THE JAVANESE CIVET.

Viverra Rasse. Horsf.

The present species is remarkably distinct from the preceding both in form and colour. Its ground is of a much lighter gray, on which it offers a broad longitudinal dorsal line of black, and two or three narrower ones of the same colour on each side, composed of confluent spots. These spots are also thickly but somewhat irregularly scattered over the rest of the body, and may be considered as forming a series of flexuous dotted lines. The legs are black externally; and the head is grayish and without spots. A deep longitudinal black line occupies the side of the neck above, and a second more oblique is placed below. The body, which is from fifteen to eighteen inches in length, is narrow and compressed,[104] and more elevated behind than before; the back is strongly arched. The line of the profile is perfectly straight, the muzzle narrow and tapering, and the ears short and rounded. The tail is of equal length with the body, and tapers gradually to the tip; it is marked with eight or nine broad rings of black, alternating with an equal number of grayish.

Like the other animals of its group, its habits are predatory; in confinement it retains much of its original ferocity, and is extremely spiteful and savage. The two individuals from which our figure was taken have inhabited the Menagerie for nearly twelve months; they are both males, and occupy different dens. They are fed, like the preceding, and indeed like all the carnivorous quadrupeds which it remains to mention, on a mixture of vegetable and animal food; and deposit large quantities of civet, which strongly impregnates the air of the apartment in which they are kept. This perfume is highly esteemed by the Javanese, who apply it not only to their dresses, but also to their persons. Even the apartments and furniture of the natives of rank are generally scented with it to such a degree as to be offensive to Europeans.