4 XOKTH AAIEKICAX FAUNA 60, FISII AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



the raccoon {U'coini)aiiio(l by the earliest illustrations seen by the 

 author. Of these, figure 1 is a sketch of the (Mitire animal. In figure 

 2 attention is directed to the stron(:;ly developed and peculiarly 

 formed os ])enis, or baculum. 



The accounts of the raccoon in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by 

 Peter Kalm in 1753 (Benson 1937, pp. 52-53, HI, 242-243) formed a 

 part of the basis for Linnaeus' short descri])tion of Ursus lotor in the 

 tenth edition of his Systema Naturae (1758, p. 48). Recognizing 

 distinctive characters, Storr (1780, p. 35) used Procyon as the generic 

 name for the group typified by Ursus lotor Linnaeus. G. Cuvier (1798, 

 p. 113) described Ursus cancrivorus, the crab-eating raccoon from 

 Cayenne which later became the type of the subgenus Euprocyon Gray 

 (1864, p. 705). Only a few new North American species or subspecies 

 were added during the nineteenth century by Wagler (1831, p. 514), 

 Gray (1842, p. 261), Baird (1857, p. 215), Bangs (1898a, p. 219; 1898b, 

 p. 92), and Merriam (1898, p. 17; 1899, p. 107). Short papers descrip- 

 tive of new forms by Merriam (1900, p. 151; 1901, p. 101), Miller 

 (1911, p. 3), Mearns (1914, pp. 63-66), Hollister (1914, p. 142), 

 Goldman (1913, p. 15), Nelson (1930a, pp. 7-10), and Nelson and 

 Goldman (1930a, p. 82; 1930b, pp. 453-459; 1931a, pp. 17-20; 1931b, 

 p. 308) have since appeared. 



RACCOON NAMES NOT CLEARLY ASSIGNABLE 



The following names that have been proposed for species of the 

 raccoon are unrecognized or unassigned owing to the author's inability 

 to associate them with any particular region, or because of some 

 obvious defect in status. If the type specimens of any of these are 

 (wtant, it is possible that any such accompanied by skvdls, may afford 

 clues to their identity; because of the range of individual variation in 

 subspecies, however, there is likely to be considerable uncertainty. 

 Skins subject to fading over a period of many years are of very limited 

 value for comparative purposes, beyond the determination of the 

 subgenus. 



Procyon nivea Gray, Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, p. 580, 1837. "In- 

 habits North America, Texas." "Fur soft, silky, white. Tail one-colored." 

 No type specimen designated. Doubtless based upon an albino, as suggested 

 in the original description. At least two subspecies occur in Texas. Name 

 unidentifiable. 



Procyon brachyurus Wiegmann, Archiv ftir Naturgesch., dritter jahrgang, erster 

 band, p. 369, 1837. "Patria: Antillae?" Based on two specimens said to have 

 come from the West Indies (see pp. 354-355), but their place of origin was 

 regarded as uncertain by the describer, as shown by the notation. Figured by 

 Wagner in Schreber's Saugthiere (p. 143 C). The plate illustration is of two 

 brownish animals, the tail shown in one as quite short. 



