THE ICHNEUMON. 25 



row, on its prey, and seizes it with inevitable certainty. To 

 the crocodile it is a formidable enemy, as it destroys the 

 eggs of that voracious reptile, and often kills great numbers 

 of the young immediately after their production. 



M. de Obsonville relates the following anecdote of one 

 which he had reared, and which was tamer than a cat, and 

 followed him wherever he went. One day he brought to 

 it a small water serpent, being desirous of knowing how 

 far instinct would carry it against a creature with which it 

 was entirely unacquainted. Its first emotion seemed to be 

 a mixture of astonishment and anger. Its hair immediately 

 stood erect ; in an instant it slipped behind the reptile, and 

 with extraordinary agility, leaping upon its head, seized 

 and crushed it with its teeth. This first essay awakened 

 its natural appetite for blood. It became formidable to the 

 poultry, which it took every opportunity to destroy ; it 

 s-ucked their blood, and ate only a part of their flesh. 



These animals abound not only in Egypt, but in the 

 southern countries of Asia ; they are also found near the 

 Cape of Good Hope. They frequent the banks of rivers, 

 are amphibious, and will remain a considerable length of 

 time under water. 



To this class belong also the fossant, the skunk, the zo- 

 rilla, and several others, all of them discriminated from 

 each other by some peculiarities, but their general charac- 

 teristic appears to be the disagreeable stench they emit, 

 which, in a greater or less degree, is common to all animals 

 of the weasel kind. Another tribe of this race is distin- 

 guished by the agreeableness of their perfume. So prolific 

 is nature, and so various are her operations, that imagina- 

 tion itself cannot keep pace with the infinite diversity of 



