MANGUSTA JAVANICA. 



the antidote which is afforded by the Ophioxylum serpentinum to an animal which 

 may have been wounded in the combat, was not reported to me. It is one of those 

 stories which, being founded on superficial observation, has too readily been credited 

 and copied from one writer to another. 



The Mangusta javanica is very expert in burrowing the ground, which process 

 it employs ingeniously in the pursuit of rats. It possesses great natural sagacity ; 

 and from the peculiarities of its character, it willingly seeks the protection of man. 

 It is readily tamed ; and in a domestic state it is docile, and attached to its master, 

 whom it follows like a dog ; it is fond of caresses, and frequently places itself erect 

 on its hind legs, regarding every thing that passes with great attention. It is of a 

 very restless disposition, and always carries its food to the most retired place in 

 which it is kept, to consume it. It is very cleanly in its habits. It is exclusively 

 carnivorous, and very destructive to poultry, employing great artifice in the surprising 

 of chickens. For this reason it is rarely found in a domestic state among the natives ,■ 

 as one of their principal articles of food is the common fowl, and great quantities 

 are reared in aU the villages. The Javanese also, like Mahomedans in general, have 

 a great partiality for Cats, and they are unwilling, in most cases, to be deprived of 

 their society, for the purpose of introducing the Garangan. It has also been observed 

 that its sanguinary character shews itself occasionally in a manner that renders it 

 dangerous in a family as a domestic animal ; and it indulges, at intervals, in fits of 

 excessive violence. 



In the history of this genus, the result of the researches of Naturalists in recent 

 periods, both in increasing the number, and in defining the characters of quadru- 

 peds, is favourably illustrated. In the twelfth Edition of the Systema Naturae, one 

 species only of Mangusta is given, with the name of Viverra Ichneumon, by 

 Linnaeus. In the works of Buffon, the Ichneumon mungo of Geoffrey is de- 

 scribed with the name of Mangouste cle I'Inde ; two other species are designated with 

 the name of JVems (Ichneumon griseus Geoflfr.),and La grande Maiigouste (Ichneumon 

 major, Geoffr. ;) and the Ichneumon galera Geoffr. has received the name of Vansire. 

 Edwards added one species, the Ichneumon Edwardsii of Geoffroy ; and Schreber, 

 after this period directed his attention to the Mangustae, and has made some 

 improvement in defining the species. But we are indebted to M. Geoffroy for 

 having fixed, with aU the precision which the materials hitherto collected admit, 

 the characters of eight species. The researches of M. Fred. Cuvier have contributed 

 to illustrate the history of several of these, and he has added to the number 

 enumerated by M. Geoffroy, the Mangouste de Malacca. He states, that having 

 separated those species which possess strongly marked characters, namely, the 



