The generality of naturalists are of opinion that the perfume called
civet, or musk, is furnished only by one species of animals. I
have, however, seen two animals that furnish it, which, though they
have many essential affinities, both in their external and internal
conformations, yet differ in so many characteristics, that there is
sufficient reason to consider them as two distinct species. To the
first I have continued the original name of Civet, (_fig. 111._) and
the second, for the sake of distinction, I have called Zibet (_fig.
113._) The civet seems to be the same as that described by the Academy
of Sciences; by Caius, in Gesner, page 837, and by Fabius Columna,
who has given both the male and female figures in the publication of
Faber, which follows that of Hernandes. The _zibet_ appears to be the
same animal as M. de la Peyronnie has described under the name of Musk
Animal, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for the year 1731.
Both differ from the civet in the very same characters; both want the
mane, or the long hair, on the back-bone, and both have the tail marked
with strong annular streaks. The civet, on the contrary, has a mane,
but no rings on the tail. It must, however be acknowledged that our
zibet, and the musk animal of M. de la Peyronnie, are not so perfectly
similar as to leave no doubt of the identity of their species. The
rings on the tail of the zibet are larger than those of the musk
animal, and the length of his tail is shorter in proportion to that
of his body; but these differences are slight, and appear to be mere
accidental varieties, to which the civet must be more subject than any
other wild animal, as they are reared and fed like domestic ones in
many parts of the Levant and East Indies. Certain it is, that our zibet
bears a stronger resemblance to the musk animal than to the civet, and
consequently they may be considered as the same species. Nor, indeed,
do we mean positively to affirm that civet and zibet are not varieties
of the same species, but from their different characteristics there is
a strong presumption they really are so.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 111. _Civet_]
[Illustration: FIG. 112. _Genet_]
[Illustration: FIG. 113. _Zibet_]
The animal which we here name the Civet, is called the _falanoue_, at
Madagascar, _nzime_, or _nzfusi_ at Congo, _kankan_ in Ethiopia, and
_kastor_ in Guinea. That it is the civet of Guinea I am certain, for
the one I had was sent from Guinea, to one of my correspondents at St.
Domingo, where, after being fed for some time, it was killed for the
more easy conveyance to Europe.
The zibet is probably the civet of Asia, of the East Indies, and of
Arabia, where he is called zebet, or zibet, an Arabic word, which
likewise signifies the perfume of that animal, and which we have
adopted to signify the animal itself. He differs from the civet in
having a longer and less thick body; a snout more thin and slender,
and somewhat concave on the upper part; whereas that of the civet is
more short, thick, and rather convex. The ears of the zibet are also
larger and more elevated; his tail is longer, and more strongly marked;
his hair is shorter and much more soft; he has no mane, or long hair
on the neck or back-bone; no black spots under the eyes, or on the
cheeks; all of which are remarkable characteristics in the civet. Some
travellers have suspected there were two species of civets; but no
person has examined them with sufficient accuracy as to give a distinct
description. I have seen both; and after a careful comparison, am of
opinion, that they not only differ in species, but perhaps belong to
different climates.
These animals have been called musk-cats, though they have nothing in
common with the cat, except bodily agility. They rather resemble the
fox, especially in the head. Their skins are diversified with stripes
and spots, which has occasioned them to be mistaken for small panthers,
when seen at a distance; but in every other respect they differ from
the panther. There is an animal called the Genet, which is spotted in
the like manner, whose head is nearly of the same shape, and which,
like the civet, has a pouch where an odoriferous humor is formed; but
this animal is smaller than our civet; its legs are shorter, and its
body thinner; its perfume is very faint, and of short duration; while
the perfume of the civet is very strong, and that of the zibet is so to
an excess.
