M)0 LAWRENCE W. COLE 



havior further in connection with that topic. Notwithstanding 

 the strength of the raccoon in clinging and climbing, no touch 

 is softer or more gentle than that of his forepaws when engaged 

 in this investigating activity. 



An evidence that the nose is sometimes used for pure touch 

 is the fact that these animals frequently investigated the ex- 

 perimenter's hands, and even his face, with the nose. This 

 also seemed to be an affair of pure curiosity and quite breath- 

 less while it lasted, just as a human being may not breathe 

 perceptibly when intent on some object. In fact this momen- 

 tary stopping of respiration is given by Meumann l as one of 

 the most marked physical accompaniments of human attention. 

 This use of the nose as an organ of touch was observed on the 

 sixth day after we received the raccoons and frequently there- 

 after. Occasionally they would both touch a strange object 

 with the nose and sniff at it also. 



I was unable to detect that the vibrissae were used as organs 

 of touch, and perhaps this would be difficult to do unless one 

 cou!d have a blind animal under observation. 



Taste: The raccoon's taste for sweets is especially marked. 

 All other foods were promptly deserted for cane sugar by my 

 animals, though Brehm states that the raccoon prefers "flesh" 

 to other foods. My raccoons avoided all food which had a purely 

 sour taste, yet ripe apples and peaches were eaten which have 

 for human taste a slightly acid tang along with the sweet flavor. 

 Unlike herbivorous animals the raccoon refuses to taste salt. 

 I do not know of any carnivore which will accept salt or which 

 frequents salt licks. Consequently the raccoon's rejection of 

 salt may be a general characteristic of flesh-eating animals. 

 Beyond these statements we can only enumerate the foods 

 which raccoons accept readily, which of course give complex 

 tastes. 



Next to sugar the raccoons preferred boiled beef and they 

 were almost equally fond of uncooked apples, peaches, plums, 

 and cherries. My animals never ate the raw beef which we 

 offered them a few times. Some raccoons have been forced to 

 eat it but they appear not to thrive on such food. My raccoons 

 were often seen to catch and eat flies. They would eat grains 



1 Meumann, E. Vorlesungen zur Einfiihrung in die experimentelle Padagogik. 

 Bd. I, p. 159, 2d. Aufl. 1911. 



