338 



ANIMALS OF 



learn to dread the ichneumon as a formida- 

 ble enemy. It also takes the water like the 

 otter, and, as we are told, will continue under 

 it much longer. 



This animal grows fast and dies soon. It 

 is found in great numbers in all the southern 

 parts of Asia, from Egypt to Java ; and it is 

 also found in Africa, particularly at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. It is domestic, as was said, 

 in Egypt, but in our colder climate, it is not 

 easy to breed or maintain them, as they are 

 not able to support the rigour of our winters. 

 Nevertheless they take every precaution that 

 instinct can dictate to keep themselves warm; 

 they wrap themselves up into a ball, hiding 

 the head between the legs, and in this man- 

 ner continue to sleep all day long. " Seba 

 had one sent him from the island of Ceylon, 

 which he permitted to run for some months 

 about the house. It was heavy and slothful 

 by day, and often could not be awakened even 

 with a blow; but it made up this indolence 

 by its nocturnal activity, smelling about with- 

 out either being wholly tame or wholly mis- 

 chievous. It climbed up the walls and the 

 trees with very great ease, and appeared ex- 

 tremely fond of spiders and worms, which it 

 preferred, probably from their resemblance 

 to serpents, its most natural food. It was also 

 particularly eager to scratch up holes in the 

 ground; and this, added to its wild ness and 

 uncleanliness, obliged our naturalist to smo- 

 ther it in spirits in order to preserve, and ad- 

 ded it to the rest of his collection." 



This animal was one of those formerly wor- 

 shipped by the Egyptians, who considered 

 every thing that was serviceable to them as 

 an emanation of the Deity, and worshipped 

 such as the best representatives of God below. 

 Indeed, if we consider the number of eggs 

 which the crocodile lays in the sand at a time, 

 which often amounts to three or four hundred, 

 we have reason to admire this little animal's 

 usefulness as well as industry in destroying 

 them, since otherwise the crocodile might be 

 produced in sufficient numbers to overrun 

 the whole earth. 



THE STINKARDS. 



THIS is a name which our sailors give to 

 one or two animals of the weasel kind, which 



are chiefly found in America. All the weasel 

 kind, as was already observed, have a very 

 strong smell ; some of them indeed approach- 

 ing to a perfume, but the greatest number 

 most insupportably foetid. But the smell of 

 our weasels, and ermines, and polecats, is 

 fragrance itself when compared to that of the 

 squash and the skink, which have been called 

 the polecats of America. These two are found 

 in different parts of America, both differing in 

 colour and fur, but both obviously of the wea- 

 sel kind, as appears not only from their figure 

 and odour, but also from their disposition. 

 The squash is about the size of a polecat, its 

 hair of a deep brown, but principally differing 

 from all of this kind in having only four toes 

 on the feet before, whereas all other weasels 

 have five. The skink, which I take to be 

 Catesby's Virginia polecat, resembles a pole- 

 cat in shape and size, but particularly differs 

 in the length of its hair and colour. The hair 

 is above three inches and a half long, and 

 that at the end of the tail above four inches. 

 The colour is partly black and partly white, 

 variously disposed over the body, very glossy, 

 long, and beautiful. There seem to be two 

 varieties more of this animal, which Mr. Buf- 

 fon calls the conepate and the zorille. He sup- 

 poses each to be a distinct species : but as 

 they are both said to resemble the polecat 

 in form, and both to be clothed with long fur 

 of a black and white colour, it seems needless 

 to make a distinction. The conepate resem- 

 bles the skink in all things except in size, 

 being smaller, and in the disposition of its co- 

 lours, which are more exact, having five white 

 stripes upon a black ground, running longitu- 

 dinally from the head to the tail. The zorille 

 resembles the skink, but is rather smaller and 

 more beautifully coloured, its streaks of black 

 and white being more distinct, and the colours 

 of its tail being black at its insertion nd while 

 at the extremity: whereas in the skink they 

 are all of one gray colour. 



But whatever differences there may be in 

 the figure or colour of these little animals, 

 they all agree in one common affection, that 

 of being intolerably foetid and loathsome. I 

 have already observed that all the weasel kind 

 have glands furnishing an odorous matter, 

 near the anus, the conduits of which gpnei al- 

 ly have their aperture just at its opening. 



