RACCOON FAMILY. 
37 
four main tubercles and an inner ridge; while the flesh-tooth in each jaw differs 
from that of all other members of the family in presenting but little approximation 
to the ordinary carnivorous type; being, indeed, more like that of the parti¬ 
coloured bear. 
There appears to be some doubt as to the origin of the name panda, by which 
the animal is very generally known in this country, unless, indeed, it be a 
corruption of the Nipalese niyalya-ponga; the latter name, according to Mr. 
Blanford, meaning bamboo-eater. It is also known in Nipal as the wah. The 
panda is unknown in the Himalaya to the westward of Nipal; but it there lives 
at elevations of from seven thousand to twelve thousand feet. Its eastward range 
the panda. (From Proc. Zool. Soc .—After Sclater.) 
extends through the mountains to the north of Assam into the Chinese province 
of Yunnan. 
An excellent account of the habits of the panda was published many years 
ago by Mr. Brian Hodgson, of which the following is a summary:—As we might 
have supposed from the structure of its teeth, the animal is mainly herbivorous. 
It is also an excellent climber, although feeding chiefly on the ground, and having 
its retreat and breeding-place in holes and clefts of the rocks. Its chief food is com¬ 
posed of various fruits, acorns, the young shoots of bamboos, roots, etc. It will, 
however, also eat eggs, but it is doubtful whether, as asserted, it will touch insects 
or their larvae, while recent observers are in accord as to its habitual rejection of 
all kinds of flesh. Hodgson states that it will sometimes steal down to the villages 
and feast on milk and butter. These animals feed in the morning and evening, and 
