IT is the opinion of most naturalists, that the perfume called musk was furnished only by one species of animal. I have seen two of these animals, which, it must be allowed, have many essential relations, both in their external and internal structure; but they differ from each other [239] by such a number of other characters, as entitle them to be regarded as two distinct species. To the first we have preserved the antient name of civet, and to the second we have given, for the sake of distinction, that of zibet. The civet appears to be the same with that described by the gentlemen of the Academy in the Mem. pour server a l’histoire des animaux, by Caius in Gesner, p. 873. and by Fabius Columna, who has given a figure of both male and female in the work of Jean Faber, which is at the end of that of Hernandes.*
The second species, which I have called the zibet, seems to be the same animal with that described by M. de la Peyronnie, under the name of the musk animal, in the Mem. de l’Acad. des sciences, année 1731. Both differ from the civet by the same characters; both [240] want the mane or long hair on the spine; and both have annulated tails. But the civet has neither mane nor rings. It must be allowed, however, that our zibet and the musk animal of M. de la Peyronnie, have not such a perfect resemblance as to leave no doubt concerning the identity of their species. In the zibet, the rings on the tail are larger than those of the musk animal. The former has not a double collar, and his tail is shorter in proportion to the length of his body. But these differences are slight, and appear to be only accidental varieties, to which the civet must be more liable than other wild animals, because he is kept in a domestic state in many parts of India and the Levant. It is certain, however, that our zibet has a greater resemblance to the musk animal of M. de la Peyronnie than to the civet, and, consequently, the two former may be regarded as belonging to the same species; for we have no absolute certainty that the civet and zibet are not varieties of the same species, because we are ignorant whether they can intermix and produce fertile individuals: And, when we say, that they seem to be different species, we only mean that the presumption is exceedingly strong, since it is founded on permanent differences in their characters, which generally distinguish real species from accidental varieties.
The animal we here call the civet, is named [241] falanoue* in Madagascar, nzime or nzfusi+ in Congo, kankan3 in Æthiopia, and kastor4 in Guiney. We are certain that it is the civet of Guiney; for our subject was sent alive, from Guiney to St Domingo, to one of our correspondents, who, after feeding it some tiome, killed it for the conveniency of carriage.
The zibet is probably the civet of Asia, or the East Indies, and of Arabia, where he is called Zebet or Zibet, an Arabian word, which signifies also the perfume of this animal. He differs from the civet in having a longer and thicker body, a thinner and flatter muzzle, which is somewhat concave on the upper part; while the muzzle of the civet is thicker, shorter, and a little convex. The ears of the former are also larger, and more erect. His tail is longer, and better marked with annular spots, and his hair is shorter and softer. He has no mane, or long hair on the neck and spine, no black spots under the eyes, or on the cheeks, which are remarkable characters in the civet. Several travellers have suspected that there were two species of civets; but no body has examined them so minutely as to furnish a distinct description. We have seen both, and, after a careful comparison, we think they are not only different species, but belong, perhaps, to different climates. [242]
These animals have been called musk-cats or civet-cats, though they have nothing in common with the cat but agility of body. They rather resemble the fox, especially in the head. Their skin is marked with bands and spots, which has made them be mistaken for the panther, when seen at a distance. But they differ from the panther in every other respect. There is an animal called the genet, which is spotted in the same manner, whose head is nearly of the same form, and which, like the civet, has a sac where an odoriferous liquor is secreted. But the genet is smaller than our civet. Its limbs are shorter, and its body much thinner. Its perfume is weak, and of short duration: But the perfume of the civet is very strong; and that of the zibet is still more violent and piercing.* This odorous liquor is found in the fissure which these two animals have near the organs of generation. It is a thick humour, of the consistence of pomatum, and its perfume, though very strong, is agreeable, even when it issues from the body of the animal. This matter of the civet must not be confounded with musk, which is a sanguineous [243] humour, derived from an animal totally different from the civet or zibet. The animal which produces the musk is a species of roebuck, or goat, without horns, which has nothing in common with the civets but its strong perfume.
