1898.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 481 



Dr. Bachmau named the mouse Arvicola oryzivora. Upon com- 

 parison with specimens in the Academy collection Dr. Harlan not 

 only found that Bachman's mouse was quite distinct from Arvicola 

 riparia but also discovered that a mounted specimen identical with 

 it was already in the collection labelled from " Fastland " near 

 Salem, N. J. 



He thereupon ignored Bachman's manuscript and described the 

 New Jersey specimen under the name of Mus paiustris. 1 Baird 

 subsequently established the genus Oryzomys for it, and it has since 

 been known as Oryzomys paiustris (Harlan). 



Further explorations have shown that the Rice-field Mouse is 

 distributed from North Carolina to Texas but until the present time 

 no other specimens have been obtained from New Jersey. For 

 some time past Mr. S. N. Rhoads has made persistent efforts to dis- 

 cover this animal and has trapped without avail in Cape May Co., 

 Port Norris, and Salem. 



As a result of the failures it seemed most probable that the 

 original Harlan specimen had been wrongly labelled and that the 

 Bice-field Mouse was not a member of the New Jersey fauna. This 

 view had in fact been generally adopted. 



Mr. Warrington's rediscovery of the animal in this State after a 

 lapse of at least sixty-two years is therefore of great interest. 



He states that the specimens were secured on the marshes border- 

 ing Delaware Bay about midway between Port Norris and Salem, 

 and that they were inhabiting old Muskrat houses in which they 

 had made their nests. 



Mr. Stone stated further that steps would be at once taken to 

 secure a satisfactory series of these mice for comparison with those 

 of the Carolinas as there is a possibility of the latter proving a dis- 

 tinct subspecies. 



The form inhabiting Florida has been already separated by Chap- 

 man as Oryzomys paiustris natator. 



The following were elected members: — 



Charles Mohr, M. D., Henry L. Broomal, H. B. Gross, Miss 

 Emily Lowber, Miss Ethel Smith, Mrs. Julia Stockton Robins, 

 Miss Emily Williams Biddle and Mrs. J. Edgar Thomson. 



The following were ordered to be printed : — 

 1 Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, XXXI, 385. 



