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CIVET

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 402 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CIVET , or properly CIVET-See also:

CAT, the designation of the more typical representatives of the mammalian See also:family Viverridae (see See also:CARNIVORA). Civets are characterized by the See also:possession of a deep pouch in the neighbourhood of the genital See also:organs, into which the substance known as civet is poured from the glands by which it is secreted. This fatty substance is at first semifluid and yellow, but afterwards acquires the consistency of See also:pomade and becomes darker. It has a strong musky odour, exceedingly disagreeable to those unaccustomed to it, but " when properly diluted and combined with other scents it produces a very pleasing effect, and possesses a much more floral fragrance than See also:musk, indeed it would be impossible to imitate some See also:flowers without it." The See also:African civet (Viverra civetta) is from 2 to 3 ft. in length, exclusive of the tail, which is See also:half the length of the See also:body, and stands from To to 12 in. high. It is covered with See also:long See also:hair, longest on the See also:middle See also:line of the back, where it is capable of being raised or depressed at will, of a dark-See also:grey See also:colour, with numerous transverse See also:black hands and spots. In habits it is chiefly nocturnal, and by preference carnivorous, feeding on birds and the smaller quadrupeds, in pursuit of which it climbs trees, but it is said also to eat fruits, roots and othervegetable matters. In a See also:state of captivity the civet is never completely tamed, and only kept for the See also:sake of its perfume, which is obtained in largest quantity from the male, especially when in See also:good See also:condition and subjected to irritation, being scraped from the pouch with a small See also:spoon usually twice a See also:week. The zibeth ( Viverra zibetha) is a widely distributed See also:species extending from See also:Arabia to See also:Malabar, and throughout several of the larger islands of the See also:Indian See also:Archipelago. It is smaller than the true civet, and wants the dorsal See also:crest. In the See also:wild state it does See also:great damage among poultry, and frequently makes off with the See also:young of See also:swine and See also:sheep. When hunted it makes a deter-See also:mined resistance, and emits a See also:scent so strong as even to sicken the See also:dogs, who nevertheless are exceedingly fond of the See also:sport, and cannot be got to pursue any other See also:game while the stench of the zibeth is in their nostrils. In confinement, it becomes comparatively tame, and yields civet in considerable quantity.

In preparing this for the See also:

market it is usually spread out on the leaves of the See also:pepper plant in See also:order to See also:free it from the hairs that have become detached from the pouch. On the Malabar See also:coast this species is replaced by V. civettina. The small Indian civet or rasse (Viverricula malaccensis) ranges from See also:Madagascar through See also:India to See also:China, the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula, and the islands of the Archipelago: It is almost 3 ft. long including the tail, and prettily marked with dark See also:longitudinal stripes, and spots which have a distinctly linear arrangement. The perfume, which is extracted in the same way as in the two preceding species, is highly valued and much used by the Javanese. Al-though this See also:animal is said to be an See also:expert climber it usually inhabits holes in the ground. It is frequently kept in captivity in the See also:East, and becomes tame. Fossil remains of See also:extinct civets are found in the See also:Miocene strata of See also:Europe.

End of Article: CIVET

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