210 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
Raccoon, Pennant, Hist. Quad. 1781, No. 178.—Is. Arctic Zool. I, 1784, 69. (In Leverian Museum.) 
Church, Cabinet of Quadrupeds, II, 1805; plate. 
Raton, St. Hii,. & Cuv. Hist, des Mammiferes, II, 1819; plate, (not paged.) 
Quid Procyon brachyurus, and obscurus, Wiegmann, in Arcliiv, III, 1837, 369, 370.— Schreber, III, pi. cxliii, C. 
D. (interpolated.)— Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. II, 1841, 156, 159. 
Sp. Ch. —General color grayish white, the tips of the long hairs black, and imparting this color to the back Under fur dark 
brown. A large oblique black patch on the cheek, continuous with a paler one beneath the jaw; another behind the ear. End 
of muzzle, except the upper line, together with the posterior border of the cheek patch, whitish. Tail not tapering, with the 
tip and five annuli black; these as broad as the rusty white interspaces. Hind feet not exceeding four inches; above, dirty 
whitish. Fore feet not exceeding 2| inches. 
Varies in being nearly black, with the markings obscured; sometimes more or less yellowish or white, with obsolete markings 
or none. A decided tendency to albinism. 
In the notice of the generic character of Procyon will be found an account of the chief external 
peculiarities of this species derived from the examination of specimens in alcohol. In further 
illustration, I may state that the tail vertebras are not quite half the length of the head and 
body, (10| inches to 22|-,) while the tail, with the hairs, rather exceeds half this length, (12| 
inches to 22J.) The length of the ear, measured on its anterior border, is just the distance 
from the nose to the eye. 
The prevailing color of the common raccoon is a light gray, tinged with pale rusty across the 
shoulders, and much overlaid with black tipped hairs. The under parts are of a similar gray, 
without the black tips, and, like the rest of the body, allow the dull sooty brown under fur to 
show through. The upper surfaces of the feet are whitish gray, with a suffusion of brownish at 
the base. The tail exhibits five distinct black rings, with a tip of the same color; these rings are 
usually continuous all round, especially the four anterior ones, and there is sometimes a trace 
of a sixth ring at the root of the tail above. The intervals are grayish white, more or less 
mixed with rusty ; they are usually a little wider (sometimes not at all so) than the black 
rings. The diameter of the brush is nearly uniform throughout, (2^ to 3 inches,) the end only 
being rounded off. 
There is a dusky streak or band from the black and naked muffle along the upper line of the 
head, which is lost in the crown. This separates the large and nearly black spectacle-like 
patches which encircle the eye, (which is situated near the posterior edge,) and passing obliquely 
downwards and backwards over the cheeks, cease below the line of the commissure of the jaws. 
The anterior line of this patch is halfway between the posterior line and the end of the muzzle; 
the distance between the two patches above is about equal to the width of the muffle, although 
both are more or less confluent with the longitudinal stripe described. Posterior to the cheek 
patches is a conspicuous border of grayish white, lost on the sides of the neck; and the sides of 
the muzzle anterior to the black patch, together with the lips all round, and the chin, are of a 
similar whitish color. The posterior part of the chin is occupied by a broad dusky patch, which 
may almost be said to form part of an annulus encircling the head, of which the dark cheek 
patches constitute the upper portion, and are separated from the lower by the backward 
prolongation of the whitish of the lips. The ears are grayish white. From the inferior and 
posterior base of the ear there extends quite a conspicuous patch of a dark sooty color. 
On a close examination of the hair of this raccoon, the colors of the exterior are seen to be 
due to the long stiff hairs interspersed among the basal fur. These are usually black at the 
extremity, particularly along the back, and subterminally annulated broadly with whitish. 
The base of the hair is also whitish, separated by an annulus of light brownish. The base and 
sub-terminal annulus are accordingly whitish ; the tip and suh-basal annulus dark. On the 
