MYDAUS MELICEPS. 



to procure me individuals for preparation ; and as they received a desirable reward, 

 they brought them to me daily in greater numbers than I could employ. When- 

 ever the natives surprise them suddenly, they prepare them for food ; the flesh is 

 then scarcely impregnated with the offensive odour, and is described as very deli- 

 cious. The animals are generally in excellent condition, as their food abounds in 

 the fertile mould. 



The structure of the teeth, as appears from the generic details, affords to the 

 Mydavis but feeble means of defence ; the front teeth in the lower jaw have nearly a 

 horizontal position, and the canine teeth are comparatively small and weak. The 

 animal being slow in its motions, its manner of defence is of a negative nature, and, 

 as in the American Mephitis, consists in preventing the approach of an enemy by an 

 intolerably offensive odour : hence these animals have received the names of Mephitis, 

 Mydaus, Stifling Wesel, Bete-puante, &;c. The apparatus on which this depends has 

 already been described, and is in part represented on the Plate of Illustrations. 

 The effort by which the fetid matter is projected, is described by the natives as a 

 crepitus ventris : the muscu.lar coat of the glands, as far as I have ascertained, serves 

 only to propel the fluid into the rectum, at the pleasure of the animal : its discharge, 

 as a means of annoyance to its enemies, is effected by a general effort of the 

 abdominal muscles. On the Mountain Prahu, the natives who were most active in 

 supplying me with specimens of the Mydaus, assured me that it could only propel 

 the fluid to the distance of about two feet: — the fetid matter itself is of a viscid 

 nature ; its effects depend on its great volatility, and they spread through a great 

 extent ; the entire neighbovirhood of a village is infected by the odour of an irritated 

 TglSdu, and in the immediate vicinity of the discharge, it is so violent, as in some 

 persons to produce syncope. The various species of Mephitis in America differ from 

 the Mydaus in the capacity of projecting the fetid matter to a greater distance. A 

 detailed accovmt of the Mephitis Mapurito is given by Mr. Mutis, in the 31st 

 Volume of Stockholm Transactions, for the year 1770. 



The Mydaus is not ferocious in its manners, and taken young, like the Badger, 

 it might easily be tamed. An individual which I kept some time in confinement, 

 afforded me an opportunity of observing its disposition ; it soon became gentle, and 

 reconciled to its situation, and did not at any time emit the offensive fluid. I carried 

 it with me from Mountain Prahu to Blederan, a village on the declivity of that 

 mountain, where the temperature was more moderate. While a drawing was made, 

 the animal was tied to a small stake; it moved about quietly, burrowing the ground 

 with its snout and feet, as if in search of food, without taking notice of the bystanders, 

 or making violent efforts to disengage itself: on earth-worms (lumbrici) being brought, 

 it ate voraciously; holding one extremity of a worm with its claws, its teeth were 

 employed in tearing the other: having consumed about ten or twelve, it became 

 drowsy, and making a small groove in the earth, in which it placed its snout, it 

 composed itself deliberately, and. was @oon sound asleep. 



