ORDER OE CARNIVORA. 
425 
gression, and are armed with strong and somewhat sharp nails ; 
the pelage is abundant, and the tail bushy. 
Racoons are omnivorous, though vegetable substances predomi- 
nate in their alimentation. Roots and fallen fruit form the staple 
of their nourishment. They climb trees to gather eggs, and even 
to capture young birds in the nest. 
Two species of the Racoon are known : the Common Racoon 
(Fig. 173) is distributed over North America, from the Gulf of 
Mexico to Canada. It is easily tamed, and makes a capital pet, 
although rather mischievous in its proclivities. The boatmen of 
the Ohio and Mississippi teach them many tricks, and after- 
Fig. 173. — Common Eacoon ( Procyon lotor). 
wards exhibit them to public curiosity. The Crab- eating Racoon 
is also a native of America. Crabs and other shell-fish, as may 
he imagined from its name, are its principal support. It is 
slimmer and more active than the former. 
The Kinkajou, or Potto ( Cercoleptes caudivolvus , F. Cuv.). — 
Uncertainty has been felt for some considerable time as to the 
place which ought to he assigned to this genus in the zoological 
series. Some naturalists have placed it in the Quadrumanous 
Order, and others have created for it a special family among the 
Carnivora, desiring thus to show that they considered it something 
intermediate between the two above-named Orders. No hesita- 
tion, however, ought to he felt in classing it among the Viverridse 
Family, to which it manifests undoubted affinity. 
It must he confessed that the Kinkajou bears some resemblance 
to certain species of Monkeys, especially to the Sapajous, its head 
being nearly the same shape, and its tail long and prehensible. 
Its coat, too, is of a woolly texture, which is another point of 
