156 MAMMALIA—CIVET. 
are perfectly black; there is a large, black patch round each eye, which 
passes thence to the corner of the mouth; and two or three bands of the 
same color stretch obliquely from the base of the ears towards the shoulders 
and neck, the latter of which is marked with a black patch. 
The perfume of the civet is very strong; and though the odor is so strong, 
it is yet agreeable, even when it issues from the body of the animal. The 
perfume of the civet we must not confound with musk, which is a sanguine- 
ous humor, obtained from an animal altogether different from either tlre 
civet or the ‘zibet. 
The civets, though natives of the hottest climates of Africa and of Asia, are 
yet capable of living in temperate, and even in cold countries, provided they 
are carefully defended from the injuries of the air, and provided with deli- 
cate and esculent food. In Holland, where no small emolument is derived 
from their perfume, they are frequently reared. The perfume of Amster- 
dam is esteemed preferable to that which is brought from the Levant, or 
the Indies, which is generally less genuine. That which is imported from 
Guinea, would be the best-of any, were it not that the negroes, as well as 
the Indians and the people of the Levant, adulterate it with mixtures of 
laudanum, storax, and other balsamic and odorous drugs. 
Those who freed these animals for the sake of their perfume, put them 
into a long and narrow sort of box, in which they cannot turn. This box 
the person who is employed to collect the perfume, opens behind, for this 
purpose, twice or thrice a week; and, dragging. the animal which is con- 
fined in it, backward by the tail, he keeps it in this position by a bar before. 
This done, he takes out the civet with a small spoon, carefully scraping with 
it, all the while, the interior coats of the pouch under the tail, which secretes 
and contains it. The perfume thus ofained, is put into a et and every 
care is taken to keep it closely shut. 
The quantity which a single animal will afford, depends greatly upon sts 
appetite, and the quality of its nourishm-nt. [tf yields more in proportion 
as it is more delicately and abundantly ied Raw flesh hashed small, eggs, 
rice, small animals, birds, young fowls, ana vsrtieularly fish, are the fobd 
in which the civet most delights. 
As to the rest, the civet is a wild, nerce aninzal, and, though sometimes 
tamed, is yet never thoroughly familiar. Its teete are streng and sharp; 
but its claws are feeble and blunt. It 1s light and active, and lives by prey, 
pursuing birds, and other small animais, which it is abi» te overcome. It 
generally attacks at night, and by surprise. They are sometimes seen 
stealing into yards and out-houses, like the fox, in order to catry off poultry. 
Their eyes shine in the night; and it is very probable that trey see better 
by night than by day. When they fail of animal 10d, they #e forad to 
subsist upon roots and fruits. They very seldom drinx; nor de ther ever 
inhabit humid ground; but in burning sands, and m ariu moun vis ‘hey 
cheerfully remain. There is another animal called 