This humor is found in the orifice which these animals have near the
organs of generation; it is nearly as thick as pomatum, and though the
odour is very strong, it is yet agreeable, even when it issues from the
body of the animal. This perfume of the civet must not be confounded
with musk, which is a sanguineous humor, obtained from an animal very
different from either the civet or zibet, being a species of roe-buck,
or goat, without horns, and which has no one property in common with
the civet, but that of furnishing a strong perfume.
These two species of civets have not been distinguished with precision.
They have both been sometimes confounded with the weasel of Virginia,
the genet, the musk-deer, and even with the hyæna. Bellon, who has
given a figure and description of the civet, insists that it was the
hyæna of the ancients, and his mistake is the more excusable not being
destitute of some foundation. Certain it is, that most of the fables
which have been related of the hyæna, took their rise from the civet.
The philters said to have been obtained from certain parts of the
hyæna, and their power to excite love, sufficiently indicate that the
stimulating virtues of the preparations of civet, were not unknown to
the ancients, and which are still used for this very purpose in the
East. What they have said of the uncertainty of the sex of the hyæna,
is still more applicable to the civet, for the male has no external
appearance, but three apertures so perfectly similar to those of
the female, that it is hardly possible to determine the sex but by
dissection. The opening which contains the perfume, is situated between
the other two, and in the same direct line which extends from the os
sacrum to the pubis.
Another error, which has made more progress, is that of Gregoire de
Bolivar, with respect to the climates in which the civet is found.
After stating them to be common in Africa and the East Indies, he
positively affirms they are also very numerous in all parts of South
America. This assertion, transmitted by Faber, has been copied by
Aldrovandus, and adopted by all the authors who have since treated
of the civet. But the truth is, that they are animals peculiar to
the hottest climates of the old continent, and which could not have
found a northern passage into the New World; where, in fact, no civets
ever existed until they were transported thither from the Philippine
Islands and the coasts of Africa. As the assertion of Bolivar is
positive, and mine only negative, it is necessary I should give my
particular reasons, to prove the falsity of the fact. Besides my own
remarks, I refer to the very words of Faber himself.[S] On this head
it is to be observed, that the figure given by Faber, was left to him
by Recchi, without any description[T]; and of which the inscription
is, _animal zibethicum Americanum_; but this figure has no resemblance
to the civet or zibet, and rather represents the badger; secondly,
Faber gives a description and the figures of a male and female civet,
which resemble our zibet; but these civets are not the same animal as
that represented in the first figure; nor do they represent animals of
America, but civets belonging to the old continent, of which Fabius
Columna had procured drawings at Naples, and furnished Faber with
their figures and descriptions; thirdly, after having quoted Bolivar
respecting the climates in which the civet is found, Faber concludes
with admiring Bolivar's prodigious memory, and that he was indebted
for this recital to the oral information of that gentleman. These
three remarks are alone sufficient to create a suspicion respecting the
pretended _animal zibethicum Americanum_, but what completely proves
the error, Fernandes, in his description of the animals of America,
flatly contradicts Bolivar, and affirms that the civet was not a native
of America, but that, in his time, they had began to transport some
of them from the Philippine Islands to New Spain. In fine, if we add
this positive testimony of Fernandes, to that of all the travellers,
who mention that civets are very common in the Philippine Islands, in
the East Indies, and in Africa, not one of whom intimates having seen
this animal in America, every doubt will vanish of what we advanced
in our enumeration of the animals of the two continents, and it will
be admitted that the civet is not a native of America, but an animal
peculiar to the warm climates of the old continent, and that he was
never found in the new, until after he had been transported thither.
Had I not guarded against such mistakes, which are too frequent, I
should have described my civet as an American animal, from its having
been sent to me from St. Domingo, and not directly from Guinea, the
place of its nativity, of which I was, however, assured by the letter
from M. Pages which accompanied the animal. These particular facts
I consider as confirmations to the general position, that there is a
real difference between all the animals of the southern parts of each
continent.
