THE ICHNEUMON. 
{HERPESTES GRISEUS.) 
Fewer animals are better known as pets than the 
common grey ichneumon, or, as it is more frequently 
designated, the mongoose. Scarcely a ship arrives from 
India that has not one of these sharp and lively little 
animals on board. Easily tamed and handled, they are 
much prized, and are, consequently, much in request. 
They, as is usual with most tamed animals, have a large 
share of praise bestowed upon them ; the many tales 
related of their intelligence and power, and of their 
courage in killing vermin, and poisonous and other snakes, 
have made them famous, and any attempt to speak of 
them other than in accordance with the belief so firmly 
established in the minds of the admirers of their many 
virtues and abilities, would undoubtedly call down upon 
their calumniator the wrath of the said admirers. 
That an animal so commonly kept and petted, and 
found so useful in ridding, to a tolerable extent, of vermin, 
buildings and habitations, in countries where rats, snakes, 
various lizards and innumerable pests abound, would 
naturally be greatly valued, there cannot be the least 
doubt, and the ichneumon, being such an animal, monopo- 
lizes a very large share of attention. It is, moreover, 
generally believed to possess the power of saving, at least, 
its own life, when bitten by the cobra or any other 
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