DIVISION EIGHT — SCIENCE. 579 



right, and both a little wrong. Prof. Tenney in his work on zoology calls it 

 "civet-cat — Bassarzs as^2( fa," Sind rem.a.r'ks : "Animals somewhat raccoon- 

 like in form. One species is found from Texas to California, and is about 

 the size of the domestic cat, but more slender ; its color above is brownish 

 yellow mixed with gray beneath ; the tail is white and has six or eight 

 black rings. It is arboreal, easily tamed, and a favorite pet with the 

 miners." 



But now the Century Encyclopedia pictures the same animal and calls 

 it "Ring-tailed Bassaris," with this remark in the descriptive text : "Re- 

 sembling the raccoon in some respects, but slenderer. * ^ Most nearly 

 related to the raccoons {Procyonidae), having some superficial resemblance 

 to the civets and genets." 



Thus it will be seen how easily Dr. Reid and Mr. Lowe might differ in 

 naming the animal, and yet both be right. The pretty creature really 

 seems to combine in itself characteristics of the fox, the raccoon, and the 

 lemur, with feline qualities least of all. It has been called locally in Cali- 

 fornia by such names as California coon, mountain coon, coon-cat, and civet- 

 cat, 5^et it is not a " cat " at all, either in face, skull, feet or preferred diet ; 

 and it is such a pretty and harmless creature that Prof. Lowe ought not to 

 allow them to be killed within the bounds of his great mountain electric 

 railway and bridle-road circuits. One Who Has Been There. 



Prof. Holder speaks of it as being ' ' the American representative of the 

 Nasua [Coati].* And Nicholson's Zoology says they "present a singularly 

 close resemblance to the lemurs of the old world, and appear to be their 

 representatives in the western hemisphere. * * They are in some respects 

 intermediate between the raccoons and the civets." 



Raccoon. — The black-footed raccoon {Procyon hernandezii) is our 

 neighbor, and that he is too neighborly sundry chicken owners can testify, 

 while Mr. Rosenbaum tells me that they venture up to his pond or aquarium 

 and have occasional nightly feasts upon his large carp. They hide during 

 the day in the underbrush of the Arroyo, sallying out at night seeking 

 whom they may devour. The Arroyo raccoons are famous fighters, and one 

 that Mr. Bandini's hounds cornered seized one of the dogs by the claw, 

 clinging like a bulldog, though beset by the entire pack, and only relin- 

 quished its hold when shot through the head by Mr. Bandini. 



Skunk. — One of the most attractive of Pasadena animals is the striped 

 little skunk. We have two species: One as large as a cat {Mephitis occi- 

 dentales), which I have occasionally met in the bush, and a smaller one 

 about as large as a weasel though much stouter, the little striped skunk 

 {Spilogale putorius). The latter is a most beautiful and attractive creature. 

 A gentleman in this city told me that for a long time the family was aston- 

 ished at singular noises in the house, as if some one was running about 

 overhead, scampering, falling and sliding. A sudden rush would be made 

 for the room and nothing found. Finally, one of the ladies crept up stairs 

 one night and opening the door softly, found the culprit — a striped skunk. 

 The little fellow had a rubber ball and was playing with it, chasing it about 

 and rolling over and over like a cat. How it got in was a mystery. A 

 friend of the writer, in Los Angeles, caught three of these creatures in his 



' Nasuinae — a sub-family of /Vort'ow/rfaf / coaiis. Nasua." — Standard Dictionary, 18 



