THE ICHNEUMON. U 



THE GENETTE.* 



This is the only Viverrine animal common in Europe, in some parts of which it is a regularly 

 domesticated animal, and catches Mice as well as a Cat. Besides living in all the southern parts of 

 Europe, it is found in the whole of Africa north of the Sahara, that wonderful desert which consti- 

 tutes a boundary as efficient in preventing the dispersal of animals as an ocean. In this, as in many 

 other cases, the North African animals are identical, or agree closely with those of Europe, while 

 those of trans-Saharal Africa ar3 of an entirely different character. 



The fur of the Genette is of a grey colour, " spotted with small black or brown patches, which are 

 sometimes round and sometimes oblong. The tail, which is as long as the body (about twenty-one 

 inches), is ringed with black and white, the black rings being to the number of nine or eleven. There 

 are white spots on the eyebrows, the cheeks, and the end of the nose." 



The civet-pouches are, in this genus, reduced to very slight depressions at the sides of the root 

 of the tail, and although the odour of the animal is tolerably strong yet not disagreeably so, as in the 

 Civet there is no perceptible secretion from these pouches. 



THE MUNGOOS, OR ICHNEUMON .f 



The Ichneumons, or Muiigooses, form a well-defined genus of Weasel-like animals, with semi- 

 plantigrade feet, five toes provided with somewhat retractile claws, and long tails. The species now 

 under consideration is found in Southern India as well as " in the North-west Provinces and the 

 Punjab, and throughout the Deccan up to the Nerbudda River. It frequents alike the open country 

 and low jungles, being found in dense hedgerows, thickets, holes in banks, &c., and it is very 

 destructive to such birds as frequent the ground," for it only sucks the blood, and so kills many birds 

 before it is satisfied. 



It is sixteen or seventeen inches long, its tail fourteen, and is of a tawny yellowish-grey colour. 

 The head is marked with reddish and yellowish rings, so arranged as to produce a resultant iron-grey 

 hue. 



There is a curious superstition about the Mungoos, of which Sir Emerson Tennent says : " I have 

 found universally that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to the European story of the Mungoos 

 (//. griseus) resorting to some plant, which no one lias yet sxicceeded in identifying, as an antidote 

 against the bite of the venomous Serpents on which it preys. There is no doubt that, in its conflicts 

 with Cobra di Capello and poisonous Snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as the harmless 

 ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to retire into the jungle, and, it is added, to eat 

 some vegetable ; but a gentleman, who had been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures me that 

 most usually the herb it resorted to was grass, and if this were not at hand, almost any other plant 

 that grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably arisen the long list of plants, such as 

 the Ophioxylon serpentinum \ and Ophiorhlza mungos, the Aristolochia indica, \\ the Mimosa octandria,^ 

 and others, each of which has been asserted to be the Ichneumon's specific ; whilst their multiplicity is 

 demonstrative of the non-existence of any one in particular on which the animal relies as an antidote. 

 "Were there any truth in the tale as regards the Mungoos, it would be difficult to understand why 

 creatures, such as the Secretary-bird and the Falcon, and others, which equally destroy Serpents, 

 should be left defenceless, and the Ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, were the 

 Ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result from the consciousness of security, it would 

 be so indifferent to the bite of the Serpent that we might conclude that, both in ite approaches and its 

 assaults, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of its attack. Such, however, is far from 

 being the case ; and, next to its audacity, nothing could be more surprising than the adroitness with 



* Genctta vulgaris. t Herpestes griseus. 



J A plant allied to that which produces the well-known nux vomica. It is used by Indian physicians in fevers, and as 

 an antidote to poisons. 



A tree allied to that which produces Peruvian bark. It is called the Mungo, or "Earth-gall," by the Malays. It is 

 also supposed to be an antidote to poisons. 



|| The " birth- wort." It is used in India as a remedy for gout, and in England is given to Cows after calving. 



TJ A tree allied to the acacias and to the sensitive plant. 



