168 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [FoLV. 



ing : " Das Innere vofi Brasilien nahrt diese dritte Species von Na#ua, von 

 wo sie von mehreren Beisendeii nach Europa zuriick gebracht word en 

 ist." He thus evidently knew the species only through museum speci- 

 mens or living examples seen by him in European cities, and as no 

 writer appears to have yet given any other authority for its occurrence 

 in Brazil, from which country it is still otherwise .unknown,* the locality 

 here assigned for the species may be fairly considered as open to ques- 

 tion.t 



Weinland, in 18GO, was the first recent writer to describe and figure 

 the Mexican Coati, but he regarded it as specifically identical with the 

 South American species, of which he made it a variety, calling it Nasua 

 solitaria var. mexicana. De Saussure, two years later, distinguished two 

 species of Mexican Coati, adopting for them Maximilian's names Nasita 

 solitaria and Ndma soeialis, neither of which names have any relation 

 to the Mexican animal. His detailed descriptions and comparison of 

 two specimens, one in winter pelage and the other presumed by him. to 

 be in summer pelage, show that his two species were based merely on 

 characters of individual variation, the one referring to the light phase 

 and the other to the dark phase of the species.{ Later Dr. von Frant- 



* Schreber, however, should perhaps be excepted, as he says the habitat of V. narica 

 is "siidliche Amerika," but which may or may not mean Sou-tit America. 



tDr. Giinther, in the " Zoological Record" for 1869 (p. 17), appears to accredit the 

 species to Peru, as he says " Nasua leucorhynchus from Peru occurs also in Costa Rica," 

 etc., but I have yet to meet with any authority for its occurrence in Peru. 



1 1 append herewith a translation of De Saiissure's remarks respecting the question 

 of whether one or two species exist in Mexico. 



"In Mexico," he says, "the same view prevails among the natives respecting the 

 question of the existence of two species of Coati as in South America. They are dis- 

 tinguished by the names solitaria and socialis (Tejo solo and Tejo de mannada) given 

 by Prinz von Neuwied in his Fauna of Brazil. 



tl Whether this discrimination is arbitrary and rests upon error, as the majority of 

 authors appear to accept, or is well founded, will be here more closely examined. 



1 ' I will first mention that the Coatis of Mexico appear to me to be entirely identical 

 with those of Brazil, and in order to compare the two types I subjoin detailed descrip- 

 tions. 



" Nasna solitaria is larger, of a darker color, than socialis, but still pretty similar to 

 it, and for this reason they are united, being regarded as merely variations of age, the 

 species solitaria as old males, which seclude themselves from the small troops in which 

 -V. socialis live, as do the old deer, wild boars, and elephants. I myself long shared 

 this opinion, but a thorough investigation of the matter induced me to entirely change 

 my view. 



"The principal reasons which to me appear to indicate the propriety of separating 

 the two species are the following : 



"First of all, Nasua solitaria is by no means scarce, though difficult to obtain, as are 

 usually the old male swine. They are as often killed as socialis, which circumstance 

 entirely removes the suspicion that solitaria is nothing but old males, which become soli- 

 iaria when they leave the younger animals, or at least from their second or third year. 

 Finally, 7 have seen in Mexico the self-same Nasua which has been described and figured from 

 life. This individual belonged to Dr. Miiller, whom I fortunately happened to meet 

 in Mexico, and whose Coati I directly compared with those which I had living in my 

 possession. Although all these Coatis at that time were young, and therefore far from 



