102 ANIMALS OF THE 



having the body longer and more slender, the 

 nose smaller, the ears longer and broader; no 

 mane or long hair running down the back in the 

 latter ; and the tail is longer, and better marked 

 with rings of different colours, from one end to 

 the other. These are the differences which have 

 induced this great naturalist to suppose them 

 animals of distinct species, and to allot each a 

 separate description. How far future experience 

 may confirm this conjecture, time must discover ; 

 but certain it is, that if such small varieties make 

 a separate class, there may be many other animals 

 equally entitled to peculiar distinction that now 

 are classed together. We shall therefore content 

 ourselves at present with considering, as former 

 naturalists have done, these two merely as varieties 

 of the same animal, and only altered in figure, by 

 climate, food, or education. 



The civet resembles animals of the weasel kind, 

 in th long slenderness of its body, the shortness 

 of its legs, the odorous matter that exudes from 

 the glands behind, the softness of its fur, the 

 number of its claws, and their incapacity of being 

 sheathed. It differs from them in being much 

 larger than any hitherto described ; in having the 

 nose lengthened, so as to resemble that of the fox, 

 the tail long, and tapering to a point, and its ears 

 straight, like those of a cat. The colour of the 

 civet varies : it is commonly ash, spotted with 

 black ; though it is whiter in the female, tending 

 to yellow ; and the spots are much larger, like 

 those of a panther. The colour on the belly 

 and under the throat is black, whereas the other 



