V. tangalunga_ is a smaller but nearly allied animal from
the same part of the world. From these three species and the next the
civet of commerce, once so much admired as a perfume in England, and
still largely used in the East, is obtained. The animals are kept in
cages, and the odoriferous secretion collected by scraping the
interior of the perineal follicles with a spoon or spatula. The single
representative of the genus _Viverricula_ resembles in many respects
the genets, but agrees with the civets in having the whole of the
under side of the tarsus hairy; the alisphenoid canal is generally
absent. _V. malaccensis_, the rasse, inhabiting India, China, Java and
Sumatra, is an elegant little animal which affords a favourite perfume
to the Javanese. The genets (_Genetta_) are smaller animals, with more
elongated and slender bodies, and shorter limbs than the civets. The
skull is elongated and narrow; and the auditory bulla large, elongated
and rounded at both ends. The teeth are compressed and sharp-pointed,
with a lobe on the inner side of the third, upper premolar not present
in the previous genera. Pupil contracting to a linear aperture. Tail
long, slender, ringed. Fur short and soft, spotted or cloudy. Under
side of the metatarsus with a narrow longitudinal bald streak.
_Genetta vulgaris_, or _G. genetta_, the common genet, is found in
France south of the river Loire, Spain, south-western Asia and North
Africa. _G. felina, senegalensis, tigrina, victoriae_ and _pardalis_
are other named species, all African in habitat.

The Malagasy fossane (_Fossa daubentoni_), which has but little
markings on the fur of the adult, differs by the absence of a
scent-pouch and the presence of a couple of bare spots on the under
surface of the metatarsus. The beautiful linsangs (_Linsanga_ or
_Prionodon_), ranging from the eastern Himalaya to Java and Borneo,
are represented by two or three species, easily recognizable by the
broad transverse bands of blackish brown and yellow with which the
body and tail are marked. They are specially distinguished by having
only one pair of upper molars, thereby resembling the cats, with
which, in correlation with their arboreal habits, they agree in their
highly retractile claws, and the hairy surface of the under side of
the metatarsus. About 15 in. is the length of the type species. In
West Africa the linsangs are represented b