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660 NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
struggle going on among them, each preying on, or being preyed ‘ 
on by other species. Rog 
Even in our aquarium this struggle can be witnessed, as illus- — 
trated in the first part of these sketches ; also among microscopic x 
creatures, the subject of the present paper. They also have their i 
enemies, the fish swallow them in countless thousands, while the 
smaller ones supply the larger ones with food. 
In the economy of nature no creature lives for its own happi- 
ness alone, but by its destruction, contributes to the happiness of 
others. The balance of power is not entrusted to any particular 
class or species, and He who in wisdom made them all governs 
and guides the whole.— A. S. Rircnte, in Canadian Naturalist 
and Geologist. 
- Hysrm Between Car anb Raccooyx.—I saw yesterday (May 
2d, 1871) the most interesting hybrid animal I ever examined; 
and hasty as the examination was, it may be worth mentioning. 
Passing through Taunton, Mass., I saw in the doorway of Mr. 
Dunbar’s bookstore what struck me, at first, as being the hand- 
somest cat I had ever beheld. The second glance revealed am 
unmistakable look of wildness; and, for a moment, it seemed to 
me that it must be some creature of the squirrel kind, at any rate 
something else than a cat. On inquiry, I found it to be the of 
spring of a domestic cat and a tame raccoon, kept in the same 
family in China, Maine. I was informed that there had been sev- 
eral litters of these hybrids, and Mr. Dunbar had before owned 
one of a previous litter. That had been stolen, and he had ob- 
tained this younger one, now seven months old, from Maine. 
She is larger than an average cat of that age, and is at once 
distinguishable both in shape and color. The color is a dark 
tawny, brindled with streaks that are almost black, on body and 
legs, and more obscurely on the tail. The under side of the body 
is lighter, as you will see from the matted hair which I enclose, and 
which was cut from the under side of one of the hind legs. (She 1s 
just now shedding her hair.) All the darker tints are quite unlike 
any that I ever saw in a cat. In shape she is somewhat slender, 
I should say, though this is concealed by the great length of we 
hair. The legs seem longer than a cat’s, and there is something 
peculiar inher gait as if they were set on differently. Her walk 
is neither plantigrade nor yet quite feline, while it is easy and not 
