ABSTRACTS 



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BIOLOGY. — A sketch of the natural history of the District of Columbia, 

 together with an indexed edition of the U. S. Geological Survey s 191 7 

 map of Washington and vicinity. W. L. McAtee. Bull. Biol. 

 Soc. Washington 1: 1-142, maps 5. 19 18. 



The purposes of this publication are to present a brief biological 

 history of the District of Columbia, to point out the best places for 

 field work, and to supply geographical assistance. The earliest obser- 

 vation on the natural history of the region was made by Captain John 

 Smith in the year 1608, who reported several kinds of mammals from 

 this region, particularly bears and deer. The first information regarding 

 the botany is furnished by Petiver, who in 1698 published some notes 

 on plants sent him from Maryland. The first formal list of the plants 

 of the District of Columbia was published in 1816, and from the 142 

 species then credited to this region, the list has increased until at the 

 present time there are approximately 1600 species known from the 

 vicinity of Washington. 



Insects, of course, are more numerous here than any other group of 

 animals, and beetles alone number 3000. Several hundred species, 

 chiefly Diptera and Hymenoptera, have been described from material 

 collected near Washington. Of other invertebrates there are known 

 from the District of Columbia, 90 species of mollusks, 308 species of 

 spiders, 10 phalangids, and 246 rotifers. Among the vertebrates, 

 fishes have received more attention than any other group except birds, 

 and there are now 94 species recorded fromthis region, several of which 

 were described from local specimens. Owing to the presence of tide- 

 water, a number of salt-water fishes are found there. Of batrachians 

 there are 27 species, and of reptiles, 36. The birds of the District have 

 been more carefully studied than any other group of vertebrates, and 

 there is now a list of some 300 species and subspecies. Of mammals 

 there are 41 species, 3 of which were originally described from specimens 

 obtained near Washington. It is of interest to note that within his- 

 toric times, the buffalo, elk, and puma were to be found near what is now 



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