134 TITEEEIB"^. 



> 



by its extreme watchfulness and activity ; or, if bitten at all, has been so 

 very superficially ; and that perhaps its very thick skin may have a certain 

 degree of insusceptibility to poison. Since this paragraph was first penned, 

 a writer in the Indian Lancet confirms this idea, which he says he has 

 practically proved, both by seeing the cobra bite the mungoos, and by 

 forcing the fang of a cobra into the skin of which did not suffer from the 

 experiment. A very recent writer, however, in one of the Indian news- 

 papers, declares that if the fangs are forced through the skin into the 

 flesh the mungoos will die. 



This little animal is frequently domesticated, and becomes excessively 

 tame, following its owner about like a dog, and effectually clearing a 

 house of rats. Mr. Bennett * mentions that an individual of this species 

 in the Tower, " actually on one occasion killed no fewer than a dozen full 

 grown rats which were loosed to it in a room sixteen feet square in less 

 than a minute and a half." The Egyptian Ichneumon, Herpestes ichneumon, 

 is said to have a peculiar penchant for crocodile's eggs. This habit is not 

 noticed with regard to our species, though I dare say it would devour them 

 if it came across any. 



128. Herpestes malaccensis. 



F. CnviER, Mammif. 1, pi. 65. — Blyth, Cat. 163. — H. nyula, Hodg- 

 son. — Newol or Nyul, H. — Newdra, in Central India. — Baji, or Biji, H., 

 in Behar. 



The Bengal Mungoos. 



Descr. — General color mixed rich reddish-brown and hoary-yeUow, 

 the ears, face and limbs redder, and less maculate ; neck and body pure 

 pale yellow ; tail conoolorous with the body, pointed, and nearly equal in 

 length to the body ; the hair harsh, bristly, not closely applied but diffuse. 



Length, head and body, 15 inches ; tail about 10 or 11. 



This mungoos replaces H. griseus in Bengal, and other parts of the 

 North of India ; and has precisely the same habits as that species. It ex- 

 tends into Assam, Burmah and Malayana. Hodgson states that it affects 

 cultivated fields and grass, and lives in burrows made by themselves. 

 The females produce 3 to 4 young at a birth. 



• Tower Menagerie, p, 106. 



