60 CATALOGUE. 



tinguished from the Viverricula indica. So far as has been ascertained, 

 the Rasse belongs exclusively to Java. The first description of this 

 animal is given in Horsfield's " Zoological Researches in Java," which 

 also contains a figure. The Rasse is not unfrequently found in Java, 

 in forests of moderate elevation above the level of the ocean. Here it 

 preys on small birds and animals of every description. It possesses 

 the sanguinary appetite of animals of this family in a high degree, 

 and the structure of its teeth corresponds strictly with their habits and 

 modes of life. In confinement, it will devour a mixed diet, and is fed 

 on eggs, fish, flesh, and rice. Salt is reported by the natives to be a 

 poison to it. The odoriferous substance, the dedes of the Javanese or 

 jibet of the Malays, is collected periodically. The animal is placed in 

 a narrow cage, in which the head and anterior extremities are confined ; 

 the posterior parts are thus easily secured, while the civet is removed 

 with a simple spatula. It is perfectly untameable, and has not been 

 known to propagate in a state of confinement. 



The substance obtained from the Rasse agrees with the civet afforded 

 by the Viverra civetta and zibetha, in colour, consistence, and odour. 

 It is a very favourite perfume among the Javanese, and applied both 

 to their dresses, and by means of various unguents and mixtures of 

 flowers to their persons. Even the apartments and the furniture of the 

 natives of rank are generally scented with it to such a degree, as to be 

 offensive to Europeans ; and at their feasts and public processions the 

 air is widely filled with this odour. 



Genus PARADOXURUS, Fr. Cm.* 



VIVERIUE Species, Desmar., Horsf. et al. 



91. PARADOXURUS TYPUS, Fr. Cuv. et Geoffr., Mam- 

 mif. litliogr. 



Paradoxurus typus, Temm., Monogr. II. p. 315. Desmar., 

 Mamm. suppl. p. 539. Fischer, Syn. Mamm. p. 158. 

 Gray, Catal. Mamm. Br. Mus. p. 56. Proceed. Zool. 

 Soc. 1832, p. 65. Schinz, Syn. Mamm. p. 381. Sykes, 

 Catal. of Dukhun Mammalia, Proceed. Zool. Soc. 1831, 

 p. 102. Ogilby, Zool. Jour. IV. p. 303. Bennett, 

 Tower Menagerie, p. 107, with a figure. 



* In establishing this genus, M. Frederic Cuvier was led into an error by the 

 distorted and monstrous condition of the specimen which served for his definition, in 

 which the tail was unnaturally incurvated. The Dutch naturalists, who had unli- 

 mited opportunities of observing this animal in many localities, assert, uniformly, 



