1886:] The Ancestry of Nasua. 325 
immense amount of fossil relics from the same geological forma- 
tion which yielded Tomitherium, Professor Cope has erected the 
order Taxeopoda, which includes these fossil lemurine forms. 
This order occupies the earliest section of the line of the Pri- 
mates. First in these fossil forms come the Lemuroids at the 
base of the Primate lineage. After these extinct forms appear 
the true Lemuroidea, that is, the present or living Lemurs, fol- 
lowed by the monkey proper, and these by the anthropoid apes. 
Now, among the lemurine forms,and fairly started on the quadru- 
l manal line of descent from the typical lemurine order Taxeopoda, 
occurs Phenacodus, after which Tomitherium appears somewhat 
farther advanced on this Primate line. 
Now, on an off-line or branch from the lemurine Taxeopoda, 
Starts the flesh-eating line; first the Creodonta, the “ slaughter- 
teeth,” then the Carnivora proper, with the present living forms. 
Cercoleptes connects Nasua to the extinct Creodonta, and 
through these back to the lemurine order Taxeopoda, their 3 
ancestral stock. ‘ 
So we have at last found the Nasuan lineage and ancestry in 
the Eocene times. Phenacodus was an animal of a synthetic struc- 
ture, a comprehensive type, from which flowed several ordinal 
streams of life. In such a composite form, or structural make-up, ` 
can we not surmise the creative possibilities and purposes of the > 
Divine Mind ? 
It is an interesting fact that in a direct line one of Nasua’s ances- 
tors still exists in the same forests of South America. The kin- 
kajou, Cercoleptes caudivolvulus, reduced to one species. When 
tamed it is an interesting little animal with amiable ways and 
> monkey traits. The tail is prehensile in that it curls around an 
: object, which with plantigrade feet give it in Germany the name. 
curling-bear. Like the monkeys it will hold its food in one hand 
| and break it and feed it to the mouth with the other. So then, 
Sy kinkajou and Coati-Mondi come honestly by their monkey tricks, — 
having a clear title by heritage. | pe 
- Without turning homilist let me close by citing Ruskin and oF 
One of the great ancients: “The greatest thing a human soul 
‘ver does in this world is to see something.” The Hebrew bard 
both sang and prayed : “ Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold 
: glorious things out of thy law!’ And this biogenesis of Coati- 
: Mondi, is it not one of the wonderful things—an outcome of 
Divine law? ee 
