THE CRYPTOPROCTA. 251 



THE last of the great Viverrine group of animals is the CRYPTOPROCTA, a creature 

 whose rabbit-like mildness of aspect entirely belies its nature. 



It is a native of Madagascar, and has been brought from the southern portions of 

 that wonderful island. It is much to be wished that the zoology of so prolific a country 

 should be thoroughly explored, and that competent naturalists should devote much time 

 and severe labor to the collection of specimens, and the careful investigation of animals 

 while in their wild state. 



Gentle and quiet as the animal appears, it is one of the fiercest little creatures known. 

 Its limbs, though small, are very powerful, their muscles being extremely full and well 

 knit together. Its appetite for blood seems to be insatiable as that of the tiger, and its 

 activity is very great, so that it may well be imagined to be a terrible foe to any animals 

 on whom it may choose to make an attack. For this savage nature it has received the 

 name of " Ferox," or fierce. Its generic name of Cryptoprocta is given to it on account 

 of the manner in which the hinder quarters suddenly taper down and merge themselves in 

 the tail. The word itself is from the Greek, the former half of it signifying " hidden," 

 and the latter half, " hind quarters." 



The color of the Cryptoprocta is a light brown, tinged with red. The ears are very 

 large and rounded, and the feet are furnished with strong claws. The toes are five in 

 number on each foot. 



In the foregoing description of the Viverrine animals, examples and figures are given 

 of every remarkable genus which forms a portion of this curious group. Whether or 

 not the Hyena should be considered as belonging to the Viverrines is a question which 

 is still mooted by many naturalists, who think that the Hyenines ought to be ranked 

 as a divergent group of the Civet Cats. 



With the exception of one or two species, these creatures are so little known that 

 their habits in a wild state have yet to be fully described. This is the more to be 

 regretted, because the native customs of an animal are more illustrative of its character, 

 and give deeper insight into the part which it plays in the economy of nature, than 

 can be gained by inspecting the same creature when shut up in the contracted space 

 which its cage affords, or when a change in its nature has been wrought by the com- 

 panionship of human beings. The habits of these agile and graceful animals are so 

 interesting when watched even in the limited degree which is afforded by our present 

 means of observation, that they give promise of much curious information when noted 

 in the wild freedom of their normal condition. 



We lose much valuable knowledge of the habits of a new or scarce animal by the 

 over-readiness of the discoverer to secure his prize. If one is fortunate enough to hit 

 upon an animal which is new to science, or to meet with one which is rarely seen, he 

 would do better service to Zoology by waiting awhile, and quietly watching the manner in 

 which the animal conducted itself, than by hastily levelling his gun, and so giving to 

 science nothing but a lifeless mass of dead matter, instead of a spirited history of a 

 breathing and living being. For my own part, I would rather read in a library a good 

 description of some strange animal, than see in a museum a stuffed skin about which 

 nothing is known. There is always a greater probability of obtaining a dead specimen 

 than its living history. 



As is seen in the case of the Zenick, the Musang, and the Ichneumon, these creatures 

 are quite as susceptible of human instruction as the feline or canine animals, and might 

 be advantageously trained to human uses. 



