QUADRUPEDS. 
99 
valuable, and much used in the manufacture of muffs, 
tippets, and other articles of comfort. Many thou- 
sands of their skins are annually exported from Can- 
ada and Hudson’s Bay. 
THE ICHNEUMON. 
268. The Ichneumon stands at the head of the 
weasel tribe, and formerly divine worship was ren- 
dered to it by the Egyptians, on account of the ser- 
vice it gave them in destroying serpents, crocodiles’ 
eggs, and all kinds of vermin. It varies from two 
to three feet in length, and is of a reddish-gray col- 
our. 
269. It is strong, bold, and active, and may easily 
be domesticated. It will attack and devour every 
creature it can overcome. It eats rats, mice, birds, 
serpents, lizards, and all kinds of insects. Its cour- 
age equals its voracity, for it fears not the dog or the 
cat ; neither the claws of the vulture, nor the venom 
of the serpent. 
270. If we consider the number of eggs which 
the crocodile lays in the sand at a time, which often 
Why was the Ichneumon deified bv the Egyptians ? What are 
its size and colour 1 What is said of its strength, courage and ac- 
tivity ? 
