94 ANIMALS OF THE 



ticularly eager to scratch up holes in the ground ; 

 and this, added to its wildness and uncleanliness, 

 obliged our naturalist to smother it in spirits in 

 order to preserve it, and then added 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 con- 

 sider 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 ad- 

 mire this little animal's usefulness, as well as in- 

 dustry, 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 approaching to a perfume, but the 

 greatest number most insupportably fetid. But 

 the smell of our weasels, and ermines, and pole- 

 cats, 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 



