Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
By 1796
Primary Source Reference:
A Scientific and Descriptive Catalogue of Peale's Museum (Philadelphia, 1796), pp. 28-29
Additional Source Text:
In his Natural History Lecture No. 3 (1799), Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Peale wrote: The Jackal is vulgarly called the Lyons provider. It inhabits Africa and India. This came from Madagascar and was alive a considerable time at the Museum.
“The watchmen have frequently run to the yard, expecting that some persons were in danger of being murdered, its cries so much resembled the screeches of a woman & children in great distress. Sitting with its nose elevated it began with a low protracted note, which it gradually raised, still becoming more shrill, until the air resounded with its cries. These were the more terrible as it seemed to pronounce the words, fire, murder, intermixed with sounds like those of Persons in distress. Its cries have been distinctly heard in a still evening, from 3d to Front Street. With the Watchman and neighbors, after a repetition of false alarms, its cries, at last had lost their terror. And when expecting that I should be obliged to remove the Animal as a nuisance, my neighbours not only become reconciled, but were even amused to hear such a combination of the doleful, rising to shrill screeks with deep pitched groans & hoarse barking, all, confusedly mixed together, by the pipes and exertions of so small an Animal as the Jackall.
“Altho’ this is so small an Animal, yet I found it more capable to kill its prey, than any dog I had ever seen. A hog, much larger than himself, seeking for food, came into my yard. The Jackall watched until it had got within reach of his chain, when he instantly seized the Hog by the neck a little behind the ear. The screams of the Hog brought me in a minute to his aid, and it was with very great difficulty I could make the Jackall loose his hold. It appeared by this single grip, he opened the jugular vein, for the blood ran out in a stream. The Hog staggered away, fell down, and died in a few minutes.
“I cannot forget how enraged the Jackall was at the loss of his prey. He had tasted blood, and his Eyes seemed like fire as he retreated into the hole he had dug into the ground – and in that moment it would have been dangerous for any person to have gone near him. “It is said to be more voracious than the wolf, never stirs out alone, but always in packs, of 20, or 30, or 40 together. These unite regularly every day to form a combination against the rest of the forest.”
In his "Walk through the Phil[adelphi]a Museum" (1805-1806), pp. 18-19 (where the specimen is assigned to the genus Aureus), Peale wrote of the jackal: "It inhabits Africa & India -- some authors consider it the link between the Wolf and Dog. Its voice is a kind of howl mixed with barking and groaning -- In the dreary time of Night this howl is terrible, it rouses all the beasts of the Forest at which time the Lyon takes its prey -- hence it has acquired the name of the Lyons providor, yet it is frequently made to relinquish the prey it has seized while the more powerful Lyon is satisfied."
Notes:
The donor, Thomas Bell, was the captain of the Philadelphia mercantile vessel United States, which traded to the Far East.
Specimen Type:
Living/Live (presumably eventually taxidermied/preserved)
Peale's Common Name:
Jackal
Peale's Scientific Name:
Aureus
Current Common Name:
Golden jackal
Current Scientific Name
Canis aureus