Hence these two species of civets have never been properly distinguished. Both have sometimes been confounded with the stinking weasels,* the genet, and the musk deer; they have also been mistaken for the hyaena. Belon, who has given a figure and description of the civet, maintains that it was the hyaena of the antients.+ His error is the more excusable that it is not without foundation. It is certain, that most of the fables related concerning the hyaena have been derived from the civet. The philsters, said to have been extracted from certain parts of the hyaena, and their power of exciting love, indicates sufficiently that the antients knew the stimulating virtue of the civet’s pomatum, which is still used for this purpose in the East. What they have related concerning the uncertainty of the sex in the hyaena, applies still better to the civet; for, in the male, nothing appears externally but three apertures, so perfectly similar to those of the female, that it is impossible otherwise to distinguish the sex than by dissection. The aper- [244] ture in which the liquor, or rather thick odorous humour, is found, lies between the other two, and in the same direct line which extends from the os sacrum to the pubis.
The error of Gregoire de Bolivar, with regard to the climates which give birth to the civets, has been more generally diffused than that of Belon. After telling us that they are common in Africa and the East Indies, he asserts, positively, that they are very numerous in every part of South America. This assertion, transmitted to us by Faber, has been copied by Aldrovandus, and adopted by all succeeding writers on the subject. It is certain, however, that the civets are peculiar to the warm climates of the Old Continent, and could never pass by the north into America, where, in fact, no civets ever existed till they were transported from the Philippine islands, and the coast of Africa. But, as the assertion of Bolivar is positive, and mine only negative, I must give my reasons for proving the falsity of the fact. To enable the reader to judge, beside the remarks I am about to make I shall quote the passage of Faber entire.* 1. [245] Faber’s figure was left to him by Recchi, without any description.* Upon this figure is inscribed animal zibethicum Americanum. It has no similarity either to the civet or zibet, but rather resembles the badger. 2. Faber gives a description and figures of the male and female civet, which resemble our zibet; but these civets are not the same animal+ with that represented in the first figure; and the second two are not figures of American animals, but of civets belonging to the Old Continent, of which Fabius Columna, fellow-member with Faber of the Lyncean academy, had obtained drawings at Naples, and sent him the figures and descriptions. 3. After quoting Gregoire de Bolivar,3 concerning [246] the climates where the civet is found, Faber concludes with admiring Bolivar’s great memory, and with telling us, that he heard all this relation from the mouth of its author. These three remarks are alone sufficient to throw a suspicion on this pretended animal zibethicum Americanum, as well as upon the assertions of Faber borrowed from Bolivar. But, to render our detection of this error complete, we find, in a tract composed by Fernandes upon American animals, at the end of the volume which contains the Natural history of Mexico by Hernandes, Recchi, and Faber, a passage that flatly contradicts Bolivar, and where Fernandes assures us, that the civet is not an American animal,* but that, in his time, they had begun to transport some of them from the Philippine islands to New Spain.+ In fine, [247] by uniting this positive testimony of Fernandes to that of all the travellers who say that the civets are very common in the Philippine islands, in the East Indies, and in Africa, none of whom mention their having ever seen these animals in America, it will no longer admit of a doubt, that the civet is not a native of America, but an animal peculiar to the warm climates of the Old Continent, and was never found in the New till after being transported thither. If I had not been on my guard against mistakes of this kind, which are too frequent, I would have announced our civet as an American animal, because it was transmitted from St Domingo; but, having examined the memoir and letter of M. Pagés, which accompanied the animal, I found that it came originally from Guiney.* These particular facts I consider as so many proofs of the general position, that there is a real distinction between all the animals peculiar to the southern regions of each Continent. [248]
Hence the civet and zibet belong to the Old Continent. They differ from each other only by the external marks formerly pointed out. For the structure of their internal organs, and of the reservoirs which contain their perfume, I must refer to the excellent descriptions of Messrs Morand and Peyronnie.* With regard to what remains of the history of these two animals, as it is difficult to apply particular facts to the one in preference to the other, I have comprehended the whole under one article.
The civets,+ though originally natives of the warm climates of Africa and Asia, can live in temperate and even in cold countries, provided they are defended from the injuries of the weather, and are served with succulent nourishment. Numbers of them are kept in Holland for the purpose of selling their perfume. The civet made at Amsterdam, is preferred by our merchants to that which comes from the Levant or India, because the latter is generally less pure. That brought from Guiney would be the best,3 [249] if the Negroes, as well as the Indians and Levanters,* did not adulterate it with the juices of plants, or laudanum, storax, and other balsamic and odoriferous drugs.
