THE CIVET FAMILY.
General Characteristics of the Civet Family--Their Scent, Skull,
and Teeth--THE AFRICAN CIVET--Its Characters and Habits--THE
ASIATIC CIVET--THE LESSER CIVET--THE GENETTE--THE MUNGOOS, or
ICHNEUMON--Curious Superstition regarding it--THE CRAB MUNGOOS--THE
PARADOXURE--THE BINTURONG.
The name of this family[74] is given to it from the fact that the
most important forms included in it are what are known as Civets, or
Civet Cats, animals from which the well-known perfume of that name is
obtained.
The civet is a white, fatty substance, found in two curious little
pouches or turnings-in of the skin just under the animal’s tail.
Thus Touchstone says: “Civet is of a baser birth than tar; the very
uncleanly flux of a Cat.” The perfume “is procured by scraping the
inside of the pouch with an iron spatula at intervals, about twice a
week. If the animal is in good condition and a male, especially if he
has been irritated, a drachm or thereabouts is obtained each time.
The quantity collected from the female does not equal that secreted
by the male. Civet, like most other articles of this nature, is much
adulterated, and it is rare to get it quite pure. The adulteration is
effected with suet or oil, to make it heavier.”
[Illustration: SKELETON OF CIVET.]
Civet is far less esteemed as a perfume now than in former times; its
odour is rank and almost overpoweringly strong, so that musk and other
vegetable perfumes are now generally preferred. But in Shakspere’s time
it was quite “the thing.” Don Pedro, in “Much Ado,” says of Benedick:
“Nay, he rubs himself with civet: can you smell him out by that?” And
Claudio answers: “That’s as much as to say, the sweet youth’s in love.”
The animals comprised in this group are confined entirely to the Old
World, where they are represented in South Europe by the domesticated
Genette; in Africa and South Asia by the true Civet (_Viverra_), the
Ichneumons, so celebrated for their propensity for eating Crocodile’s
eggs, the curious Paradoxures, and many others.
In anatomical characters, as well as in external appearance, the
animals are related both to the Cat family and to the Hyænas, as will
be seen by comparing the various points of their structure with
those of the two families just named. They are mostly long-bodied,
short-legged animals, with stiffish fur, a long tail, and a sharp
muzzle. They walk on their toes, of which they have five on each
foot, like Cats; many of them, however, keeping the wrist and ankle
much nearer the ground than the Cats do, and being consequently
distinguished as _semi-plantigrade_. They also wander from the regular
Cat-structure in the matter of their claws, which are only _half_
retractile, the elastic ligament not attaining the same perfection as
in the Cats. Thus we conclude that in this respect, at any rate, the
Civets are less _specialised_ than the Cats proper; they approach more
nearly to the central plan of Mammalian structure, and are less perfect
as Carnivores. We shall see that the same is the case with respect to
their other characters, such as the skull and teeth.
The skull is not unlike what a Cat’s would be if it were put on the bed
of Procrustes and pulled out; for, in correspondence with the length
of the snout in these creatures, the face part of the skull is long
in comparison with the brain-containing part. The cheek-arches, also,
are by no means so broad as in the _Felidæ_, in correspondence with
the less size of the jaw muscles. But the character of the base of the
skull is pretty much the same. There is, as in Cats, the large swollen
_bulla_, or ear-drum bone, the small opening flush with the outer wall
of the bulla, and the clamping bone closely applied to its hinder wall.
[Illustration: TEETH OF CIVET.]
The teeth of the Civets present many interesting differences from
those of the Cat tribe. In the first place, in accordance with the
less perfectly carnivorous habit of the group, the jaws are longer,
and, consequently, not so powerful as in the Cat; the number of teeth
also is considerably increased. The incisors and canines remain the
same, but the premolars are increased to four, and the molars to two on
each side of each jaw,[75] so that there are no less than forty teeth,
instead of thirty only, as in the Cats. Then the form of the teeth is
altered; the canines are of far less proportional size, not having the
same amount of hard work to do as the great dog teeth of the Lion or
Tiger; the grinders, too, lose their scissor-blade form, and exhibit
on their upper surfaces little lumps, or _cusps_, thereby developing
a grinding surface such as no Cat has. This is especially the case in
the Paradoxures, or Palm-Cats, which have quite lost all carnivorous
habits, and feed chiefly on the fruit of palm-trees.
