ViVERRA. 
nius P6rg®us, Aristotle, Arcliytas of Ta-, 
leiitiiiii, Vitruvius, Achindus, Mahomet Ibn 
Moses, the inventor or 'improver of alge- 
bra, buns Scotns, John Snisset, snrnamed 
the calculi^or, Galen, and Heber of Spain. 
The best edition of the architecture of Vi- 
truvius is that of Amsterdam in 1649. Per- 
rault gave an excellent French translation 
of the same, and added notes and figures ; 
the first edition of which was published at 
Paris in 1673, and the second, much yn- 
proved, in 1684. Mr. William Newton too, 
an ingenious architect, published in 1780, 
&c. curious commentaries on Vitruvius, il- 
lustrated with figures ; to which is added a 
description, with figures, of the military ma- 
chines used by the ancients. 
VIVERRA, the weasel, in natural his- 
tory, a genus of Mammalia, of the order 
Fer®. Generic character ; six fore-teeth, 
rather sharp ; tusks longer ; tongue ip some 
smooth, in others aculeated backwards ; bo- 
dy of a lengthened form. Gmelin separates 
the Viverra from the Mustela genus, and in- 
cludes the Lutr®, or otters, under the lat- 
ter. Mr. Pennant unites the two first, and 
forms the Lutrm into a distinct genus. This 
arrangement appears preferable to the 
other, is adopted by Shaw, and will be 
followed here. There are forty five spe- 
cies, of which the following are principally 
deserving of notice. 
V. ichneumon, or the ichneumon, of 
which there are two varieties, the Indian 
and the Egyptian. The Egyptian ichneu- 
mon is nearly three feet and a half in full 
length, and of a pale reddish grey colour. 
It bears a mortal enmity to rats, and snakes, 
and other offensive animals, with which 
Egypt is infested, and is domesticated fre- 
quently in that country for the sake of its 
services on this account. With the ancient 
Egyptians it was not only in high estima- 
tion, but obtained the reputation of a sort 
of deity, and was thought entitled to a de- 
gree of adoration. Its movements are ra- 
pid and agile in the extreme. In approach- 
ing its prey it often moves upon its belly 
like the feline tribe, or rather in the man- 
ner of a serpent; at others it pursites it with 
rapid boundings. It is able to swim, and 
to dive also for a considerable time, and 
frequents chiefly the borders of rivers. The 
Indian ichneumon is considerably smaller, 
imt is equally useful and esteemed. It at- 
tacks without terror, and even with the ex- 
treme of fierceness, the most formidable 
and venomous serpents, particularly the co- 
l)ra de capello, and destroys them without 
difficulty. They are both forn-.idable to 
animals much laiger than themselves, fas- 
tening upon them with immoveable firm- 
ness, and sucking their blood till they are 
absolutely gorged with it. 
V. striata, is a native of Mexico, and dis- 
criminated by five longitudinal stripes of 
white on its back of chocolate colour. 
When irritated by fear or anger it emits a 
vapour extremely fetid, in comparison with 
which eveiy other odour, genqpally deemed 
repulsive and disgusting, is prontinced to 
be the most exquisite perfume. Even the 
dogs engaged in the pursuit of these crea- 
tures are stated to be compelled to aban- 
don the course by this intolerable fietor, 
and if but a small drop of it should attach 
to the person or clothes of a human being, 
it is said to require the ablutions of several 
days to rid him of the nuisance, and pre- 
vent his being any longer avoided with dis- 
gust and horror. 
V. civetta, or the civet, is a native of the 
warm territories of Asia and Africa, and 
above two feet long, exclusively of the tail. 
It subsists on smaller quadrupeds and birds. 
This animal is distinguished for its perfume, 
for which it was well known to the an- 
cients, who considered it as one of the most 
powerful stimuli, and for which it is kept 
in a state of confinement in Holland at the 
present day, as well as in the East. The drug 
produced by the civets is formed in a glan- 
dular receptacle, and is taken from it by its 
keeper several times in the course of a 
week ; the quantity generally procured from 
each civet at a time being about a drachm, 
but varying with the state of the animal’s 
health, and the nouiishing quality of its 
food. It is in its original state of a yellow 
colour and an unctuous appearance, and Is 
extremely pungent, and indeed disagreeable. 
Every part of the animal is penetrated by 
its effluvia, and the effect of being shut up 
in a room with one of these creatures in a 
state of high irritation are nearly intolerable. 
V. genetta, or the genet, is to be met 
witliin Syria, Turkey, and Spain. These 
animals are about the size of a small cat, of 
a more lengthened form in head and body, 
and of a longer tail. They are distinguished 
by an agreeable perfume somewhat similar 
to musk. They are gentle, easily tamed, 
exceedingly active and cleanly, and in Con- 
stantinople and other places are frequently 
domesticated, and accomplish all the ob- 
jects effected by the common cat. Their 
colour is a tawny-red, spotted with black. 
V. foina, or the martin, is of a black 