To collect this perfume, the animal is put into a narrow cage, where he cannot turn himself. The cage is opened at one end; the animal is drawn a little out by the tail, and fixed in this position, by putting a stick across the bars of the cage, which likewise enables the people to lay hold of the hind legs. They then introduce a [250] small spoon into the sac that contains the perfume, with which they scrape all its internal sides, and put the matter into a vessel, which is covered up with great care. This operation is repeated two or three times a-week. The quantity of odorous humour depends much on the quality of the nourishment, and the appetite of the animal, which always produces more in proportion to the goodness of its food. Boiled flesh, eggs, rice, small animals, birds, young poultry, and especially fish, are the best kinds of food, and they ought to be varied in such a manner as to preserve the health and excite the appetite. He requires very little water; and, though he drinks seldom, he discharges urine frequently; and, in this operation, the male is not to be distinguished from the female.
The perfume of these animals is so strong, that it infects all parts of the body: The hair and the skin* are so thoroughly penetrated with this odour, that they retain it long after death; and, [251] during life, it is so violent as to be quite insupportable, especially if a person is shut up in the same apartment with the animal. When heated with rage, the odour become more highly exalted; and, if the animal be tormented till he sweats, the keeper collects the sweat, which has likewise a strong scent, and serves for adulterating, or at least augmenting the quantity of the perfume.
The civets are naturally savage, and even somewhat ferocious; yet they are easily tamed, so as to be approached and handled without danger. They have strong sharp teeth; but their claws are weak and blunt. Though their bodies are thick, they are active and nimble. They leap like cats, but can likewise run like dogs. They live by hunting and surprising small animals and birds. Like the fox, they enter the court-yards, and carry off poultry. Their eyes sparkle in the dark, and they probably see well during the night. When animal food fails them, they eat roots and fruits. They drink little, never frequent moist places, and spontaneously live among burning sands and arid mountains. In their own climate, they are very prolific; but, though they can live and produce their perfume in temperate regions, they are incapable of multiplying. Their voice is stronger, and their tongue smoother than those of the cat; and their cry has a resemblance to that of an enraged dog. [252] [PLATE CXXVI here] [PLATE CXXVII here]
In Europe, the unctuous perfume extracted from these animals is called civet, and zibet or algallia in Arabia. It is more used in India and the Levant, than in the more northern countries. It is hardly now employed as a medicine; but the perfumers and confectioners make use of it in the composition of their perfumes. The odour of the civet, though strong, is more agreeable than that of musk. But both of them lost their reputation upon the discovery of ambergris, or rather the mode of preparing it: And even the ambergris, which not long ago was esteemed for the excellence of its smell, has ceased to be admired by people of a refined and delicate taste.
In the year 1772, M. de Ladebat sent a live civet to M. Bertin secretary of state. This animal was given by the Dutch Governour of Fort Mine, on the coast of Africa, to the captain of one of M. de Ladebat’s ships, in the year 1770, and was landed at Bordeaux in the month of November 1772. On its arrival, it was very weak; but, after some days, resumed its strength, and, at the end of five or six months, its size was augmented about four inches. It was fed with raw and boiled flesh, fish, soup, and milk. It was kept warm during the winter; for it seemed to suffer much from cold, and became less ferocious when exposed to it. [253]
* The civet has short rounded ears, sky-blue eyes, a sharp nose, black at the point; the sides of the face, chin, breast, legs, and feet, are black; the rest of the face, and part of the sides of the neck are white, tinged with yellow. From each ear three black stripes proceed, and end at the throat and shoulders. The back and sides are cinereous, tinged with yellow, and marked with large dusky spots disposed in rows. The hair is coarse, and that on the top of the body is longest, standing up like a mane. The tail is sometimes wholly black, and sometimes spotted near the base. The length, from nose to tail, is about two feet three inches, that of the tail is fourteen inches; and the body is pretty thick; Pennant’s synops. of quad. p. 234.
Animal Zibethi; Caius apud Gesner, p. 837.
Civete; Mem. pour server a l’hist. des animaux, prem. partie, p. 157.
Civet cat; Raii synops. quad. p. 178.
Coati civetta vulgo; Klein. quad. p. 73.
Meles fasciis et maculis albis, nigris, et refuscentibus variegate; Brisson. quad. p. 186 [back to page 239].