THE AFRICAN CIVET.[76]
This animal, by its rough spotted skin, calls to mind the Hyæna,
to which, however, it is inferior in size, being hardly three feet
long. It differs also from our laughing friend in many more important
particulars. Its legs are shorter, its tail longer and not so bushy,
its snout more pointed, its ears shorter, and its expression less
villainous-looking. It is found in the North of Africa and in Eastern
Asia.
This animal is the chief of the civet producers, its scent-glands
being large and secreting constantly. At the Zoological Gardens the
specimen in captivity rubs the perfume against the walls of the cage,
where it is scraped up by the keeper, for whom it is a not unimportant
perquisite.
The hair is long, coarse, of a brownish-grey colour, and marked with
interrupted transverse bands or spots. On the middle line of the back
and between the shoulders its hair is longer, forming a sort of mane.
The snout is white, the tail ringed with black.
“The Civet approaches, in its habits, nearest to the Foxes and
smaller Cats, preferring to make its predatory excursions against
birds and smaller quadrupeds in the night, although, like other
Carnivora, it will occasionally attack its prey in the daytime. In a
state of captivity it becomes in a degree tame, but never familiar,
and is dangerous to handle. The young ones feed on farinaceous
food--millet-pap, for instance--with a little flesh or fish, and when
old on raw flesh. Many of them are kept in North Africa, to obtain the
perfume which bears the name of the animal, and brings a high price.”
[Illustration: AFRICAN CIVET.]
The great naturalist, Cuvier, says of a Civet kept at Paris:--“Its
musky odour was always perceptible, but became stronger than usual when
the animal was irritated. At such times little lumps of odoriferous
matter fell from its pouch. These masses were also produced when the
animal was left alone, but only at intervals of fifteen or twenty days.
This Civet passed nearly all day and the whole night in sleeping,
rolling itself up with its head between its legs; it was necessary to
threaten or even strike it to rouse it from its lethargy.”
THE ASIATIC CIVET.[77]
The Asiatic Civet, large Civet Cat, or Zibet, “inhabits Bengal,
extending northwards into Nepaul and Sikkim, and into Cuttack, Orissa,
and Central India on the south. It also extends into Assam, Burmah,
Southern China, and parts of Malayana. It is said to frequent brushwood
and grass, also the dense thorny scrub that usually covers the bends of
tanks. It is very carnivorous, and destructive to poultry, game, &c.,
but will also, it is said, eat fish, crabs, and insects. Hounds, and
indeed all Dogs, are greatly excited by the scent of the Civet, and
will leave any other scent for it. It will readily take to water if
hard pressed.”
The Zibet is forty-seven to fifty-six inches in length, from thirteen
to twenty of this being taken up by the tail. It is of a yellowish-grey
colour, with black spots and stripes. The throat and sides of the neck
are white, and the fine tail is ringed with black.
This species is said to be tamed more easily than its African relative;
but of this, as well as of its habits, very little is known.
