THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 143 



young ones hug each other like bears, tussle, and roll 

 about, dealing cuffs right and left." * 



Beckmann describes the actions of a tame young 

 raccoon so beautifully that I can not resist quoting the 

 whole passage : " He had formed an offensive and de- 

 fensive alliance with a large bird dog. He Avas quite 

 willing to be tied to it, and then both followed their 

 master step by step, though when the raccoon was 

 alone on the chain he constantly pulled away. As soon 

 as he was unchained in the morning he joyfully bound- 

 ed off to find his friend. Standing on his hind feet, 

 he threw his fore paws around the neck of the dog, 

 whose head he gently bent forward. Then he examined 

 and sniffed about his friend's body with curiosity and 

 interest, seeming to discover new charms daily. Where 

 the hair was rough, he carefully licked it down. The 

 dog stood motionless and strangely serious during the 

 whole inspection, which frequently lasted a quarter of 

 an hour, changing his position or raising a limb when 

 the raccoon indicated that it was necessary. He drew 

 the line, however, on having the creature mount on his 

 back, and the attempt was a signal for a prolonged 

 tussle, where much courage and dexterity were dis- 

 played. The raccoon's mode of attack was to spring in 

 an unguarded moment at the throat of his much larger 

 and stronger opponent. Thrusting his body between 

 the dog's front legs, it attempted to hang on by his 

 neck. If he succeeded in this the dog was worsted and 

 could only roll frantically on the ground in his en- 

 deavours to rid himself of the fervid embrace. To 

 the credit of the rogue it should be said that he never 



* A. and K. IMiiller. WohnuTiG:en. Leben und Eigenthiimlich- 

 keiten in der hoheren Thierwelt, p. 62. 



