who has 

 been the English consul nineteen years in Egypt, baa kept a tame one 

 for several years. It makes a growling noise, and barks when it is 

 very angry. The Arabians call it Nems. The French in Egypt, who 

 give everything they don't know names of their own making, have 

 called this Rat de Pharaon, which Alpin and Belon have followed, 

 and called it Mia Pharaonit (the Mouse of Pharaoh). The resem- 

 blance it has to a mouse (Mui terratrit) in regard to the colour and 

 hair might have induced ignorant people who know nothing of natural 

 history, to call it a mouse ; but I cannot conceive why they should call 

 it ' Pharaoh's Mouse.' The Egyptians were too intelligent in the time 

 of I'haraoh to call it a mouse, having knowledge enough to give true 

 descriptions and significant names to all natural bodies ; nor is it at this 

 day called Phar by the Arabs, which is the name for mouse, but they 

 call it Nems. What is related concerning its entering the jaws of 

 the crocodile is fa'oulous." Hasselquist travelled during the years 

 1749-50-51-52 : Sonnini's travels commenced in 1777, and terminated 

 in 1780. In the Arabic used in the neighbourhood of Tangier, whence 

 two specimens were sent by Mr. Drummond Hay to the Zoological 

 ty of London, Iferpcula Pharaonii is called Serro. 



* Sonnini'a note*. See almost all the ancient authors, and, among the 

 modern*, Maillrt, Jaana, and others. 



t Maillet, Dwcr. de 1'Efjrpto.' 



t Maillet, *c. 

 HAT. BIST. DIV. VOL. III. 



Mr. Bennett, in his account of a specimen of Herpeitet rjriseus ke] it 

 in the Tower, says that on one occasion it killed no fewer than a dozen 

 full-grown rats, which were let loose to it in a room sixteen feet square, 

 in less than a minute and a half. 



The story of the Ichneumon Muwyo, or Mungos (Viverra Mungo of 

 Gmelin), having recourse to the plant Hampaddu Tanah, or Mungo- 

 root, as an antidote when bitten by serpents in its encounters with 

 them, will be found in the ' Anicenitates Exotica; ' of Ksempfer, who 

 says (p. 574) that he had one of these animals which slept with him, 

 and followed him about like a dog through the city and fields. 



H. badius, the Ratlamuchi, is a native of South Africa. Dr. A. 

 Smith, in the work above quoted, says that H. badius appeared 

 restricted to sandy districts abounding in brushwood, and in these 

 was occasionally seen running from one copse to another. He states 

 that it is extremely shy, and flies with great rapidity on the 

 approach of man to its hiding-places. Nothing except the remains of 

 insects were found in the stomachs of those which were procured by 

 the expedition ; but Dr. Smith adds, that, if the natives are to be 

 believed, 11. badim feeds with avidity also upon lizards, snakes, mice, 

 &c. Lucan and Rumphius both notice the skill of the Ichneumon in 

 seizing serpents by the throat so as to avoid injury. Lucan, who 

 names it Piiariat, describes its attack on the Egyptian asp elegantly 

 and at length (iv. 724). 



Dr. J. E. Gray states that there are two very distinct varieties of 

 this species. The one described by Dr. Smith is of a red bay, the 

 hairs being of a uniform colour except a few just over the shoulder- 

 nape, which have a black subapical ring. The other has most of the 

 hairs of the back and sides with long white tips edged below with a 

 black band, giving the back a grizzled appearance. 



The following species are given in the 'British Museum Cata- 

 logue :' 



//. Widdrinytonii, the Andalusian Ichneumon. South of Europe ; 

 Sierra Morena. 



II. Coffer, Cape Ichneumon. South of Africa, 



H. Mntgigdla, the Mutgigella. Abyssinia. 



II. Smithii, Dr. Smith's Ichneumon. Cape of Good Hope. 



H. apiculatut, Brown-Tipped Ichneumon. * Cape of Good Hope. 



]{. Javanicut, the Garangan. Java. 



//. griseui, the Moongus. India ; NepauL 



If. Nyuia, the Nyula. India ; Nepaul. 



H. paludotut, Brown Ichneumon. Cape of Good Hope. 



//. brathyurus, Malacca Ichneumon. Malacca. 



H. punctulatui, Spotted Ichneumon. South Africa ; Natal. 



This last species has been recently described by Dr. J. E. Gray, who 

 says it most nearly approaches H. Mutgigella. 



HERPETOLOGY (from 'Ep-rrfrbv and Aoy&s), the branch of science 

 which treats of the structure, habits, and classification of Reptiles. 

 [RKITILE ; ALLIGATOR; CROCODILUS; AMPHIBIA; OPHIDIA; CHEI.ONIA; 

 ICHTHYOSAURUS ; PLESIOSAURUS ; PTERODACTYL ; SAURIA ; BOID&] 



HERRERITE, a Mineral occuring in reniform masses. Cleavage 

 in three directions, affording rhomboidal fragments with curved faces. 

 Colour pistachio- emerald- and grass-green; streak yellowish-gray. 

 Hardness 4'0 to 4'5 ; brittle. Lustre vitreous to pearly, and shining on 

 fresh surfaces; translucent. Specific gravity 4'3. It is found at 

 Albarradon in Mexico. The following is an analysis by Herrera : 



Carbonic Acid 31-86 



Peroxide of Nickel 12'32 



Tellurium 55'58 



99-76 



This mineral is probably a mixture rather than a definite compound. 



HERRING. [CLUPEID*.] 



HERSCHELLITE, a Mineral which occurs in attached hexagonal 

 crystals, associated with Phillipsite, in the cavities of trap, and also 

 in granular Olivine. Primary form a rhomboid ; cleavage not ascer- 

 tained. Fracture conchoidal. Hardness 4 to 4 '5. Specific gravity 2'11. 

 Translucent or opaque ; colour white. Found at Aci Reale in Sicily. 

 "CHABAZITE.] 



HE'SIONE, the name of a genus of Dorsibranchiate Annelida, 

 with a short but rather stout body, composed of a few ill-defined 

 rings. A very long cirrhus, which probably executes the function 

 of branchiae, occupies the upper part of each foot, which has also 

 another lower one and a packet of fine bristles. The pro"boscis of 

 Hesime is large, and without either jaws or tentacles. 



HESPERIDIUM, one of those fruits which, in common botanical 

 language, is confounded with the word Bacoa [BACCA], but which 

 indicates a different structure. It has a tough separable rind, the 

 seeds hardly lose their attachment when ripe, and the cells readily 

 separate through the dissepiments. Of this nature is the fruit of 

 the orange, which is the type of the Jlesperidium. [FRUIT.] 



HESPERI'IDJE (Stephens), a family of Lepidopterous Insects of 

 the section Lepidoptera diurna of Latreille. They have the following 

 characters : Antennae terminated by a distinct club, generally with 

 a minute hook at its extremity ; tibiso with two pairs of spurs, one 

 at the apex, and the other near the middle ; claws very small, bifid ; 

 body thick ; wings small, the posterior pair with a groove to receive 

 the abdomen. The larvae are pubescent, or naked, and have a large 

 head ; pupa smooth, inclosed in a web. 



