PLAN FOR A BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AND 



CENTRAL AMERICA 



By C. Hart Merriam 



CONTENTS 



Page 



L«etter of Transmittal 267 



The Field 267 



Plan 267 



Methods , 268 



Date of Beginning 268 



Cost 268 



Geueral Remarks 269 



Washington, D. C, Itme 13, 1902. 

 To the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institution. 



Gentlemen : I have the honor to submit herewith a plan, and to 

 ask a grant for carrying on, a Biological Survey of Central and 

 South America, with special reference to the terrestrial vertebrate 

 fauna and the woody plants (particularly trees and shrubs), these 

 types having proved the most useful in the study of geographic dis- 

 tribution. 



Respectfully submitted. C. Hart Merriam. 



The Field. — While sporadic collections have been made in m.any 

 parts of Central and South America, no consecutive systematic stud- 

 ies of the faunal areas have been attempted. It is probable that a bio- 

 logical survey of the kind here outlined v/oiild result not only in the 

 discovery of a large nuinber of genera and several thousand species 

 new to science, but also in the accurate outlining of the life areas of 

 the region, and in the acquisition of material which would admit 

 of comprehensive studies as to the origin and relationships of the 

 South American faunas. 



Plan. — The plan contemplates the collection of material and the 

 elaboration of results. This means the employment of a corps of com- 

 petent trained field naturalists and the conduct for a number of years 

 of field expeditions in unknown and little known regions. It is expect- 

 ed that the principal assistants would give part of their time to the 

 personal direction of work in the field and part to the elaboration of 

 results. The specimens collected, together with full field notes re- 

 lating to the same, would be sent to the central office for study. 



(267) 



