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.