204 U. Ss. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
The following is the result of a direct comparison of the European with the American badger 
since the body of this article was written : 
The differences between the European and American badgers are so strongly marked as 
scarcely to require a comparison. Thus, in the former, the top and sides of the head may be 
described as white, the end of the muzzle completely encircled by this color ; a little more than 
half way between the end of the snout and the eye commences a strip of black, truncate ante- 
riorly, and sending down a small branch towards the canine ; this strip widens gradually, in- 
cluding the eye and ear, and is lost on the shoulders. The black of the legs extends over the 
throat to near the end of the chin. There are thus on the top and sides of the head five stripes, 
a median, and two lateral white ones, and two intermediate of black, in addition to the black 
beneath the head ; and anterior to the ear all the stripes are of the same width. 
In the American badger the top of the head is grizzled, with a narrow white median stripe ; 
the end of the muzzle (top and sides) is black. The cheeks are white, with a crescentic black 
patch anterior to the ear. The whole under part of head and throat are white. 
There are other important differences of structure. Thus the naked muffle is much larger 
than in the American, and the hairs on the top of the nose do not come within a quarter of an 
inch of the extremity, instead of reaching to the very end. 
The American badger is widely distributed throughout the United States, extending from 
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, to the Pacific ocean. It ranges far to the north, though no 
positive indication is on hand of its occurrence south of about latitude 35°, below which it 
appears to be replaced by the other species.’ 
Although most authors have made the Mexican badger the same with that of the Missouri 
plains, yet the distinctions are quite decided, as will be seen in the article on Taxidea ber- 
landieri. 
List of specimens. 
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5 22 Sp Locality. When Whence obtained. a Nature of Measurements. Collected by— 
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seoses 2078) .. 00+) Quasquiton, LOWa.s..ss|sceseeeses..--| Ee ©. Bedwell ......-|.2..) SKUI ones slevcees eeencccecesescecc.ce 
713 | eevee) eveeee| ROCK COUNLY, WiS eeeees|seeeereeee cess O. Dinsmore......... Alt Via) Sh irae sams ee oct Paneer) Sec, eccons dolccelcleseeinaren 
L791 |vceciee}ecen'ss Fort Pierre, Neb 1856 Lit. Gs K. Warren .ee.|oees|saesdO ° sees loccees . 
THD! Ns cose | Upper Missouri Rese > Flee en OG ciscacahennaetl kal pa siekl Oineuwe |esesics|ecceeslovees|scccas|oonsceseunnrener cess 
1849 |. .ccesleceees Cannon Ball river, Neb.| Oct., 1856...|...... GO wececessccere seer|eeesGO ...06 leveees ose Dr. F. V. Hayden... 
207 | 1178 |...06, Upper Missouri ....cccsleccces coccece Goy. I. I. Stevens. ..] cece)... 0) co00elecsvesfencs Dr. Geo. Suckley... 
208 | 1179 | O |.cceee O wccccceccccvereleccscece eaccsslececce dO s.cccccesveee eee] ecesGO veces locvccs|cccccslscccsslenccee {ecsees dO wesccecsene 
775 | 1880 |.eeees|seeees GO cave sccecse cece Sesa/sisissaisionkell anton dO sioncavavowses seal Lh alcohol. | eveerleceece|seeveelesceeelaveees dO... vevvescuee 
1873 | 29571 | | Pole creek, Platte river..| Aug. 1, 1856 | Lt. F.'T. Bryan. ....| 185|....d0 sees. 6. W.S. Wood.....+. 
1874 | 2572) G@ | Republican Fork........ Sept. 28, 1856 |...... f10) Seeeen semis BEA) co. ceccceee TE | 29. | 43 | 6} |... dO. esivcewses 
2 Ge Reco eee o Klamath Lake, Cal..... |evcecscccecncs Lt. R. S. Williamson.|....|....00eeeees ath sista Dr. J. 8. Newberry. 
1 This species has usually borne the name of labradoria, as imposed by Gmelin, in 1788. Boddaert, however, in 1784, named 
it Meles taxus, var. americanus, and in 1787, Zimmermann, in his German translation of Pennant’s Arctic Zoology, called it 
Meles americanus. This name, therefore, takes priority of date over labradoria. 
