448 
THE ICHNEUMON. 
of transformation. A number of the smaller 
animals, many of which are valued for their 
fur, belong to the same class as the weasel, 
such as the marten ; —of which there are 
several varieties,—the sable and the mink. 
All of these have the same general charac¬ 
teristics as the weasel. They are all carni¬ 
vorous, hut do comparatively little injury 
to the property of man, while they often 
render him very great service by destroying 
rats and mice, snakes and other vermin. 
“ The next class we shall consider is that 
of the viverridae, some of which seem to he 
allied to the cats by the form of their claws 
and feet. They have the tongue covered, 
like that of the cat, with hard sharp points; 
their claws are somewhat retracted in walk¬ 
ing ; they stand low upon their feet, and 
all have under the tail a pouch containing 
a greasy matter, which has often a very 
powerful odour. The most remarkable ani¬ 
mal of this class is, perhaps, the ichneumon. 
This was one of the sacred animals of the 
ancient Egyptians, and was treated by them 
with great veneration : funds were set apart 
for its maintenance during life, and, like 
the sacred cats, it was carefully fed upon 
