ORDER CARNASSIER. 379 



is gray ; this part of the head in the Civet is entirely black, ex- 

 cept the upper lip, which is white, and there is no spot under 

 the eye ; the limbs are black in both animals, and, in general, 

 there is a greater quantity of brown in the Zibeth, than in 

 the Civet, whose clear tints are of a pure white. The dor- 

 sal mane of the Civet is stronger than that of the Zibeth, 

 and its coat is in general rougher, from the stiffness of the 

 silky hairs; the woolly hairs are of a grayish brown, and 

 considerable in number : the fore part of the ears is of a 

 grayish white, and the hind part black ; the under part of 

 the belly is white, but the hairs are brown at their base, 

 and sometimes black : such are the differences of colour be- 

 tween these two animals. We shall now cite the observa- 

 tions of the Baron upon the Civet, from a work entitled 

 " Menagerie du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle." 



" The most remarkable peculiarity in the anatomy of the 

 Civet, is the organization of the bag, containing its pecu- 

 liar scent. It opens externally by a narrow cleft, situated 

 between the anus and the parts of generation, and is ex- 

 actly similar in both sexes, which renders their apparent 

 difference but trifling. This cleft conducts into two ca- 

 vities, which might each of them contain an almond. 

 Their internal surface is slightly covered with fine hair, 

 and pierced with many holes, each of which conducts into 

 an oval follicle, of very slight depth ; the concave surface of 

 which is again pierced with innumerable pores. The 

 odoriferous substance comes from these pores. It fills the 

 follicle, and when this is compressed, it proceeds from it 

 something, in form, like vermicelli, and enters the larger 

 bag. All these follicles are enveloped by a membraneous 

 tunic, which receives many of the sanguineous vessels ; and 

 this tunic, in its turn, is covered by a muscle, which comes 

 from the pubis, and has the power of compressing all the 

 follicles, and with them the entire bag, to which they are 

 attached. By means of this compression, the animal gets 



Vol. II. 2 D 



