187 



Fortunately he is omnivorous in liis diet or his keep would be 

 expensive. The racoons belong to the Procijoiiidcc and the 

 sptcific name of the species more commonly known, the one liv- 

 ing in the Southern United States, where they are much hunted, 

 is " lotor " the washer and the German appellation for 

 it is the Wiischbar or washing bear. The Hon. L. de Vcrteuil 

 in his work on Trinidad gives the IMangrove dog the name 

 Procijon cancrivorus ■\\hich I believe is the name of the crab 

 eating racoon of South America. On the only occasion, however, 

 when I gave Uriah a large crab he smelt it inquisitively, got 

 pinched for his pains and was rather afraid of it afterwards. 

 In conclusion, I may say that when I infurmed the ""ecretary I 

 was prepared to read these few notes upon the tlub's Racoon, 

 I was under the impression that this identical specimen Avas a 

 native of Trinidad, but the President now tells me it came from 

 Venezuela but that there is an animal similar to it in every 

 way, a native of Trinidad. 



Since the above was written and read at the Club, I have 

 seen the dead bodies of several Trinidad racoons and they agree 

 in every particular with the characteristics of the animal above 

 described. 



II. R. Mole. 

 3rd February. 



BLUE BASIN. 



In December last a few of the cycling members of the Club 

 met at the Tranquility Tram Terminus to proceed on a visit to 

 Blue Basin. The ride was an uneventful one and the Basin Avas 

 reached in about an hour and a quarter. As it happened, how- 

 ever, very little was met Avith Avhich proved of exceptional 

 interest. The plants collected Avere feAv, including one or two 

 species of the tAvo folloAving orders Fiperaceoc, 3IeIastomacece and 

 solitary specimens of many of the commoner Trinidad orders, 

 maiden-hair ferns stood out rather conspicuously at thefalls. Land 

 snails Avere, as the newspapers sometimes put it, " conspicuous 

 by their absence." Butterflies Avere re})resented solely by one 

 or tAVo big morphos and insects generally Avere limited to the 

 common species Avhich are met Avith nearly everyAvhere. Rep- 

 tiles seemed to have retired to their most secluded retreats, for 

 Avith the exception of the big Ameivas, Avhich crossed the road 

 in the vicinity of the sugar estates not one Avas noted. Several 



