, 1892-11-09

From an Antigaa paper, we learn that it has
been thought worth while to introduce the
mon goose and his ravages to the notice Of the
local legislature. One Of the members
brought in a measure for providing a kind Of
quarantine station for imported cattle, where
they can be properly examined before they
are allowed to mix with the stock on the is
land. This gentleman complained that there
had been very much sickness among the cattle
in Antigua Of recent years, and thought that
one way Of checking it was to nave all i'm
ported cattle strictly inspected. One Of the
gentlemen who spoke on the subject said,
that the sickness among the cattle was gene
rally attributed to a tick, "the gold tick,
which he said had increased very greatly Of
late We re-, owing to the destruction o. the
ground lizards (Which used to eat the ticks
by the mOngOose A third gentleman, a pro-
minent planter, rose to defend the mongoose,
which he said had been very useful in the is
land and which he would be sorry to see ex-
terminated. There is probably no creature IN
this whole western archipelago that has been
so frequent a subject Of recent discussion, as
this little immigrant from the far east. Even
that curious little amin II, the perfpdiUS, halt
millipede, half worm, about which naturalists
are IlSL DIT buC Plc5tIlC ltlilC ~ taSCIj has ll0o
been talked about nearly as much. Last year
the mopgooSe was honoured by a special COM
mission OF enquiry in Jamaica, and we have
since seen his merits and dement's pretty ex-
t~eAsively discussed in various colonial papers.
Poor little fellow, it was not his fault that he
came to these islands. If he cannot reply to
his detractors, you brought me here ne can
at least say, or could if he were endowed with
the power to speak, ut was some Of your kind
that brought ne here. The mongoose, as
everybody knows, is a native Of the East In
dies, and was first brought to the West Indies
at the instance of Sir John Grant, when he
was Governor Of Jamaica Some Of the
planters called the Governors attention to the
immense amount of damage done by rats IN
the cane pieces, and urged the introduction Of
the mongoose, we'll known to be an active
enemy of the rat. The introduction took place,
and the first results appeared to be so good
that many other places followed the example
Of Jamaica, and the animal is now to be found
in most of the West Indian Islands.
To Carpenters Zoology and ChamberS's
Cyclopedia we are indebted for the following
information as to the position of the mou-
goose in the Animal Kingdom. Although re-
lated to the weasels and f%errets, it is only dis
family. These latter belong to the family
Mustelid@, while the mongoose belongs to the
family Viperrid0, of which the civet is the
leading representative. The genus to which
the mongoose belongs is called Hetpestes, and
the animals of this genus are commonly known
as ichneumons. There are many species, ours
being Herpestes grise"s.
The largest species is known as the Egyp-
tian ic%hneumon. It is said to be larger than
an ordinary cat, has a grey colour with black
muzzle and a black tip to the tail. 1t abounds in
Lower Egypt, whore it is appreciated on account
of its habit of scratching the crocodiles eggs
out of the ground and devouring them. Car
penter says that it also devours the young
crocodiles when newly Matched. 1t Is no
wonder that the ancient Egyptians regarded
it as a sacred animal and forbade its destruction.
The animal sometimes attacks the poultry Of
the peasants and also enters houses in pursuit
of rats. 1t can be easily tanned and is not
unfrequently domesticated IN Egypt on ac-
count Of its usefulness in destroying rats and
mice The Indian species. which is smaller