[Footnote S: Novæ Hisp. Anim. Nardi Antonii Recchi Imagines & Nomina,
Joannis Fabri Lyncei Expositione, p. 539.]
[Footnote T: _Ibid._ p. 465.]
Both the civet and zibet are then animals of the old continent, nor
have they any other external differences, besides those already
pointed out; and as to their internal differences, and the structure
of their reservoirs which contain the perfume, they have been so
accurately described by Messrs. Morand and Peyronnie, in the Memoirs
of the Academy for 1728 and 1731, that I could do little more than
give a repetition of their accounts. With regard to what remains to be
further observed of those two animals, as the few facts are hardly more
applicable to the one than the other, and as it would be difficult to
point out the distinction, I shall collect the whole under one head.
The civets, (by the plural number I mean the civet and zibet) though
natives of the hottest climates of Asia and Africa, can yet live in
temperate and even cold countries, provided they are carefully defended
from the injuries of the weather, and supplied with succulent food. In
Holland they are frequently reared for the advantage obtained by their
perfume. The civet brought from Amsterdam is preferred to that which
comes from the Levant or the Indies, as being the most genuine. That
imported from Guinea would be the best, were it not that the Negroes,
as well as the Indians, and the people of the Levant, adulterate it
with the mixture of storax, and other balsamic and odoriferous drugs
and plants.
Those who keep these animals collect the perfume in the following
manner; they put them into a narrow cage, in which they cannot turn
themselves; this cage opens behind, and two or three times in a
week the animal is drawn a little out by the tail, and kept in that
position by putting a bar across the fore-part of the cage; this done,
the person takes out the perfume from the pouch with a small spoon,
scraping all the internal parts, and then, putting the matter into a
vessel, the greatest care is taken to keep it closely covered. The
quantity so procured depends greatly upon the appetite of the animal,
and the quality of his nourishment, as he always produces more in
proportion to the goodness of his food. Hashed flesh, eggs, rice, small
animals, birds, young poultry, and particularly fish, are the best, and
which he most prefers; and these ought to be so varied as to excite his
appetite and preserve his health. He requires but little water, and
though he drinks seldom, yet he discharges urine very frequently; and
even on such occasions, the male is not to be distinguished from the
female.
The perfume of the civets is so strong that it communicates itself to
all parts of the body; the hair and skin is impregnated with it to
such a degree, that it preserves the odour for a long time after it is
stripped off. If a person be shut up in a close room with one of them
alive, he cannot support the perfume, it is so copiously diffused. When
the animal is enraged, its scent is more violent than ordinary, and if
tormented so as to make him sweat, that is also collected and serves
to adulterate, or at least increase the perfume which is otherwise
obtained.
The civets are naturally wild, and even ferocious; and though tameable
to a certain degree, they are never perfectly familiar. Their teeth are
strong and sharp, but their claws are blunt and feeble. They are light
and active, and live by prey, pursuing small animals, and surprising
birds. They can bound like cats, and run like dogs; and sometimes steal
into yards and out-houses to carry off the poultry. Their eyes shine
in the dark, and they probably see better in the night than in the
day. When they fail in procuring animal food, they subsist on roots
and fruits. As they seldom drink they never inhabit moist places, but
cheerfully reside among arid sands and burning mountains. They breed
very fast in their native climates; but though they can live, and even
produce perfume in temperate climates, yet they cannot multiply. They
have a voice more powerful, and a tongue less rough than the cat, and
their cry is not unlike that of an enraged dog.
The odorous humor which exudes from these animals is called civet in
England and France, and _zibet_, or _algalia_, in Arabia, the Indies,
and the Levant, where it is more used than in Europe. It is now very
little employed as a medicine, but it is still used as an ingredient
in the compositions of perfumers and confectioners. The smell of the
civet, though stronger, is more agreeable than that of the musk. Both,
however, lost their repute when the method of preparing ambergris was
discovered; and even that seems now to be proscribed from the toilets
of the polite and delicate.