102 THE GLUTTON. 



support the scent of the animal, unless there was a free 

 circulation of air. 



Though the civet is a native of the warmest cli- 

 mates, it will exist in cold ones, if treated with great 

 care ; and the civet of Amsterdam obtains the prefer- 

 ence to that of any other part of the world. 



THE GLUTTON. 



The glutton, so called from its voracious appetite, 

 is an animal which is found in the north of Europe, 

 Siberia, and the northern parts of America ; its body 

 is about three feet long, and proportionably thicker 

 than the generality of the weasel kind ; its legs are 

 short, its tail bushy, and its fur is held in the highest 

 estimation both for the softness and beauty of the 

 gloss : in colour it is of a reddish brown ; but along 

 the back, of a shining black. 



From the shortness of its legs, it is unable to pursue 

 its prey ; yet its claws are peculiarly calculated for 

 climbing trees, where it frequently watches whole days 

 together in expectation of some animal's approach. 

 The elk and rein-deer are its favourite food ; and, when 

 they pass under the tree, it darts down upon their back, 

 sticks its claws between their shoulders, and there re- 

 mains fixed and unmoved : in vain the frightened ani- 

 mal increases its speed, or tries to dislodge it with its 

 branching horns ; the glutton still adheres more firmly 

 to its station, and keeps eating away all the flesh upon 

 the neck, until it arrives at the large blood-vessels, 

 and then quaffs at the stream till the exhausted crea- 

 ture falls : its voracity then appears insatiable, and it 

 devours the victim till it can no longer move, and then 

 falls into a state of torpidity by the side of the hapless 



