22 
SALOON, the Pecary is particularly an enemy to snakes and other 
[Nat. Mist..] reptiles* attacking and destroying even the rattle-snake 
without the least dread or inconvenience, and dexter¬ 
ously skinning it by holding it between its feet, while it 
performs that operation with its teeth.—It is considered 
an agreeable food.-—In the same Case are two species 
of Zebra, the one the true Zebra {Equus zebra, Linn.), 
inhabiting the mountains, the other, the Dauw ( Equus 
Burchellii , Gray.), the plains of Southern Africa. All 
of these are Pachydermatous animals :—of those of the 
ruminant order are a very young Giraffe, or Camelo¬ 
pard, brought from Africa by the late lamented Lieut. 
Col. Denham; several species of Antelope, the Gnu, 
the Small, and the Common Musk, and several other 
kinds of Deer. The Musk Deer is hunted for the 
sake of the celebrated perfume of that name, which is 
contained in an oval bag about as large as a small egg, 
hanging down near the middle of the abdomen; it is 
peculiar to the male, and as soon as the animal is killed, 
the bag is cut off and tied up ; its contents are a soft, 
unctuous substance of the most powerful odour, which 
is the perfume in its natural state. 
Over these Cases, in the centre, is placed a specimen 
of the Ethiopian Hog. 
The want of more space in the large Cases, has rend¬ 
ered it necessary to place the smaller species of Mam¬ 
malia, for the present, in the upright Cases between the 
windows, on the north side of the room. 
Case 21 contains the small digitigrade carnivorous 
animals, as the Genet and Suricate ( Viverra genetta , and 
tetradactyla , Linn,), several of the weasel tribe, as the 
Polecat, Martin, Common Weasel, and Stoat (Mustela 
putorius , martes , vulgaris and ermine a, Linn.), The 
latter animal is of a pale chestnut-brown colour in sum¬ 
mer, hut white in winter, and in that dress forms an im¬ 
portant article of the fur trade, under the well known 
name of ermine; the tip of the tail is black at all sea¬ 
sons of the year. These animals inhabit the northern 
parts 
