300 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Mode of obtaining the drug called civet. 



was, from the carelessness of his servant, kept 

 without food for a whole day; on the following 

 morning the animal gnawed his way through the 

 cage in which he was kept, came into the room 

 where M. Barbot was writing, and, after gazing 

 about for a few seconds, made a leap of five or 

 six feet at a fine American parrot, that was 

 perched on a piece of wood put into the wall ; 

 tore off its head, and began to feast on his prey. 



The drug called civet,, is produced by this anU 

 mal. It is a secretion, formed in a large double 

 glandular receptacle, situated at some little dis-* 

 tance beneath the tail, and which the creature 

 empties spontaneously. The Dutch keep great 

 numbers alive at Amsterdam, for the purpose of 

 collecting the drug from them. When a suffi- 

 cient time for the secretion has been allowed, the 

 animal is put into a long wooden cage, so narrow 

 that it cannot turn itself round. The cage being 

 opened by a door behind, a small spoon, or spa- 

 tula, is introduced through the orifice of the 

 pouch, which is carefully scraped and its contents, 

 put into a proper vessel. This operation is pei>. 

 formed twice or thrice a-week ; and the animal 

 \s said always to produce the greatest quantity 

 of civet when in a state of irritation. The sub^ 

 stance is accounted best when of a whitish co- 

 lour, a good consistence, and a, strong disagree 

 able smell. 



The inhabitants of Dar Fur, in Africa, have a 

 singular mode of increasing the produce of the 



