154 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [FoJ.T. 



species witli an aimulated tail. This later became in part the basis of 

 Erxieben's Viverra vulpecula.* Only the first two of Eiisson's three spe- 

 cies above cited have special importance in the present connection. His 

 diagnoses are so explicit as to leave no donbt respecting the particular 

 species characterized, and they thus render Linne's Yiverra narica and 

 V. ■ nasua perfectly determinable. Buffon also described and figured 

 both species from specimens he was able to study in life, under the 

 names "Le Coati brun" and ''Le Coati noiratre," corresponding respec- 

 tively with Linne's Viverra narica and V. nasua. Schreber copied Buf- 

 fon's plates and adopted Linne's names. He seems, however, to have 

 had personal knowledge of both species, and takes pains to clearly ijoint 

 out their specific differences, alluding to the fact that both Buftbn and 

 Pennant considered Viverra narica a^ merely a "variety" ("blosse Spiel- 

 arten") of V. nasua. Erxleben and Gmelin also adopted Linne's names, 

 and correctly referred to them Brisson's and Buffon's species. G. Cuvier, 

 in 1798, employed Buffon's vernacular names, but referred the species to 

 the genus Ursus, retaining, however, the specific names given by Lirme. ' 

 Shaw, in 1800, gave Viverra narica as a " var.?", remarking that it had 

 usually been considered as a variety of Viverra nasua, but adds: "It is, 

 however, rather larger than the former [V. 7iasua], of a browner color, 

 and without any annuli, or, at least, without any distinct variegations 

 on the tail," thereby shoeing that he api^reciated correctl}^ some of the 

 more obvious external characters of the two species. Up to this time 

 the two species had not been confounded by systematic writers, and the 

 references to Brisson and Buffon prove to have been correctly allocated. 

 Desmarest, in 1817, apparently intended to adopt for the grouj) Storr's 

 generic name Nasua, of which he recognized three species, as follows : 

 1. " Le Coati, Nasua quasje, Geoff'roj^," to which he referred ^^ Viverra 

 quasje, Linn." (i. e., Gmehnt), and Buffon's " le Coati noiratre." 2. " Le 



•■ The Viverra vuliieiiula of Erxlebeu is one of tliose curious eomiDositions so frequently 

 met AvitL. in the works of tlie earlier systematists, particularly tliose of Linn6, Erx- 

 k'beu, and. Gnieliu, based on tlie descri]3tions and. figures of still earlier writers, 

 especially tliose of Hernandez, Seba, Jonston, Brisson, Buffon, and Schreber. These 

 coDipositions frequently embraced what, in the light of the present day, can be recog- 

 nized as several widely diverse species, belonging not unfrequently to distinct fami- 

 lies of animals. While some of the citations are still indeterminable with certainty, 

 tfthers may be readily identified. Erxieben's first citation under his vidpecuJa is 

 " Yzquiepatl sen Vuliiecula, quae Maitzium torrefactum aemulator colore Jlernavd. 

 2Iex. p. 332 cum Jig. mediocr.", which is ajyxiarently the " Ichneumon de Yzquiepatl, sen 

 Yulpecula Americana, qute colore Maizium torrefactum Eemnlator" of Seba (Thesau. i, 

 IG.j'l, G3, pi. xliijfig. 1), said to be "in America Quasje vocatur" and ''vivum ad Suri- 

 nam." The description and figure indicate an animal having some resemblance to a 

 Coali, but is as likely to have been a Eaccoon, and is certainly indeterminable with 

 certainty. With it are combined Brisson's "LeBlaireau de Surinam," which is nn- 

 (juestionahlyaA^tSita, aiidBufi:ou's "LeCoase" (Hist. jSTat., xiii, pp. 288, 299, pi. xxxviii), 

 Wiiich is beyond doubt the Pekan or Fisher of " Virginie," the Mmtela xjennanti oi 

 uiorLern systematists, and (primarily) the Viverra vulpecula of Schreber, which Erxle- 

 bc:! also quotes. 



t Although various writers cite a ^'■Viverra' quasje, Linn.", the name originated with 

 Giueliu (Syst. Nat., i, 87), whose first reference is: "V. castanea subtus flavescens, naso 



