THE C0AT1-M0NDI AND ITS COUSINS. 141 



drop on the floor, nor so much as soils that wonderful nose ; for, among 

 her many gifts, is her soft and extensile tongue. This caudal expedi- 

 ent is sometimes found with the American show-monkey, when a bit 

 of gingerbread is put by the roguish boys at an inconvenient distance ; 

 but, as, in such instance, the tail is prehensile, is in fact the monkey's 

 fifth hand, such feat is no great shakes after all, but is quite in keeping 

 with what the organ is cut out for. It is, at most, but little more than 

 that instinct which structural or functional capacity might evolve. 

 But, in Nasua's case, it is animal contrivance, pure and simple. There 

 is, too, a latent fact which peeps out here : for this bending of the 

 caudal tip looks to the faculty possessed by its cousin, the Kinkajou, 

 the extremity of whose tail has a prehensile or grasping faculty of 

 high perfection. 



Fig. 5. 





TThiie-Itpped Peccary (Dicotyles labiatus). Snout hog-like, but flexible. 



She showed considerable attachment her preference being the 

 ladies. She would often, when tied up in the kitchen, sit for many 

 minutes, her little black eyes looking wistfully at the door through 

 which the mistress of the house had passed, and all this time crying 

 pitifully. It was a plaintive cry, in the minor key, and yet a little 

 funny, for it greatly resembled the chirping of a cricket, though not 

 quite so shrill, and the intervals between the notes were a little longer. 

 This tiny cry required for every note a muscular exertion, extending 

 far down the sides of the body, which led to the suggestion that " the 

 plaint came from the depths of the heart." 



Though at times somewhat irascible, this little animal was very 

 playful with those who could understand and humor her ways. And 

 her method in play was a good deal like that of a dog. She would 

 take my fingers into her mouth, and make believe to bite, and would 

 roll on her back in manifest glee. It required at first some courage to 

 take part in her gambols. On one occasion, thinking that she gave me 

 too hard a nip with her teeth, I returned her a smart slap in the face. 

 This experience was novel and startling, and caused her to open her 

 mouth and chatter as a terrified monkey does. On one occasion she 

 so far forgot herself as to bite me quite severely. It was but one snap 



