410 Note on the dissection of the Sand Hog. [May, 



bond of union, or kind of link, connecting the extreme limits of the Car- 

 nivora with the omnivorous Pachydermata, but I do not clearly trace 

 the connection here said to exist. That it shows some very marked affi- 

 nities to the Bears cannot be denied, and which are prominently dis- 

 played in its perfectly plantigrade motion, by the form and structure of 

 the foot, and by some of its habits ; but where the connection said to 

 exist between it and the Pigs, beyond a mere accidental resemblance 

 of its head to that animal is to be found, I am at a loss to conceive. 

 If an analogy is to be traced, I should certainly say that in general 

 appearance and physiology it is far more like the Badger than any other 

 animal it has been compared to, and its approximation to it is made 

 apparent by its kindred habits, dentition, and other structural peculiarities, 

 possessing like the Badgers the caudal pouch, and wanting, like them, 

 a true ccecum, which its dissection has pointed out. In short, I in- 

 cline to consider it an aberrant form of Mole leading directly into the 

 Ursine group, rather than taking an intermediate place between the 

 Bears and the Pachydermatous family, to which last it appears from 

 the above dissection to have little or no affinity. 



The importance of making anatomical organization the basis of 

 systematic arrangement, as promulgated by Cuvier in his great work 

 the Regne Animal, cannot be too forcibly insisted on ; it is the only sure 

 and safe guide to a correct analysis of genera and species, and where 

 opportunities present themselves for these investigations they should 

 never be lost sight of, while their results, however uninviting they may 

 appear, should be duly noted and recorded as facts for the information 

 of the systematic naturalist and inquirer after nature. 



P. S. — Since writing the above I have met with a delineation and 

 description of an animal by Bewick (Hist. Quad. 4th edit, Newcastle 

 upon Tyne 1800, page 284) called the " Sand Bear," in which he no- 

 tices the name of " Sow Badger" as one of its appellations. The speci- 

 men from which his drawing was made belonged to the Tower of London 

 Menagerie. He also quotes a white Badger (described by Brisson) as 

 a native of New York, and believed to be of the same species. From 

 the above quoted drawing of Bewick it is clear that the animal was 

 known to English naturalists long before M. Duvaucel's description 

 had appeared ; and I record the fact in order to wipe away a portion of 

 that reproach so frequently cast upon our countrymen, of allowing 

 foreigners the honor of having anticipated us in the wide extended field 

 of Eastern Natural History to which we have such ready access ; and 

 which reproach I am convinced (with as much support as is afforded 

 by the Governments of other European Powers to similar objects,) 

 would never have been either deserved or incurred. 



