70 MAMMALIA. 



Nasua, Storr. 

 The Coatis, to the teeth, tail, nocturnal habit, and slow dragging gait of 

 the Raccoon, add a singularly elongated and flexible snout. The feet are 

 semi-palmate, notwithstanding which they climb trees. Their long claws 

 are used for digging. They inhabit the warm climates of America, and 

 their diet is nearly the same as that of the Marten of Europe. 



Viverra nasua, L. (The Red Coati.) Reddish fawn colour; muzzle 

 brown; tail with brown rings. 



This is perhaps the only proper place for the singular genus of the Kiir- 

 KAJous or Potto, Cuv. which, to a plantigrade walk, adds a long prehen- 

 sile tail like that of the Sapajous, a short muzzle, a slender and extensible 

 tongue, two pointed grinders before, and three tuberculous ones behind. 



Only one species is known, the Viverra caudivolvula, Gm. From the 

 warm parts of America and from the great Antilles, where it is called Potto; 

 size of a Polecat; hair woolly, and of a grey or yellowish brown; habits 

 nocturnal; of a mild disposition, and lives on fruit, milk, honey, blood, &c. 



Meles, Storr. 

 The Badgers, which Linnjeus placed with the Raccoons in the genus 

 Ursus, have a very small tooth behind the canine, then two pointed molars 

 followed in the upper jaw by one that we begin to recognize as carnivorous 

 from the trenchant vestige it exhibits on its outer side; behind this is a 

 square tuberculous one, the largest of all. Below, the penultimate begins 

 to show a resemblance to the inferior carnivorous teeth, but as there are 

 two tubercles on its internal border as elevated as its trenchant edge, it acts 

 as a tuberculous one; the last below is very small. 



The slow movements of the Badgers and their nocturnal habits are like 

 those of the preceding animals; their tail is short, the toes are much en- 

 veloped in the skin, and they are otherwise peculiarly distinguished by a 

 sac under the tail, from which oozes a fatty, fetid humour. The long claws 

 of their fore-feet enable them to dig with great effect. 



M. europxa. (The European Badger.) Greyish above, black beneath, 

 a blackish band on each side of the head(l). 



GuLo, Storr. 



Linnsus also placed the Gluttons among the Bears, but they approximate 

 much nearer to the Weasels in their teeth as well as in their habits, the 

 only relation they have to the former consisting in their plantigrade mo- 

 tion. They have three false molars above and four below, immediately 

 antecedent to the carnivorous teeth, which are well characterized, and be- 

 hind them two small tuberculous ones, the upper being more broad than 

 long. Their superior carnivorous tooth has only one small tubercle on the 



(1) The American Badger. Mel. hudsonius is a different species. — Am. 

 Ed. 



