222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1897. 



Mr. Larrabee, who recognized the specific distinction between the 

 two, told me that he knew certainly of the capture of one in Cam- 

 eron or Potter County within 16 years. 



I have received no information of authentic records of the recent 

 capture of this species in the State. 



47. Felis concolor L. Puma, Panther. 



Once found in all portions of the Commonwealth, the Panther now 

 is restricted to the most inaccessible mountain districts. The numer- 

 ous wild cat and " catamount " stories which find their way into the 

 newspapers, describing the capture of so-called Panthers in the Alle- 

 gheny Mountains, have justly made the more conservative class 

 skeptical of their existence in the State. Careful inquiry, however, 

 shows that not only are there well authenticated instances of their 

 capture within the last ten years, but that a few may remain in the 

 wilderness of Clearfield and its surrounding counties, as well as in 

 the northeastern section of the State. 



Sullivan County: — "My father killed the last one in this region 

 certainly known to me, between the years 1855 and 1860" — Bennett. 



Clinton and Clearfield Counties : — " There may be one or two yet 

 in Clearfield County ; but the Askey boys and I killed 2, two years 

 ago [1891] " — Nelson. In a later letter Mr. Nelson writes : " Those 

 panthers skins, with two others, went to Germany with a lot of other 

 furs, by Schrader & Co. I did not kill the panther, it got in my 

 bear-trap, and was dead when I came to the trap." Not being able 

 to hear more particularly from Mr. Nelson at this writing, I interpret 

 him to mean that the " Askey boys " killed their panther in Clear- 

 field County on a hunting trip with Nelson. This is in line with a 

 statement he made to me in conversation one year ago. The panther 

 caught in bear-trap by Nelson was probably caught on his regular 

 trapping grounds in Clinton County. 9 



Potter and Cameron Counties :—" None known to have been 

 killed in 20 years. Accounts of such killing unreliable" — Larrabee. 



48. Scalops aquaticus (L.). Carolinian Mole. 



Judging by the scarcity of signs, I should think the common mole 

 less common, even in the lowlands of central Pennsylvania, than in 

 the Delaware valley drainage. 



9 Mr. Nelson has since written that no panthers have been taken since the 

 "Long boys killed one about 4 years ago on the big run of Beech Creek." 

 [Centre Co. ?]. 



