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Show 346 DR. ST. G. MIVART ON THE ARCTOIDEA. [Apr. 21, markably modified in character, is numerically that of the Procyonida: ; but certain cranial peculiarities and its Asiatic habitat lead me to concur with Mr. Turner in placing it in a distinct group. " The Mustelida constitute a large, widely diffused, and somewhat disjointed group, but exceedingly difficult to reduce into natural subfamilies. The most aberrant or specialized are the Otters, which, ending with Enhydris, run parallel to the Bears towards the Pinni-pedia." In his article "Mammalia" in the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' Professor Flower arranges the Arctoidea as follows : - ARCTOIDEA. Family MUSTELIDA. I. Subfamily LUTRIN^E. . . . Latra, Aonyx, Fnhydra. II. Subfamily M E L I N ^ E .... Mephitis,Arctonyx,Mydaus, Meles, Taxidea, Mellivora, Helictis, Ictonyx. III. Subfamily M U S T E L I N E . . Galictis, Mustela, Putorius, Gulo. Family P R O C Y O N I D ^ E . Procyon, Bassajds, Bassaricyon, Nasua, Cercoleptes. Family AiLURiDiE. Ailurus. Family URSID^E. Ailuropus, Ursus, Melursus. Before proceeding to express how far I completely concur in this arrangement, I will give m y notes on the various genera, ending with what Professor Flower regards as the most aberrant type, and beginning with what is perhaps the most generalized form. In beginning the Arctoid group, then, I take the genus Procyon as m y type and standard of comparison. The genus consists of two, if not three species, as correctly indicated by Dr. Sclater 1. The oldest known form, that from North America, P. lotor 2, has 1 See P. Z. S. 1875, p. 421. 2 Mapach quanhpecoW, Hernandez, De Quad. Nov. Hisp. Folio I. Cap. 1. 1651. Ursus cauda elongata, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. 1735, p. 35. El Amerikanstet, Diur, Konigl. Vetenskaps Akad. Handl. 1747, p. 277, tab. ix. Ursus lotor, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) i. 1758, p. 48 (ed. 12) i. 17C6, p. 70; Erxleben, Syst. Reg. Anim. 1777, p. 165; Schreber. Saug. iii. 1778, p. 521, pi. 143; Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. 1788, p. 103; Harlan, F. A. 1825, p. 23. Procyon lotor, Storr, Prod. Meth. Anim. 1780; Desmarest, Mammalogie, 1820, p. 168 ; Griffith's Cuvier, v. 1827, p. 114; Fischer's Synopsis, 1829, p. 147; Audubon and Baohman, vol. ii p. 47, pi. lxi.; Wagner's Supplement, Abth. ii. 1841, p. 154; Isid. Geof. St.-Hilaire, Zool. Voy. Venus, p. 125, pi. vi.; P. Gervais, Mammiferes, vol. ii. (1855) p. 24; Allen, Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, vol. ii. p. 325 ; Baird, M a m m . N. Amer. p. 207; Alston, Biologia, p. 69 ; Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam, Trans, of Linn. Soc. of N. York, Dec. 1882, vol. i. p. 71. P. hernandezii, Wagler, Isis, 1831, p. 514; Baird, M a m m . N. Amer. p. 212, |