3l8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



arctic walrus, vulgarly called sea-cow ( i ) . In the 

 projecting case, which terminates this side of the 

 room are the civet and genet cats. The largest 

 is the civet, bred in Abyssinia, because it furnishes 

 the perfume of which it bears the name (2). 

 The only species found in France is the common 

 genet, the fur of which is an article of trade in 

 the Pyrennees. At the bottom of the case is an 

 animal nearly allied to the civet, sent us alive 

 from Pondicherry, by M. Leschenault, and of 

 which M. F. Cuvier has made a genus under the 

 name of paradoxurus. It is called in India the 

 palm-tree martin, because it generally lives on 

 these trees. 



In order to follow the classification that has 

 been adopted, we must immediately pass to the 

 third room ; the first case of which contains the 

 genus mangouste, of which there are ten species : 

 one of them is the ichneumon, so celebrated for 

 the high degree of estimation in which the Egyp- 

 tians formerly held it. We owe it to M. Geof- 

 froy Saint-Hilaire. 



The other cases on the same side of this room 



(1) This animal sometimes acquires 20 feet in length ; it is caught in 

 the frozen seas ; its flesh yields much oil, and coach braces are made 

 of its skin. The ivory of its tusks is employed in works of art, although 

 it is far inferior to that of the elephant. 



(2) This odoriferous matter is secreted by two glands, which are 

 situated in a pouch between the anus and the insertion of the tail. 