THE LESSER CIVET.[78]
The Lesser Civet, or Rasse, is found in the island of Java, as well
as in many parts of India, such as Nepaul and Madras. “It is not an
uncommon species in Hong-Kong and the adjacent islands. In Formosa it
is the commonest of all the carnivorous group. Skulking during the day
in the dark ravines that intersect the hilly country in the north-west,
in the twilight it threads its way with great speed through the long
grass, and searches the fields for small mammals and birds. It is much
dreaded by the Chinese for the havoc it commits in the hen-roost; and
as its skin is somewhat valued for lining to great coats, its haunts
and creeps are sought after, and traps laid for it. Of these the
slip-knot noose for the head and feet is the most commonly practised
and the most killing. As the cool season approaches, hawkers may be
daily met with, even in the villages, offering for sale the stretched
skins of these animals. The poorer classes, who are unable to purchase
the dearer furs, make use of these cheaper yet pretty skins.” The Rasse
is about thirty-two inches in length, its tail thirteen inches. The
odour of musk is so strong as to taint the skin and the flesh of the
entire animal. “The Chinese,” says Mr. Swinhoe, “eat the flesh of this
animal; but a portion that I had cooked was so affected with the Civet
odour that I could not palate it.”
[Illustration: LESSER CIVET.]
The Rasse is a much smaller animal than the two preceding species, its
head and body together being about twenty-two or twenty-three inches
long, and its tail sixteen or seventeen. It is of a yellowish or
brownish-grey colour, with longitudinal bands on the back, and regular
rows of spots on the side. The tail has eight or nine complete dark
rings.
In India it is kept tame, the natives often domesticating it for the
purpose of more conveniently extracting the civet.
THE GENETTE.[79]
This is the only Viverrine animal common in Europe, in some parts of
which it is a regularly domesticated animal, and catches Mice as well
as a Cat. Besides living in all the southern parts of Europe, it is
found in the whole of Africa north of the Sahara, that wonderful desert
which constitutes a boundary as efficient in preventing the dispersal
of animals as an ocean. In this, as in many other cases, the North
African animals are identical, or agree closely with those of Europe,
while those of trans-Saharal Africa are of an entirely different
character.
The fur of the Genette is of a grey colour, “spotted with small black
or brown patches, which are sometimes round and sometimes oblong. The
tail, which is as long as the body (about twenty-one inches), is ringed
with black and white, the black rings being to the number of nine or
eleven. There are white spots on the eyebrows, the cheeks, and the end
of the nose.”
The civet-pouches are, in this genus, reduced to very slight
depressions at the sides of the root of the tail, and although the
odour of the animal is tolerably strong--yet not disagreeably so, as in
the Civet--there is no perceptible secretion from these pouches.
THE MUNGOOS, OR ICHNEUMON.[80]
The Ichneumons, or Mungooses, form a well-defined genus of Weasel-like
animals, with semi-plantigrade feet, five toes provided with somewhat
retractile claws, and long tails. The species now under consideration
is found in Southern India as well as “in the North-west Provinces and
the Punjab, and throughout the Deccan up to the Nerbudda River. It
frequents alike the open country and low jungles, being found in dense
hedgerows, thickets, holes in banks, &c., and it is very destructive to
such birds as frequent the ground,” for it only sucks the blood, and so
kills many birds before it is satisfied.
It is sixteen or seventeen inches long, its tail fourteen, and is of
a tawny yellowish-grey colour. The head is marked with reddish and
yellowish rings, so arranged as to produce a resultant iron-grey hue.
There is a curious superstition about the Mungoos, of which Sir Emerson
Tennent says: “I have found universally that the natives of Ceylon
attach no credit to the European story of the Mungoos (_H. griseus_)
resorting to some plant, which no one has yet succeeded in identifying,
as an antidote against the bite of the venomous Serpents on which it
preys. There is no doubt that, in its conflicts with Cobra di Capello
and poisonous Snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as
the harmless ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to
retire into the jungle, and, it is added, to eat some vegetable; but a
gentleman, who had been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures
me that most usually the herb it resorted to was grass, and if this
were not at hand, almost any other plant that grew near seemed equally
acceptable. Hence has probably arisen the long list of plants, such
as the _Ophioxylon serpentinum_[81] and _Ophiorhiza mungos_,[82] the
_Aristolochia indica_,[83] the _Mimosa octandria_,[84] and others,
each of which has been asserted to be the Ichneumon’s specific; whilst
their multiplicity is demonstrative of the non-existence of any one
in particular on which the animal relies as an antidote. Were there
any truth in the tale as regards the Mungoos, it would be difficult to
understand why creatures, such as the Secretary-bird and the Falcon,
and others, which equally destroy Serpents, should be left defenceless,
and the Ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, were
the Ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result from the
consciousness of security, it would be so indifferent to the bite of
the Serpent that we might conclude that, both in its approaches and
its assaults, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of
its attack. Such, however, is far from being the case; and, next to
its audacity, nothing could be more surprising than the adroitness
with which it escapes the spring of the Snake under a due sense of
danger, and the cunning with which it makes its arrangements to leap
upon the back and fasten its teeth in the neck of the Cobra. It is this
display of instinctive ingenuity that Lucan celebrates when he paints
the Ichneumon diverting the attention of the Asp by the motion of his
bushy tail,[85] and then seizing it in the midst of its confusion.”
