RACCOON FAMILY. 



37 



four main tubercles and an inner ridge; while the flesh-tooth in each jaw differs 

 from that of all other members of the family in presenting but little approximut i< m 

 to the ordinary carnivorous type; being, indeed, more like that of the parti- 

 coloured 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 

 corruption 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 unknown in the Himalaya to the westward of Nipal ; but it there lives 

 at elevations of from seven thousand to twelve thousand feet. Its eastward range 



^ 



the panda. (From Proc. Zool. Soc- -After Sclater.) 



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 larvre, while recent observers are in accord as to its habitual rejection of 

 all kinds of flesh. Hodgson states that it will sometimes steal down to the villages 

 and feast on milk and butter. These animals feed in the morning and evening, and 



