CARNARIA. OS 



TiiE ^lusANGs (Parado.vurva, F. Cuv.) — 

 Possess the teeth and most of the characters of the Genets, with 'whicli they were long confounded : 

 but their general forui is stouter, and tlieir gait plautigraile : what more particularly distinguislies 

 them, however, is the spiral inclination of the tail*, which is not prehensile. 



Only one species is known, the I'ougonne of India (P. iiipm^ F. Cuv.), termed Palm Marten by the French in 

 India. [No less than ten or twelve have since been discovered, chiefly from India and the great Asiatic islands, thouf;;h 

 some inhabit Africa. They feed much on fruit, but are also tolerably carnivorous, spriiij^^ing upon their prey from 

 a place of ambush : ^ait slow and plantigrade, with the head and tail lowered, and the back arched ; but they 

 also advance by rapid digital bounds, and are excellent climbers, constructing a nest on the forked branches of 

 trees. They are easily tamed, and, when angiy, growl and spit like Cats : sleei) rolled up in a ball, &c. 



As the Dogs may be considered the highest of the Caniivora, and the Cats the most eminently predaceous, so 

 the Musangs may be regarded as presenting the fairest average of a member of this division. Their dentition is 

 scarcely distingidshable from that of the Dogs ; but, on reverting the cranium, their cerebral cavity is seen to be 

 proportionally smaller. 



Various species of jMusang have been named as separ.ate subgenera by different systematists. Amblwdon, Jourd., 

 is the letide doree of M. F. Cuvier ; and Puguma, Gi-ay, refers to the young of P. Jarvatus. P. Derb'ianus, Gray, 

 a species approximating the Genets, of a fidvous-grey colour, with broad cross bands of dark brown, is the 

 liemigalea zebra of Jourdan. ^Most of them present the streaks and spots of tlje Genets, but on a darker 

 ground-tint. 



Several afl'ect the vicinity of human habitations, and are very destructive to jioultry, their eggs, &c. 



The Cynogale {Cijnogale, Gray; Limictis, Blainv.) — 

 Is an aquatic representative of the preceding, to which it hears a similar relation to that which the 

 Otters hold with the Weasels. Its false molars are large, compressed, sharp, ami slightly notched or 

 serrated ; and entire deutal system, together with its external characters, generally modilied for a pis- 

 civorous regimen. 



One species only is known (C. neiitieitii, Gr. ; Vie. and Lim. carcharias, El.)— A native of Sumatra, uniform dark 

 brown ; the cars small ; head, and also colouring, very similar to that of a common Otter : its tail, however, is 

 cylindrical.] 



The Mangoustes {ilangusta, Cuv. ; Herpesles, Ilhf) 



The pouch voluminous and simple, and the anus situate within its cavity ; [bony orbits of the skull 

 most usually perfect.] Their liairs arc annulated with pale and dark tints, which determine the 

 general colour of the eye. [Tail long as in the preceding subdivisions, and bushy towards its 



insertion. 



The species are very numerous ; and] that of Egj-pt {Viv. ichneumon, Lin.), so celebrated among the ancients by 

 the name of Ichneumon, is grey, with a long tail terminated by a black tuft ; it is larger than our Cat, and as 

 slender as a Marten. It chiefly hunts for the eggs of the Crocodile, but also feeds on all sorts of small animals ; 

 brought up in houses [where, m common with its congeners, it is readily domesticated, and exhibits much intelli- 

 geucc and attachment], it pursues Mice, reptiles, &c. By the Europeans at Cairo it is designated Pharaoh's Hat, 

 and Nrms by the natives. The ancient allegation of its entering the throat of the Crocodile, to destroy it, is quite 

 fabulous. The commoit Indian species {Viv. mungos, Lin.) is celebrated for its combats with the most dangerous 

 serpents ; and for having led us to a knowledge of the Ophiorhi:a mungos as an antidote to their ^■enom. [Some 

 are less Termiform in their make, and higher on the legs : one, termed the Vansire by Buflbn, fonns the division 

 Alhglax of M. F. Cuvier ; others compose the Galitlea and Ichneunwnia of INI. Is. Geoflroy ; Cijnielis, Og., includes 

 several species with only four toes to each foot ; and Lasiopns and Mongo, Auet., are additional dismember- 

 ments of this genus. The Urea of Mr. Hodgson appears also to be a Mangouste, with iucomplete orbits.] 



The Surikate {Ryzcena, 111.) — 

 Resembles the Mangoustes, even to the tints and annidations of its fur; hut is distinguished from 

 them, and from all the Carnivara hitherto mentioned [save the Lijcaon picta and Cynictis, just indi- 

 cated], by having ordy four toes to each foot. It is also higher upon the legs, and does not possess 

 the small molar immediately behind the canine. The pouch extends even into the anus. 

 Only one is known ( Viv. tetradactgla, Gm.), a native of Africa, aud rather smaller than the Mangouste of India. 



The Mangue {Crossarc/iu.s, F. Cuv.), — ■ 

 Has the muzzle, teeth, pouch, and gait of the Surikate ; the toes and genital organs of the Man- 

 goustes. 



■ [II thosoTvhi. hi hiive seen alive, includins P. (J//>«>. Oils chsrac- ■ t Tliis term is more centrally B.li.ptcd. Tlie n«nie /,*»™„„,„, 



ter «.as not pereeptible ; the indieicluiti fi[,'ured by .'^I. F. Cuvier pre- j formerly iipplied to the animals of this genns, li.ia been transferred 



sentnie a Lnorbid dedormity, an ana!o(,'Ous instance of wdiieh oeeurred I to a very extensive group of Hymenoplerons Inseets.— Ed. 

 in a Leonard formerly exhibited in LoLidon.— Ki). 



