THE MOONGUS. 



239 



pointed snout, narrow body, short legs, and flexible form, permit them to insinuate them- 

 selves into marvellously small crevices, and to seek and destroy their prey in localities 

 where it might well deem itself secure. There are many species of the genus Herpestes, 

 or " creeper," one of which, the Garangan, has already been mentioned. 



The common Ichneumon, or Pharaoh's Rat, as it is popularly but most improperly 

 termed, is plentifully found in Egypt, where it plays a most useful part in keeping down 

 the numbers of the destructive quadrupeds and the dangerous reptiles. Small and insig- 

 nificant as this animal appears, it is a most dangerous foe to the huge crocodile, feed- 

 ing largely upon its eggs, and thus preventing the too rapid increase of these fierce and 

 fertile reptiles. Snakes, rats, lizards, mice, and various birds, fall a prey to this Ich- 

 neumon, which will painfully track its prey to its hiding-place, and wait patiently for 

 hours until it makes its appearance, or will quietly creep up to the unsuspecting animal, 

 and flinging itself boldly upon it, destroy it by rapid bites with its long sharp teeth. 



Taking advantage of these admirable qualities, the ancient Egyptians were wont to 

 tame the Ichneumon, and permit it the free range of their houses, and on account of its 

 habits paid it divine honors as an outward emblem of the Deity considered with regard 



ICHNEUMON. Herpestes Ichneumon. 



to His sin-destroying mercy. There is much more in the symbolization of those old 

 Egyptians than we deem, and they looked deeper into the character and the causes of 

 outward forms than we generally suppose. Although the diminutive size of this creature 

 renders it an impotent enemy to so large and well mailed a reptile as the crocodile, yet 

 it causes the destruction of innumerable crocodiles annually by breaking and devouring 

 their eggs. The egg of the crocodile is extremely small, when the size of the adult 

 reptile is taken into consideration, so that the Ichneumon can devour several of them 

 at a meal. 



The color of this animal is a brown, plentifully grizzled with gray, each hair being 

 ringed alternately with gray and brown. The total length of the animal is about three 

 feet three inches, the tail measuring about eighteen inches. The scent-gland of the 

 Ichneumon is very large in proportion to the size of its bearer, but the substance which 

 it secretes has not as yet been held of any commercial value. The claws are partially 

 retractile. 



The MOONGUS, sometimes called the INDIAN ICHNEUMON, is, in its Asiatic home, as 

 useful an animal as the Egyptian Ichneumon in Africa. In that country it is an 



