The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Rasse

RASSE, răs, a small arboreal civet (Viverricula malaccensis), which is widely distributed in southeastern Asia and the Malayan islands, and long ago became naturalized in Madagascar. It is slender, agile in tree-climbing, has no erectile mane and lives in holes in rocky and brushy districts. In confinement it is easily tamed and feeds on small animals, which it catches with cat-like dexterity. Hence it is often kept in houses in the East as a ratter, and also for the sake of its civet, which is artificially removed from the glands. It is a handsome little animal of a yellowish or brownish gray color, with longitudinal bands on the back and regular spots on the side; tail 16-17 inches long with eight or nine complete dark rings; length of body and head about 24 inches; known, zoologically, as the lesser-civet. Consult Blanford, Jerdon, Tennent and other authorities on Oriental zoology.