CHAP. XIV. ICHNEUMON TAMED. 153 



truth, as in many similar instances, lies between 

 both. Some have most unquestionably been reared, 

 and have served the purpose of a cat, as I know from 

 positive experience, as well as from the reports of 

 others. The two in my own possession at Cairo 

 were very imperfectly tamed, being caught when 

 full-grown ; but I have seen one in the house of 

 S. Lavoratori perfectly domesticated, against which 

 the only complaint was its propensity to appro- 

 priate the eggs and poultry. On the other hand, 

 it may be observed, that the custom of keeping 

 them is by no means general, and the few which 

 are accidentally met with are rather objects of 

 curiosity than utility. 



The paintings of Thebes, Memphis, and other 

 parts of Egypt, frequently represent this animal 

 clandestinely searching for eggs, or carrying off 

 young birds from their nests amidst the water- 

 plants of the lakes ; and some representations of 

 it in bronze confirm the authority of those ancient 

 writers, who place it among the sacred animals of 

 Egypt. Plutarch '^ attributes the religious respect 

 of the Egyptians for the ox, sheep, and Ichneumon, 

 to their utility to mankind. t "The people of 

 Lemnos in like manner venerate the lark, from its 

 finding out and breaking the eggs of the cater- 

 pillar ; and the Thessaliansi: the stork, because 

 on its first appearance in their country it destroys 

 the numerous serpents with which it is then in- 

 fested. They have therefore made a law that 



* Plut. de Is. s. T*. f Cicero, Nat. Deor. lib. i, 



J Conf. Plin. x. 23. 



