84 . TRANSACTIONS OF THE [FEB. 23, 



that relates to field work in mammals has been brought to au 

 almost ideal state of proficiency. And all this is due, primarily, 

 to the efforts and example of one man — Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 

 formerly of Locust Grove, Lewis County, New York, now 

 Chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. He, realizing the 

 importance of Avell-prepared skins, in large series from as many 

 localities as possible, and of accurate data as to time and place 

 of capture, and of measurements taken from the specimen before 

 skinning, began, many years since, to form a collection for his 

 own cabinet, which eventually became one of the most extensive 

 and valuable in the country. An expert himself in all that 

 relates to the capture and preservation of specimens, he trained 

 collectors and sent them to remote parts of the country, and soon 

 gathered a rich harvest, replete with novelties, some of them 

 of startling character, so widely did they differ from any- 

 thing previously known. Later, under the auspices of the 

 Department of Agriculture, he has pushed the work with 

 still greater activity, resulting in the recent establishment of 

 what practically amounts to the inception of a Biological Sur- 

 vey, on a grand scale, of the United States, which, in the in- 

 terest of science and in the economic interests of the country, it 

 is to be hoped will be long liberally sustained. 



The number of skilled collectors is rapidly increasing, with 

 the result that our leading museums are now receiving much 

 more and far better material than was ever before available for 

 study. To contrast once more the old with the new, it may be 

 stated that more specimens of the smaller mammals of North 

 America were collected during the year 1890 than all that Pro- 

 fessor Baird had at his command in 1857 for the preparation of 

 his great work on North American mammals — specimens, too, 

 incomparably better as regards their quality and utility for sci- 

 entific investigation. 



"While, ten or twelve years ago, it was commonly supposed 

 that comparatively little remained to be learned respecting the 

 mammals of North America, beyond a few details regarding 

 their distribution and habits, we are now little less than awed by 

 the evident extent of our ignorance of the subject, as shown by^ 

 the astonishing discoveries of the last four or five years, and 

 recognize the obvious necessity of a careful revision of the whole 

 field. 



From this point the paper was continued extemporaneously, 

 and the speaker, by means of specimens for illustration, showed 

 the difference in the character of the material formerly avail- 



