Ichneumon
Ichneumon names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Ichneumon a næan genus of insects
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a næan genus of insects, now constituting a family or tribe, Ichneumonida, of the order Hymenoptera, section Terebrantia They are extremely numerous in species. are Many of them are minute, others are large insects; the species of Physsa They have among the largest of insects. abdomen united to the thorax by a the pedicle, which is very often slender. , The abdomen itself is slender and . All the Icelanders had discovered Greenland the whole form attenuated Ichneumonidæ deposit their eggs either (983) and part part of America (about in or on-generally in- in-the bodies, eggs, or larvæ of insects, or in spiders. Some of them deposit their eggs in aphides. to the They are thus extremely useful farmer and gardener. Particular species of Ichneumonidæ are the natural enemies of particular kinds of other insects. Many caterpillars are infested by three or four species of ichneumons.
Ichneumon a genus of digitigrade carnivorous quadrupeds of the family fa Viverridæ
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a genus of digitigrade carnivorous quadrupeds of the family fa Viverridæ, having a much elongated sharp muzzle, rounded body, small head, ears, and short legs. The species, which are pretty numerous, are natives of Africa and the warmer parts of Asia. One, the Andalusian ichneumon (Herpestes ichneumon), occurs in the S. of Spain. They feed on small quadrupeds, reptiles, eggs, and insects. Some of them, particularly the Egyptian ichneumon and the mangouste, mongoose, or mungoose of India, have been greatly celebrated as destroyers of serpents. The Egyptian ichneumon, the ichneumon of the ancients, is larger than a cat, gray, with black paws and muzzle. It was a sacred animal among the ancient Egyptians. The ichneumon is easily domesticated, and is useful in keeping houses free from rats and other vermin.
Ichneumon ik-nu'mon, a weasel-shaped animal of tropical countries
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ik-nu'mon, a weasel-shaped animal of tropical countries. The name is Greek, meaning the tracker. The Egyptian species is somewhat longer than a cat, but is much more slender. It is an active, yellowish animal with black muzzle and paws. It is exceeding valuable for the destruction of the rats and mice that infest a grain-raising country, and especially for the deadly warfare it carries on with poisonous snakes. It follows along the shores, and limits the increase of the crocodile by digging up its eggs. It is known also as Pharaoh's rat. See Mongoose
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both animals the 1921 Collier's describes have been reclassified since. The ichneumon wasps, called "extremely numerous in species," turned out to be more numerous than anyone guessed: Ichneumonidae is now reckoned among the largest families of animals, with roughly 25,000 described species and estimates of the true total running several times higher, and their parasitic habits are deliberately exploited in modern biological pest control. The mongooses, placed by Collier's in the civet family Viverridae, were moved in the late twentieth century into a family of their own, Herpestidae, on anatomical and then genetic evidence; the Egyptian ichneumon is Herpestes ichneumon still, and its snake-killing reputation has a physiological basis, since mongoose acetylcholine receptors are shaped so that cobra venom binds poorly. Aiton's 1910 claim that it "limits the increase of the crocodile by digging up its eggs" descends from Herodotus and Pliny rather than from observation, and the twentieth century supplied a darker footnote: mongooses introduced to Hawaii, Jamaica and other islands to kill rats became notorious destroyers of native birds and reptiles instead.
Written for this edition, 2026.