+ The Zibet has short round ears, a sharp long nose, a pale cinereous face. The head and lower part of the neck are mixed with dirty white, brown, and black. The sides of the neck are marked with stripes of black, beginning near the ears, [239] and ending at the breast and shoulders. From the middle of the neck, along the ridge of the back, extends a black line, reaching some way up the tail; on each side are two others. The sides are spotted with ash-colour and black. The tail is barred with black and white; and the black bars are broader on the upper side than the lower; Pennant’s Synops. of quad. p. 235.
Animal de musk; Mem. de l’Acad des sciences année 1731, p. 443.
Felis Zibethi; Gesner. hist. quad. p. 836.
Animal Zibethi; Aldrov. de quad. digit. p. 340.
Viverra Zebethi, cauda annulata, dorso cinereo nigroque undatim striato; Lynn. syst. nat. p. 65.
Note: The nomenclators have not distinguished these two animals; and we know not to which of them their phrases and definitions ought to be applied; because they give no characters which are not common to both [this note straddles two pages, with the break occurring where indicated above. Back to page 239].
* Hernandes, hist. Mex. P. 580 [back to page 240].
* Voyage de Flacourt, p. 150. 154.
+ Merolla, quoted by M. l’abbé Prevost. Hist. gen. des Voyages, tom. 4. p. 585.
3. Id. tom. 3. p. 295.
4. Id. ibid. tom .4. p. 236. tom. 5. p. 86 [back to page 242].
* Notwithstanding all the attention that has for a long time been bestowed in collecting foreign animals at the Menagerie, these are the only two of this species which have appeared, or which among the number of musk animals that we have seen there, had a strong perfume; Mem. de la Peyronnie inféré dans ceux de l’Académie des Sciences, année 1731. p. 444. The author, in this passage, is speaking of the must animal, which we believe to be the same with our zibet [back to page 243].
* Aldrovandus remarks that the stinking weasel, called coesam in Virginia, is the civet; De quad. digit. p. 342. This error has been adopted by Sir Hans Sloane, who, in his history of Jamaica, says that there are civets in Virginia.
+ Belon, Observ. fol. 93. [back to page 244].
* Hoc animal (zibethicum scilicet) nascitur in multis Indiae Orientalis atque Occidentalis partibus, cujusmodi in orientali sunt provinciae Bengala, Ceilan, Sumatra, Java major et minor, Malipur, ac plures aliae—In Nova Hispania vero sunt provinciae de Quatemale, Campege, Nicaragua, de Vera-Cruce, Florida, et magna illa insula Sancti Dominici, aut Hispaniola, Cuba, Mantalino, Guadalupa, et aliae—In regno Peruano animal hoc magna copia reperitur, in Para- [245] guay, Tucuman, Chiraguanas, Sancta-Cruce, de la Sierra, Jungas, Andes, Chiachiapoias, Quizos, Timana, novo regno, et in omnibus provinciis mango flumine Maragnone consinibus, quae circa hoc ferme fine numero ad duo leucarum millia sunt extensa. Multo adhuc plura ejusmodi animalia nascuntur in Brasilia, ubi mercatura vel cambium zibethi sive algaliae exercitatur; Novae Hisp.anim. Nardi Autonii Recchi imagines et nomina, Joannis Fabri Lyncei expositione, pag. 539 [this note straddles two pages, with the break occurring where indicated above. Back to page 245].
* See what Faber remarks, in his preface, concerning the animals of which he is about to treat. Non itaque sis nescius, hos in animalia, quos modo commentario edimus, mera nostra conscriptos esse industria ac conjectura ad quasnam animantium nostrorum species illa reduce possint, cum in autographo, praeter nudum nomen et exactam picturam, de historia ne gry [sic] quidem reperiatur; pag. 465.
+ Faber himself is obliged to acknowledge that the figures had no resemblance. Quantum haec icon ab illa Mexicana differat, ipsa pagina ostendit. Ego climatis et regionis differentiam plurimum posse non nego; p. 581.
3. Mirror profecto Gregorii nosotri summam in animalium perquisitione industriam et tenacissimam eorum quae vidit un [246] quam memoriam. Juro tibi, mi lector, haec omnia quae hactenus ipsius ab ore et scriptis hausi, et posthac dicturus sum, plura rarioraque illius ipsum ope libri memoriter descripsisse [sic], et per compendium quodammodo (cum inter colloquia protractiora et jam plura afferat) tantum contraxisse; p. 540 [this note straddles two pages, with the break occurring where indicated above. Back to page 246].
