FOSSANE. 
The Fossane is a beautiful animal of the 
weasel kind, about the size of a cat. It's 
body, which is slender, is covered, in general, 
with ash-coloured hair, mixed with tawny. 
Foar black lines extend from the hinder part 
c-f the head towards the back and shoulders; 
the whole underside of the body is a dirty 
white; and the tail is semi-annulated. 
This animal, which inhabits Madagascar, 
and Guinea; Cochin-China, and the Philip- 
pine Isles ; is fierce, and difficult to be tamed. 
In Guinea, according to Bosman, it is called 
Berbe, by the natives; but the Europeans, 
there, have named it the AVine-Bibber, from 
it's excessive fondness of palm-wine : it is, 
also, very destru6tive to poultry. Flacourt, in 
his History of Madagascar, informs us, that 
it is there considered as good food, and called 
Fossa ; whence, most probably, has i)een de- 
rived the European name Fossane, which we 
have adopted from Buffon. 
In 
