76 Ursid^. — —MAMMALIA. Ursid.®. 
they are permitted to help themselves. If captured 
while still young, they are readily tamed, and become 
very playful and agreeable companions. Notwith- 
standing, however, all that has been recorded in their 
favour, we do not ourselves either propose or recom- 
mend the rearing of a family of badgers. We heartily 
rejoice that the barbarous custom of badger-baiting 
bas now completely passed away ; but we still recol- 
lect an exhibition of this kind some twenty years ago, 
in a village in the county of Suffolk, since which time 
various societies have been established throughout the 
kingdom for the humane purpose of suppressing cruelty 
to noxious as well as inoffensive animals, 
THE KINKAJOTJ {Cercoleptes caudivolvula ). — By 
some authors the kinkajou is placed among the Viver- 
ridse. Although its geneial aspect would at first 
naturally lead us to coincide with such an arrange- 
ment, yet its structural characters are evidently 
more intimately associated with the Ursidae, and con- 
sequently we have introduced it in this place. Unlike 
the badgers, its head is short, rounded, and more 
resembling the apes, the muzzle being only very 
slightly produced. The jaws are furnished with thirty- 
six teeth, there being twelve incisors, four canines, 
twelve spurious, and eight true molars. The two 
anterior grinders on either side, above and below, 
are conical, the remainder being tuberculated. Their 
crowns are also flattened, those of the lower jaw having 
an oblong form, while the upper series are a little 
widened transversely. The tongue is slender and 
extensile. The body is cylindrical, a good deal curved 
posteriorly, and terminates in a long prehensile tail. 
According to Mr. Blyth, its capacity of employing the 
tail as a fifth limb is very limited ; for he says — “ One 
which I had an opportunity of studying as it ran about 
loose in a room, possessed the prehensile power of 
the tail in an extremely moderate degree, merely 
resting slightly on this organ, which it stift’ened 
throughout its length, and never colled in the manner 
of the Sapajous.” Frederick Cuvier’s figure represents 
the tail several times coiled upon itself. The feet are 
five-toed and plantigrade. The fur is thick and 
woolly, and of a golden-yellow brownish colour. The 
kinkajou is an inhabitant of the tropical paits of 
America, and of the principal West India islands. It 
is strictly arboreal and nocturnal in its habits, cau- 
tiously moving to and fro, and feeding on fruits, honey, 
milk, insects, eggs, small birds, and quadrupeds. Its 
disposition appears to be peculiarly mild and gentle. 
THE BROWN COATIMONDI {Nasua «arfca)— Plate 
11, fig. 38. — The genus Nasua includes two or more 
species of coati, of which this is probably the best 
known form. It is distinguished by the presence of 
white patches over the eye and muzzle. In the red 
coati, on the other hand, the snout is quite brown, the 
fur, generally, being of a rufo-fulvous hue. Without, 
however, insisting very strongly on these specific dis- 
tinctions, we may observe that the coatis are charac- 
terized by the possession of an elongated head, the 
muzzle being extended into a movable proboscis. 
The superior border is particularly narrow, while the 
tip is slightly turned upwards. The ears are short, 
broad, and oval. The jaws are provided with forty 
teeth ; that is to say, twelve incisives, four canines, 
sixteen premolars, and eight true molars. The canines 
are somewhat compressed, and have sharp points. 
The molars are comparatively small, three of the lower 
series being narrower than those of the upper. These 
animals are eminently arboreal in their habits, and 
consequently we find their plantigrade, pentadactylous 
feet admirably adapted for the purposes of climbing. 
The hinder feet are semi-palmate, and so freely do the 
tarsal bones move upon the leg, that when descending 
head-foremost they almost hang by them ; their ordi- 
nary position, as maintained in walking, being nearly 
reversed. The toes are connected by an extension of 
the skin, and are provided with long, compressed, 
incurved claws. These they employ in digging up 
earthworms and various subterranean insects. They 
also feed upon slugs, snails, small quadrupeds, and 
more particularly upon eggs, birds, and various kinds 
of fruit, and vegetables. In short, nothing seems to 
come amiss, and their appetite is extremely vigorous. 
Before they actually devour the flesh of animals, they 
are careful to tear it in pieces and detach it. Without 
entering at any great length into the structure of 
the skeleton, a drawing of which is given in Plate 
34, fig. 113, we may remark a general slimness 
of the several osseous elements of which it is com- 
posed. It may also be observed that the elongated 
head slopes very much backwards, while the degree 
of this animal’s carnivority is shown by the aspect of 
the teeth already described, and more particularly by 
the sharp, prominent, occipital crest and ridge, which 
afford attachment to the powerful muscles of the neck 
— an arrangement enabling the animal to raise its head 
rapidly with great force, so as to impart to the jaws 
the necessary aid in tearing away the soft flesh from 
off the bones of its victims. We may likewise notice 
one other more remarkable peculiarity in the skeleton. 
It is seen in the curious fact that only a single bone or 
vertebral segment is found to represent what is termed 
the sacrum, while in the typical bears and carnivors, 
properly so called, there are always three or four 
conjoined osseous elements, and in the polar bear as 
many as seven. This phenomenon probably bears 
some relation to the arboreal habits of the coati, and 
this power of climbing requires, as we have seen, the 
utmost freedom of motion in the hinder parts of the 
body, while it forms an interesting contrast with the 
consolidated chain of bony elements witnessed in the 
slow-moving bears. The tail of the coatimondi is very 
long, and is marked externally by numerous annula- 
tions, depending upon the alternating dark and light- 
brown hairs which extend from the root to the tip. 
In otlier parts of the body the colours are more or less 
uniform, and, from the observations of the Prince of 
Neuwied, it would appear that the slight differences of 
colour occurring in the fur of various individuals, are 
entirely insufficient tc indicate the correctness of those 
specific definitions which have hitherto been regarded 
as established. 
THE BINTURONG {Iciides alhifrons) approximates 
very closely to the racoons, especially in the form of 
the skull. It is an inhabitant of the isles of Borneo, 
Malacca, Sumatra, and the western parts of Java, 
