THE BENETTS. 



187 



GENETTS. 



A SMALL, but rather important, group of the Viverrine animals, is that the members of 

 which are known by the name of the GENETTS. These creatures are all nocturnal in their 

 habits, as are the civets, and, like those animals, can live on a mixture of animal and vegetable 

 food, or even oh vegetable food alone. The Genetts possess the musk-secreting apparatus, 

 which much resembles the pouch of the civet, although in size it is not so large, nor does it 

 secrete so powerf ully smelling a substance as that of the civets. The secreting organ, although 

 it resembles a pouch, is not so in reality, being simply composed of two glands, united to each 

 other by a strip of skin. 



The best known of these animals is the COMMON, or BLOTCHED GENETT, an inhabitant of 

 Southern Africa and of various other parts of the world, being found even in the south of 



BLOTCHED GENETT. -Gtnetta vulgaris. 



i 



France. It is a very beautiful and graceful animal, and never fails to attract attention from 

 an observer. The general color of the fur is gray, with a slight admixture of yellow. Upon 

 this groundwork dark patches are lavishly scattered, and the full furry tail is covered 

 with alternate bands of black and white. The muzzle would be entirely black but for a 

 bold patch of white fur on the upper lip, and a less decidedly white mark by the nose. The 

 feet are supplied with retractile claws, so that the animal can deal a severe- blow with 

 its outstretched talons, or climb trees with the same ease and rapidity which is found in the 

 cat tribe. 



Another pretty species of this genus is the PALE, or SENEGAL GENETT. 



The fur of this animal is whiter than that of the Blotched Genett, and the markings 

 are rather differently arranged. Along the spine a nearly unbroken dark stripe is drawn, 

 and upon the neck and shoulders the spots have a tendency to merge into each other 

 and to form stripes, extending from the head along the neck and over the shoulders. On 



