1894.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 155 



on record of such an animal from Florida. Fortunately, the anterior 

 half of the i^kull, including the perfect jaws, were within and at- 

 tached to the skin. These were extracted and confirmed my suspic- 

 ions, excited by the peculiar external characters, that the animal was 

 a nondescript. As will be seen in the diagnosis, it combines 

 the characteristic color- pattern of the P. brasiliensis group 

 with the colors and relative measurements of the erminea group. 

 This weasel was captured in the woods by a cat, in Pasco County, 

 Florida, at " Hudson's," 14 miles north of Tarpon Springs. 



2. Lutra hudsonica (Lacepede). American Otter. 



The otter is abundant. Quite a number of their skins and furs 

 have been sent. The latter, large and prime, bring little over five 

 dollars in the Philadelphia market, owing to the scant pelage. The 

 average color is even darker and more glossy than in the highly 

 prized pelts from the northwestern States. 



3. Procyou lotor (Linn.). Raccoon. 



A large series of furs, skins and skulls of this abundant animal 

 have passed, through my hands. They show the Florida coon to 

 be when young, almost exactly the same color as average adults 

 from the Middle States. As they increase in age a strong suffusion 

 of orange brown becomes pronounced on the back, rump and tail. 



In Dr. Allen's paper {sup. cit, p. 170) P. hernandezii is made 

 a synonym of lotor. An exceptionally large series of skulls from 

 Florida, the JVIiddle States and the Northwest shows the followng 

 specific differences, based on six typical adult specimens of each 

 series. 



In hernandezii there is no ridged occipital crest, generally present 

 in older examples of lotor ; the mandibles are heavier and stouter, 

 more widely separated to accommodate the great width of brain case, 

 and broader between the canines; in length they are the same as in 

 lotor. The angle is more produced, narrow and angular in hernandezii, 

 the upper molar series very wide for their length and decidedly 



