STORY OF THE LINSANG. 



Next to the ocelot, I think the linsang- is the most beautifully marked ani- 

 mal I ever met. The linsang is related to the civet and there are four varieties 

 of it, three Oriental and one African. 



It has a long, slender body, short limbs, long head and neck, and a tail 

 longer than the head and body combined. The claws can be completely with- 

 drawn within their sheaths ; the soles of the feet are hairy. 



It has nO' scent pouch like the civet. 



It is not only in the color of its fur, but the texture also', that the linsang 

 is beautiful. The fur is short and soft and so thick that the skin of the animal 

 looks like a pile of velvet. The ground color is reddish, freely marked with 

 bold black spots, while the long tail is circled by black rings. 



This striking combination and arrangement of colors has suggested the 

 name of tiger-civet for this animal, but it is better known by the name of 

 linsang. 



They are all flesh-eating animals, but some of them alsO' feed upon insects. 

 The linsangs of Asia have larger spots than the African species. 



The earliest known of these animals -was the Javan linsang from Java, 

 Borneo, and perhaps Sumatra. It is the smallest of the linsangs. 



The Burmese linsang, which is the largest, and handsomest, of the group, 

 appears tO' be a rare animal, and is at present known only by twO' specimens, 

 one obtained from near Moulmein, and the other in South Tenasserim. The 



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