ORDER CARNASSIER. 47 



The Fossane [of Madagascar, (Viv. Fossa,) Buff. XIII. xx. 



Has those parts of a fawn colour which are 

 black in the genet, and scarcely any rings to 

 its tail. 



The Mangoustes, Cuv. (Herpestes, Iliger.) 



In which the pouch is voluminous, simple, and has 

 the anus bored in its depth. 



The Mangouste of Egypt, so celebrated under the name 

 Ichneumon, (Viverra-Ichneumon, L.)Buff. Sup. III. xxvi. 



Gray, with a long tail terminated by a black 

 tuft; larger than our cats, as slender as our 

 martens. It searches peculiarly for the eggs of 

 crocodiles, but also subsists on all kinds of 

 small animals. Domesticated in houses, it 

 hunts mice, reptiles, &c. The Europeans at 

 Cairo call it Pharaoh's rat, the people of the 

 country Nems. What the ancients related of 

 its jumping down the throat of the crocodile to 

 put it to death, is fabulous. 



The Mangouste of the Indies, (Viverra Mungos, L.) Buff. f 

 XIII. xix.; and that of the Cape, (Viv. Cafra, Gm.) 

 Schreb. CXVL B. 



Both have the tail pointed, and the fur gray or 

 brown, but uniform in the latter, streaked cross- 

 wise with black in the former, which also has 

 the jaws streaked with fawn-colour. 



