New jerfey, Raccoon. $j 



them Befmans Rat tor *, and the French, 

 Rats mufques. Linnezus calls this animal 

 Cajior Zibethicus. Their food is chiefly the 

 mufcles which ly at the bottom of lakes 

 and rivers ; you fee a number of fuch mells 

 near the entrance of their holes. I am told 

 they likewife eat feveral kinds of roots and 

 plants. They differ from the European 

 Mujk-rat, or Linnaus's Cajior Mofchatus. 

 The teeth are the fame in both -, the tail of 

 the America?i is compreffed on the fides fo, 

 that one fharp edge goes upwards and the 

 other downwards : the hind feet are not 

 palmated, or joined by a moveable fkin, but 

 are peculiar for having on both fides of the 

 feet, long, white, clofe, pectinated, off- 

 fbnding hair, befides the fhort hair with 

 which the feet are quite covered. Such 

 hairs are on both fides of the toes, and do 

 the fame fervice in fwimming as a web. 

 Their fize is that of a little cat, or to be 

 more accurate, the -length of the body is 

 about ten inches, and the tail of the fame 

 Jength : the colour of the head, neck, back, 

 fides, and of the outfide of the thighs, is 

 blackifh brown ; the hairs are foft and fliin- 



* De/m fignjfies mujk in the S*wed'/Jh, and in fome pro- 

 vincial dialects 'of the German langJ2ge ; confequently 

 Defman-rat is nothing but Mujk-rat, and from hence Mr. 

 de B'iffon has formed his Defman or Ruffian Mufi-rat, F. 



