142 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



When civet is mixed with other substances in certain 

 proportions, the offensive strength of the perfume changes 

 into an odour, aromatic and fragrant. It is less used now 

 than formerly, but it is still employed in the preparation of 

 various scents, and as much as forty shillings an ounce is 

 paid for the substance. 



ICHNEUMON (Herpestes ichneumon). 

 Coloured Plate VIII. Fig. 2. 



The Ichneumon of Northern Africa, Asia Minor, and 

 the South of Spain is the creature about which so many 

 improbable stories have been told. Stripping the * travellers' 

 tales' of their exaggerations, it has been ascertained that the 

 Ichneumon is a terrible foe to the crocodile, discovering the 

 eggs which the reptile has buried in the sand and destroy- 

 ing them without mercy. As the egg of the crocodile is 

 extremely small, the Ichneumon is obliged to eat many of 

 them before its hunger is satisfied, and so the number of 

 crocodiles is sensibly diminished by this one animal. 



The Ichneumon does not depend wholly upon the eggs 

 for its subsistence, but feeds on rats, mice, lizards, and 

 snakes. It is easily tamed, and was formerly kept in houses, 

 just as we keep cats, for the purpose of ridding them of 

 vermin. Even at the present day it is sometimes kept for 

 the same purpose. The reader will observe that the long, 

 lithe body, snake-like neck, and slender head are exactly 

 adapted for following its prey into their hiding-places. The 

 word 'ichneumon' signifies a ' tracker.' 



The common Ichneumon, or Pharaoh's Rat, as it is often 

 wrongly called, is the largest of the species, measuring a few 

 inches over three feet, the tail accounting for nearly half of 

 it. It is peculiarly graceful and easy in its movements, and 

 endowed with surprising agility ; when irritated or about to 

 spring on its prey, its eyes become vivid, its hair erect, and 

 its whole aspect betrays great eagerness and ferocity. The 

 fur of the little animal is of a uniform silvery grey, the 

 tip of the tail being black ; but each hair of the body, if 

 examined separately, will be found ringed with white, dark, 



