TAGASSU. 61 



The members of the first Family of the Ungulates to be con- 

 sidered, the Peccaries, differ from those of the family Suidce in 

 various respects. They lack one pair of upper incisors, and the 

 anterior premolar in each jaw. The canines, large and formidable, 

 are directed downward, not upward, and the last premolar is 

 complex. The stomach has three compartments, and is more com- 

 plicated than that of the true pigs. These animals are fearless and 

 pugnacious, associate in droves, sometimes of considerable numbers, 

 and when attacked, all assume the offensive, and are capable of 

 doing much damage with their sharp tushes, and a man in the midst 

 of a number of enraged Peccaries is fortunate if he is able to find a 

 tree to climb, that being about the only method of saving his life. 

 Two species have been long known, but lately a number of others 

 have been described, some of which may prove to possess distinctive 

 values. 



Fam. I. Tagassuidie. Peccaries. 



Snout elongate, truncate; flat terminal naked surface in which 

 the nostrils are placed. Stomach complex; caecum present. Four 

 toes on front feet, three on hind feet. Incisors rooted; upper canines 

 pointed downward, with cutting edges; upper outer incisors and 

 anterior premolars of both jaws wanting. Third and fourth meta- 

 podials united at their upper ends. Ears small, erect. Body 

 covered with bristly hair. Musk gland on the middle of the back. 



27. *Tagassu. 



T 2-2 . p I-I . p 3-3 . TUT 3-3 _ - O 



L 3=3' U I=i' F '1=S' M 'F3 - 38 ' 



T. Gill. Note on the names of the genera of Peccaries, Proc. 

 Biol. Soc. Wash., 1902, p. 38. 



J. A. Allen. The Generic and Specific names of the Peccaries, 

 Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1902, p. 162. 



O. Thomas. The Generic names of the Peccaries, Northern Fur 

 Seal and Sea Leopard, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 1902, pp. 153, 197. 



Tagassu Frisch, Syst. vierfuss. Thiere, in Tabellen, 3 Tab. Gen. 1775. 

 Tayassu Fisch., Zoogn., in, 1814, p. 284. Type Sus tajacu 

 Linnaeus. 



* Messrs. Gill, Allen, and Thomas (1. c.) have given their views regarding the 

 proper generic names for the Peccaries, each arriving at a different conclusion, 

 no two of them agreeing, and thus exhibiting, in a certain degree, the very 

 unstable foundation on which nomenclature rests. Not wishing to add to the 

 confusion by giving another opinion, even if it were necessary, I have fol- 

 lowed Dr. Allen, whose argument is apparently the strongest of the three. 

 Mr. Thomas in a later publication abandons his position and accepts Dr. Allen's 

 view (1. c.). 



