380 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



rid of the superfluous part of its perfume. Beside this 

 odoriferous matter, there is another secreted, which as- 

 sumes the form of stiff silken threads, and is mingled with 

 the first. The Civet has, besides, a small hole on each 

 side of the anus, from which a blackish and very foetid 

 liquid issues. 



The odoriferous substance produced by the Civet, and 

 to which this animal owes its common name, forms, espe- 

 cially in the East, an object of considerable commerce. 

 " Its virtues,"" says the Baron, " are greatly vaunted among 

 ourselves, and it was once the fashion among those who 

 piqued themselves on their elegance, to use it as a per- 

 fume, as it has since been to use musk and amber for the 

 same purpose. It still enters into the composition of some 

 medicaments and perfumes, but its consumption is pro- 

 digiously diminished. It used to be brought from the Indies, 

 and from Africa, into Europe, by the way of Alexandria 

 and Venice." 



Africa, and a part of Asia, appear to be the na- 

 tive habitat of this animal. In the East the Civet is 

 brought up in a state of domestication, for the purpose 

 of gathering its perfume. Father Poncet says, that Enfras, 

 a town of Abyssinia, is celebrated for the Civet-trade, and 

 that an immense number of these animals are there do- 

 mesticated. He has seen upwards of three hundred with 

 some merchants. Buffon reports, that a similar practice 

 was prevalent in Holland. Certain it is, that this animal 

 has been repeatedly brought into Europe, and seen by 

 many naturalists ; but as they did not distinguish it from 

 the Zibeth, it is impossible to refer what they have said on 

 the subject to one animal rather than the other. 



The Civet sleeps continually, and is roused with much 

 difficulty. They are animals of the greatest possible in- 

 dolence, and, in this respect, not even the Sarigues can be 

 compared with them. They differ very much in this point 



