76 



URSID.K. MAMMALIA. 



they are permitted to help themselves. If captured 

 vhile still young, they are readily tamed, and hecome 

 very playful and agreeable companions. Notwith- 

 standing, however, all that has been recorded in their 

 favour, we do not ourselves either propose or recom- 

 mend the rearing of a family of badgers. We heartily 

 rejoice that the barbarous custom of badger-baiting 

 lias now completely passed away ; but we still recol- 

 lect an exhibition of this kind some twenty years ago, 

 in a village iji -tire county of Suffolk, since which time 

 various societies have been established throughout the 

 kingdom for the humane purpose of suppressing cruelty 

 to noxious as well as inoffensive animals. 



THE KINKAJOU (Cercoleptes caudivolvula). By 

 some authors the kinkajou is placed among the Viver- 

 ridse. Although its general aspect would at first 

 naturally lead us to coincide with such an arrange- 

 ment, yet its structural characters are evidently 

 more intimately associated with the Ursidse, and con- 

 sequently we have introduced it in this place. Unlike 

 the badgers, its head is short, rounied, and more 

 resembling the apes, the muzzle being only very 

 slightly produced. The jaws are furnished with thirty- 

 six teeth, there being twelve incisors, four canines, 

 twelve spurious, and eight true molars. The two 

 anterior grinders on either side, above and below, 

 are conical, the remainder being tuberculated. Their 

 crowns are also flattened, those of the lower jaw having 

 an oblong form, while the upper series are a little 

 widened transversely. The tongue is slendet and 

 extensile. The body is cylindrical, a good deal curved 

 posteriorly, and terminates in a long prehensile tail. 

 According to Mr. Blyth, its capacity of employing the 

 tail as a fifth limb is very limited ; for he says " One 

 which I had an opportunity of studying as it ran about 

 loose in a room, possessed the prehensile power of 

 the tail in an extremely moderate degree, merely 

 resting slightly on this organ, which it stiffened 

 throughout its length, and never coiled in the manner 

 of the Sapajous." Frederick Cuvier's figure represents 

 i he tail several times coiled upon itself. The feet are 

 tive-toed and plantigrade. The fur is thick and 

 woolly, and of a golden -yellow brownish colour. The 

 kinkajou is an inhabitant of the tropical paits of 

 America, and of the principal West India islands. It 

 is strictly arboreal and nocturnal in its habits, cau- 

 tiously moving to and fro, and feeding on fruits, honey, 

 milk, insects, eggs, small birds, and quadrupeds. Its 

 disposition appears to be peculiarly mild and gentle. 



THF BROWN COATIMONDI (Xasiia narica} Plate 

 11, fig. 38. The genus Nasua includes two or more 

 species of coati, of which this is probably the best 

 known form. It is distinguished by the presence of 

 white patches over the eye and muzzle. In the red 

 coati, on the other hand, the snout is quite brown, the 

 fur, generally, being of a rufo-fulvous hue. Without, 

 however, insisting very strongly on these specific dis- 

 tinctions, we may observe that the coatis are charac- 

 terized by the possession of an elongated head, the 

 muzzle being extended into a movable proboscis. 

 The superior border is particularly narrow, while the 

 tip is slightly turned upwards. The ears are short, 

 broad, and oval. The jaws are provided with forty 



teeth ; that is to say, twelve iucisives, four canines, 

 sixteen premolars, and eight true molars. The canines 

 are somewhat compressed, and have sharp points. 

 The molars are comparatively small, three of the lower 

 series being narrower than those of the upper. These 

 animals are eminently arboreal in their habits, and 

 consequently we find their plantigrade, pentadactylous 

 feet admirably adapted for the purposes of climbing. 

 The hinder feet are semi -palmate, and so freely do the 

 tarsal bones move upon the leg, that when descending 

 head-foremost they almost hang by them ; their ordi- 

 nary position, as maintained in walking, being nearly 

 reversed. The toes are connected by an extension of 

 the skin, and are provided with long, compressed, 

 incurved claws. These they employ in digging up 

 earthworms and various subterranean insects. They 

 also feed upon slugs, snails, small quadrupeds, and 

 more particularly upon eggs, birds, and various kinds 

 of fruit, and vegetables. In short, nothing seems to 

 come amiss, and their appetite is extremely vigorous. 

 Before they actually devour the flesh of animals, they 

 are careful to tear it in pieces and detach it. Without 

 entering at any great length into the structure of 

 the skeleton, a drawing of which is given in Plate 

 34, fig. 113, we may remark a general slimness 

 of the several osseous elements of which it is com- 

 posed. It may also be observed that the elongated 

 head slopes very much backwards, while the degree 

 of this animal's carnivority is shown by the aspect of 

 the teeth already described, and more particularly by 

 the sharp, prominent, occipital crest and ridge, which 

 afford attachment to the powerful muscles of the neck 

 an arrangement enabling the animal to raise its head 

 rapidly with great force, so as to impart to the jaws 

 the necessary aid in tearing away the soft flesh from 

 off the bones of its victims. We may likewise notice 

 one other more remarkable peculiarity in the skeleton. 

 It is seen in the curious fact that only a single bone or 

 vertebral segment is found to represent what is termed 

 the sacrum, while in the typical bears and carnivors. 

 properly so called, there are always three or four 

 conjoined osseous elements, and in the polar bear as 

 many as seven. This phenomenon probably bears 

 some relation to the arboreal habits of the coati, and 

 this power of climbing requires, as we have seen, the 

 utmost freedom of motion in the hinder parts of the 

 body, while it forms an interesting contrast with the 

 consolidated chain of bony elements witnessed in the 

 slow-moving bears. The tail of the coatimondi is very 

 long, and is marked externally by numerous annula- 

 tions, depending upon the alternating dark and light- 

 brown hairs which extend from the root to the tip. 

 In other parts of the body the colours are more or less 

 uniform, and, from the observations of the Prince of 

 Neuwied, it would appear that the slight differences of 

 colour occurring in the fur of various individuals, are 

 entirely insufficient to Indicate the correctness of those 

 specific definitions which have hitherto been regarded 

 as established. 



THE BINTTJRONG (Ictides albifrons) approximates 

 very closely to the racoons, especially in the form of 

 the skull. It is an inhabitant of the isles of Borneo, 

 Malacca, Sumatra, and the western parts of Java, 