[Illustration: ICHNEUMONS.]
“The mystery of the Mungoos and its antidote has been referred to the
supposition that there may be some peculiarity in its organisation
which renders it proof against the poison of the Serpent. It remains
for future investigation to determine how far this conjecture is
founded on truth; and whether in the blood of the Mungoos there exists
any element or quality which acts as a prophylactic. Such exceptional
provisions are not without precedent in the animal economy. The
Hornbill feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the Strychnos;[86]
the milky juice of some species of Euphorbia, which is harmless to
Oxen, is invariably fatal to the Zebra; and the Tsetse Fly, the pest of
South Africa, whose bite is mortal to the Ox, the Dog, and the Horse,
is harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the forest.”
THE CRAB MUNGOOS.[87]
This animal is usually considered to be sufficiently different from the
other Mungooses as to require a separate generic name. It has an almost
Snake-like body, and a very long, slender snout. It is of an iron-grey
colour, with a very well-marked white stripe on each side of the neck.
The tail is reddish and very thick, and attains a length of eleven
inches, the head and body together being eighteen inches in length.
Like the Civets, it has glands situated near the root of the tail,
but these glands, instead of secreting a perfume, produce a fluid of
the most abominably fetid odour, so that the beast is by no means
a pleasant one to come near. Moreover, to make matters worse, the
secretion of these glands does not quietly ooze out as in the Civets,
but the sacs are provided with muscles, by the aid of which the animal
is able to squirt out the noxious stuff to a considerable distance upon
any offending person.
“This curious animal has been found in the South-east Himalayas,
extending into Assam and Arakan. In its habits it is somewhat aquatic,
preferring, it is said by Hodgson, Frogs and Crabs. It lives in burrows
in the valleys of the lower and central regions of Nepaul.”
THE COMMON PARADOXURE.[88]
This animal, and other species of the same genus, are often called
“Tree Cats,” or “Palm Cats,” but as they are not Cats at all, it
is better to throw over the incorrect English name, and follow the
plan which, as the reader may see, is adopted on the labels at the
Zoological Gardens in this and similar cases: that is, Anglicise the
Latin name, even at the risk of using a somewhat long and ugly word;
but, as Milton says:--
“Why, is it harder, sirs, than Gordon,
Colkitto, or Macdonnel, or Galasp?
Those rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek,
That would have made Quintilian stare and gasp.”
The name Paradoxurus--“queer-tailed”--was given to the genus from
the fact that some of the animals composing it have their tails
curled round into a sort of screw, the under side being thus brought
uppermost. The name “Tree Cat” is very inappropriate, as the
Paradoxures are not in the least like Cats, but resemble far more
closely the Civets, which are, indeed, their nearest allies. They are
long-bodied and short-legged, with sharp snouts and long tails, and are
almost completely plantigrade.
