The Mungoos. 33 
Hudson Bay Company alone having sent over 6000 skins into 
the market in a single year. Such is the force of association, 
that I can never see skunk’s fur, as trimming on a lady’s dress, 
without becoming immediately conscious of the odour, although, 
as a matter of fact, it has been totally eliminated from the 
prepared skin. 
Perhaps the most interesting of the viverride is the 
“mungoos,” or ichneumon, Herpestes griseus, on account of its 
reputed immunity from the poison of venomous serpents. It is 
still a part of the Anglo-Indian’s creed in natural history, that 
this little animal is’ impervious to the bite of the most deadly 
snake. This is supposed by some to be due to the presence, 
in its blood, of some prophylactic; while others attribute it 
to the effect of a certain—or rather uncertain—plant which 
the animal is said to seek out and eat immediately after its 
encounter with the snake. Sir Emerson Tennent sums up the 
matter so ably, that I cannot do better than quote his words. 
After remarking that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to 
the European superstition, he continues: ‘There is no doubt 
that in its conflicts with the Cobra de Capello and other 
poisonous snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as 
the harmless ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and 
even to retire into the jungle, and, it is added, eat some 
vegetable; but a gentleman, who has been a frequent observer 
of its exploits, assures me that most usually the herb it resorted 
to was grass; and if this were not at hand, any other that 
grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably 
arisen the long list of plants—such as the Ophivwylon serpenti- 
num and Ophiorhiza mungos, the Aristolochia indica, the Mimosa 
octandru, and others—each of which has been asserted to be the 
ichneumon’s specific; whilst their multiplicity is demonstrative 
of the non-existence of any one in particular to which the 
animal resorts as a specific. Were there any truth in the tale 
as regards the mungoos, it would be difficult to understand why 
other creatures, such as the secretary bird and the falcon, 
which equally destroy serpents, should be left defenceless, and 
D 
