Appendix. Colophon

The animal on the cover of JRuby Cookbook is an African civet (Civettictis civetta). Unlike the other members of the Viverridae family, which resemble cats, the African civet is a dog-like animal with large hindquarters and a low-head stance. Its coat is gray with black stripes and spots, and it has a gray face, a white snout, and dark markings around its eyes like a raccoon. Along its back runs a short mane of stiff hairs that stand on end when the civet is alarmed. From head to tail, an African civet is about 4 feet long, and it weighs 30 to 40 pounds.

The African civet ranges across sub-Saharan Africa in forests and savannas. Solitary and nocturnal, it hides in caves or tree hollows during the day. It eats anything edible, including insects, plants, and carrion, and it preys on small animals such as hares and moongooses. Like all civets, the African civet has glands that produce a scented fluid, which it uses to mark its territory. This musk, known as civetone or simply civet, is one of the oldest known ingredients in perfumes. Although it is still used in the perfume industry today, the trade for civet musk has been on the decline since synthetic musk was introduced in the mid-1900s.