S06 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Guinea would be the best of any, were it not tL.t. 

 the Negroes, as well as the Indians and the people of 

 the Levant, adulterate it with mixtures of laudanum, 

 storax, and other odorous drugs. 



Those who breed these animals for the sake of their 

 perfume, put them in a long and narrow box, in which 

 they cannot turn. This box the person who is em- 

 ployed to collect the perfume opens behind, for this 

 purpose, twice or thrice a week ; and, dragging the 

 animal which is confined in it backward by the tail, 

 he keeps it in this position by a bar before : this done, 

 he takes out the ci\ r et with a small spoon. The per- 

 fume thus obtained, is put into a vessel, and great 

 care is taken to keep it closely shut. 



The quantity which a single animal will afford, de- 

 pends greatly upon its appetite, and the quality of its 

 nourishment. It furnishes more in proportion as it is 

 more delicately and abundantly fed. Raw flesh hash- 

 ed small, eggs, rice, small animals, birds, young fowls, 

 and particularly lish, are the favourite food of the civet. 



The civet is a wild, fierce animal, and, though 

 sometimes tamed-, is yet never very familiar. Its teeth 

 are strong and sharp : but its claws are feeble and 

 blunt. It is light and active, and lives by prey, pur- 

 suing birds, and other small animals, which it is able 

 to overcome. They are sometimes seen stealing into 

 yards and out-houses, like the fox, in order to carry off 

 poultry. Their eyes shine in the night : and it is very 

 probable that they see better by night than by day. 

 When they fail of animal food, they are found to sub- 

 sist upon roots and fruits. They v*-ry seldom drink ; 

 nor do they ever inhabit humid ground ; but in bur- 

 ning sands, and in arid mountains, they cheerfully re- 

 main. 



