THE ICHNEUMON.
This curious little animal is a native of Egypt, Barbary, and the Cape of Good Hope. It is, in general, about the size of a common cat, but rather longer in its body, and shorter in its legs. Its colour is a pale reddish grey. It is sometimes streaked with a variety of colours, in the same manner as a domestic cat. While eating, it sits upright, and uses its fore feet like hands.
THE ICHNEUMON.
This animal is the boldest and most useful of the weasel kind. It is of very great service in Egypt, and indeed is almost worshipped there, for it destroys a great quantity of the eggs of the crocodile, and will even attack the crocodile itself. Rats, mice, birds, serpents, and lizards become its prey; and it will even seize the most poisonous reptiles, and if bitten by them, it is said to be able to cure itself by the use of some herb. The Egyptians esteem it so much, that they keep it in their houses, as we do the cat.
- Transcriber’s Notes:
- Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
- Typographical errors were silently corrected.
- Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book.