116 General Notes. 



for the name itself is based on the rat-like tail, a full figure of the animal 

 is given, and the erroneous description of the teeth only forms quite a 

 subsidiary paragraph, to which typical importance could not be given. 

 Moreover, were we to accept the wrongly allocated skull as the type, the 

 species could never he satisfactorily determined, while the identification 

 of the animal is now practically certain. 



Mr. Goldman's own paper can not he accepted as giving him the 

 authority of a "first reviser," for to have such authority a knowledge of 

 all the pertinent facts is necessary, and Mr. Goldman was naturally una- 

 ware of the confusion about the skulls which has been indicated above. 



As a result the now familiar name Proechimys will remain for the 

 Spiny Rats, while Cercomys will be the proper generic name of the three 

 species hitherto referred to Thrichomys — these being, therefore, Cercomys 

 cunicularius F. Cuv. (1829) (syn. Thrichomys apereoides Lund, 1840), 

 C.fosteri Thos. I 1003) and C. laurentius Thos. ( 1904). 



I may note in conclusion that the condition of the tail shown in the 

 original figure of Cercomys, widely different as it is from that occurring 

 in adult specimens of " Thrichomys," is not unlike what is found in im- 

 mature specimens of that animal. 



—Oldfield Thomas. 



A CORRECTION OF TWO RECENT NAMES FOR MAMMALS. 



In a report upon the mammals collected in Lower California during the 



"Albatross" Expedition of 1911 (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. XXXI, p. 



121') Mr. C. H. Townsend describes two new subspecies of pocket mice as 



Perognathus penicillatus goldmnni and Perognathus spinalus nelsoni. 



Unfortunately for the standing of these subspecific names both are already 



in current use as Perognathus goldmani (Osgood, N. Am. Fauna No. 18, 



p. 54, 1900) and Perognathus nelsoni Merriam (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 



Phila., 1894, p. 266). I would therefore propose to substitute the names 



Perognathus penicillatus seri for the first and Perognathus s]>iimtiis 



occultus for the second of these new subspecies. 



—K. II'. Nelson. 



THE TECHNICAL NAME OF THE TASMANIAN DEVIL. 



In 1903* I gave to the Tasmanian Devil the specific name of satanicus 

 in substitution for that of urs inus, which,, though in use since 1 SOS, was 

 technically inadmissible because of its earlier use for the Tasmanian 

 Wombat. 



Now, however, I find to my regret that another change is necessary 

 owing to an overlooked name, given in a semi-popular work, having been 

 in existence since L842, and therefore long antedating satanicus. 



This is: 



Ursinus harrisi, Boitard, Jardin des Plantes, p. 290, 1842. 



The generic name Ursinus is a synonym of Sarcophilus ( is: 1 ,?), but the 

 specific name would be valid, and the name of the Tasmanian Devil 

 should therefore be Sarcophilus harrisi Boitard. 



—Oldfield Thomas. 



* Ann. Mag. N. H. (7), XI, p. 289, 1903. 