The Common Paradoxure varies a good deal as to the character of its
fur. The ground-colour is usually “brownish-black, with some dingy
yellowish stripes on each side, more or less distinct, and sometimes
not noticeable; a white spot above and below each eye, and the forehead
with a whitish band in some; a black line from the top of the head down
the centre of the nose is generally observable.” The individual hairs
are yellowish at the base and blackish at the tip, and according to the
state of wear and tear of these, the animal appears to be of various
shades of tawny, brown, blackish, &c. The head and body together attain
a length of twenty-two to twenty-five inches, the tail nineteen to
twenty-one.
“This Tree Cat is a common and abundant animal throughout the greater
part of India and Ceylon, extending through Burmah and the Malayan
Peninsula to the island. It is most abundant in the latter wooded
region, and is rarely met with in the low portions of the Deccan,
Central India, and the North-West Provinces. It is very abundant on the
Carnatic and Malabar coast, where it is popularly called the _Toddy
Cat_, in consequence of its supposed preference for the juice of the
palm, a fact which appears of general acceptation both in India and
Ceylon (where it is called the Palm Cat), and which appears to have
some foundation. Kelaart says: ‘It is a well-established fact that it
is a consumer of palm toddy.’ It lives much in trees, especially in
the palmyra and cocoa-nut palms, and is often found to have taken up
its residence in the thick thatched roofs of native houses. I found
a large colony of them established among the rafters of my own house
at Tillichery. It is occasionally found in dry drains, outhouses,
and other places of shelter. It is quite nocturnal, issuing forth at
dark, and living by preference on animal food, rats, lizards, small
birds, poultry, and eggs; but it also freely partakes of vegetable
food, fruit, and insects. In confinement it will eat plantain, boiled
rice, bread and milk, &c. Colonel Sykes mentions that it is very fond
of Cockroaches. Now and then it will commit depredations in some
poultry-yard; and I have often known them taken in traps baited with
a Pigeon or a Chicken. In the south of India it is very often tamed,
and becomes quite domestic, and even affectionate in its manners. One
I saw, many years ago, at Trichinopoly, went about quite at large, and
late every night used to work itself under the pillow of its owner,
roll itself up into a ball, with its tail curled round its body, and
sleep till a late hour of the day. It hunted for Rats, Shrews, and
House Lizards. Their activity in climbing is very great; and they used
to ascend and descend my house, at one of the corners of the building,
in a most surprising manner.” Sir Emerson Tennent states that in Ceylon
the Palm Cat makes fearful havoc with the fowls of the villagers, “and,
in order to suck the blood of its victims, inflicts a wound so small as
to be almost imperceptible.”
[Illustration: COMMON PARADOXURE.]
THE BINTURONG.[89]
This is a curious little animal, of a black colour, with a white border
to its ears, a large head and turned-up nose, and a long, immensely
thick, tapering tail, which, remarkably enough, is prehensile, like
that of a New World Monkey. It is twenty-eight to thirty inches long
from snout to root of tail, and the tail itself is nearly of the same
length. It is sometimes called the “black Bear Cat.”
“It is slow and crouching. In its habits it is quite nocturnal,
solitary, and arboreal, creeping along the large branches, and aiding
itself by its prehensile tail. It is omnivorous, eating small animals,
birds, insects, fruit, and plants. It is more wild and retiring than
Viverrine animals in general, and it is easily tamed; its howl is
loud.” It walks entirely on the soles of its feet, and its claws are
not retractile. It ranges from Nepaul to Sumatra and Java.
[Illustration: BINTURONG.]
Altogether the Binturong is a decidedly interesting animal, and has
been a great puzzle to zoologists. It was formerly placed in the
Racoon family, to many of the members of which it bears a very strong
resemblance; but this resemblance is quite superficial, and brought
about by the similarity in the mode of life, &c. In the characters
of the skull and teeth, it undoubtedly belongs where we have placed
it, among the Civet group. Thus it forms a capital warning to those
zoologists whose knowledge is only skin-deep, and who group animals
entirely by their external character, without taking into account the
important points of fundamental structure, which should in every case
be considered first.[90]