THE PANDA 



625 



are remarkably flattened from side to side. The upper molars have very wide 

 crowns, which are nearly square in outline, and carry four main tubercles and an in- 

 ner ridge ; while the flesh-tooth in each jaw differs from that of all other members 

 of the family in presenting but little approximation to the ordinary carnivorous 

 type ; being, indeed, more like that of the parti-colored bear. 



There appears to be some doubt as to the origin of the name panda, by which 

 the animal is very generally known in this country, unless, indeed, it be a corrup- 

 tion of the Nipalese niyalya-ponga ; the latter name, according to Mr. Blanford, 

 meaning bamboo eater. It is also known in Nipal as the wah. The panda is un- 

 known in the Himalayas to the westward of Nipal; but it there lives at elevations of 





THE PANDA. 



(After Sclater, Proc. Zocl. Soc.) 



from seven thousand to twelve thousand feet. Its eastward range extends through 

 the mountains to the north of Assam into the Chinese province of Yunnan. 



An excellent account of the habits of the panda was published many years ago 

 by Mr. Brian Hodgson, of which the following is a summary : As we might have 

 supposed from the structure of its teeth, the animal is mainly herbivorous. It is 

 also an excellent climber, although feeding chiefly on the ground, and having its 

 retreat and breeding place in holes and clefts of the rocks. Its chief food is com- 

 posed of various fruits, acorns, the young shoots of bamboos, roots, etc. It will, 

 however, also eat eggs, but it is doubtful whether, as asserted, it will touch insects 

 or their larvae, while recent observers are in accord as to its habitual rejection of all 

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