* De Æluro a quo Gallia vocata corraditur, c. 34. Non me latet vulgare esse, hoc felis vocari genus Hispanis, quanquam advenam non indigenam, verum qui ex insulis Philippicis coepit jam in hanc Novam Hispaniam adferri; Hist. animet miner. Nov. Hisp. lib. 1. a Francisc. Fernandes, p. 11.
+ The civet is found in the mountains of the Philippine islands. His skin resembles that of the tiger, and he is equally savage, though much smaller. When seized by the hunters, they tie him, and, after taking out the civet from a small purse under the tail, they set him at liberty, that they may have an opportunity of catching him another time: Relat. de divers voyages par Thevenot. Relat. des Isles Philippines, p. 10. We find a number of civets in the mountains of the Philippine islands; Hist. gen. des voyages, tom. 10. p. 397 [back to page 247].
* This civet was brought from Guiney. It fed upon fruits; but it likewise very willingly eat [sic] flesh. While it lived, it diffused, to a great distance, an insupportable odour of musk; and, after its death, I was not able to endure the scent in a chamber. Immediately above the scrotum, I found a fissure, which was a common passage to two pouches, one on each side of the testicles. These pouches were full of a gray, thick, viscid humour, mixed with long hairs of the same colour with those I found in the pouches. The sacs or pouches were about an inch and a half deep; and their diameter was much larger at the top than the bottom; Extrait du Mem. de M. Pagés, Medecin du Roi à Saint-Domingue, daté du Cap, le 6. Septembre, 1759 [back to page 248].
* Mem de l’acad. des sciences, année 1728, et 1731.
+ This word, when used in the plural, denotes both the civet and zibet.
3. There are a number of civets in Malabar. It is a small animal, nearly of the figure of a cat, only its muzzle is sharper, its claws less dangerous, and its cry different. The perfume it produces is secreted, like a kind of grease, in an aperture under the tail. It is extracted, from time to time, and never abounds, excepting the animal be well fed. It constitutes a great trade at Calicut; but, unless a man collects it himself, it is almost always adulterated; Voyage de Dellon, p. 11. Optimum zibethi genus ex Guinea advehitur, sinceritate eximum; Joannes Hugo [back to page 249].
* The cat which produces the civet, has the head and muzzle of the fox. It is large, spotted like a tiger, and extremely ferocious. Every two days, the civet is extracted, which is a mucous substance, or thick suet, lying in a cavity under the tail, &c.; Voyage de la Maire, p. 100. It is the Guiney civet of which the author is here speaking.—I saw at Cairo, in the house of a Venetian, several ferocious animals, nearly of the size of a setting dog, but thicker, and of the figure of a cat. They are called musk cats, and are kept in cages….. To prevent them from biting, they are confined separately in strong wooden cages, so narrow that the animals cannot turn themselves…..The people open so much of the hind part of the cage as is necessary to let the animal’s legs be drawn out, without allowing it to turn to wound the person who holds it; and, after collecting the civet, the animal is returned to his prison; Voyage de Pietro della Valle, tom. 1. p. 401.—The civets, which are called zebides in Arabic, are naturally savage, and inhabit the mountains of Æthiopia. Many of them are transported into Europe: They are taken when young, and fed in strong wooden cages, with milk, meal, boiled wheat, rice, and sometimes flesh, &c.; l’Afrique de Marmol, tom. 1. p. 57.—Voyage de Thevenot, tom. 1. p. 476.—The civets of Java produce as great a quantity of perfume as those of Guiney; but it is neither so white, nor so good; Buite de la Relation d’Adam Olearius, tom. 2. p. 350.—Indigenae its hoc pigmentum adulterant, ut ausim affirmare, nullum zibethum sincerum ad nos deferri; Prosp. Alp. Hist. Egypt. p. 239 [back to page 250].
* The reservoir that contains the odorous liquor of the civet lies below the anus, and above another orifice, which is so similar in both sexes, that, without dissection, all civets appear to be females…..As this liquor becomes incommodious, when the reservoirs are too full of it, the animal is provided with proper muscles for squeezing it out. Though it be collected in great quantities in these reservoirs, where it is likewise brought to the highest perfection; yet it seems to be diffused by seat through the whole skin; for the hair of both our civets had a strong smell; that of the male, particularly, was so impregnated with perfume, that the hand, after gently rubbing his hair, retained an agreeable odour for a considerable time; Hist. de l’Acad. des sciences, tom. 1. p. 82 [back to page 251].