HAMILTON: MAMMALOGY IN NORTH AMERICA 673 



... I do not consider that I am offering even a fragmentary presentation of the final 

 truth that is coming. This I feel — that I am merely assembling tools, and some day a 

 great man will come, and with these tools construct a telescope that shall surely reveal 

 to us the vision that the world is awaiting. 



Those of us who acknowledge Setoii's gift for writing, his industry, and his 

 impressive stature as a field naturalist will not long forget his zeal and ambitions. 

 His ability to portray the animals as he saw them has seldom been surpassed. 

 Seton's final effort, indeed his life work, was directed to the Lives of Game Ani- 

 mals, abetted by President T. R. Eoosevelt. In this fine study, the value of which 

 will long be felt, Seton made his greatest contribution in a singular manner. He 

 liberally quotes the sources unavailable to many of the present generation. Well 

 documented, the volumes indicate the sources he searched so assiduously, such as 

 Forest and Stream, the published journals of the older naturalists, and other re- 

 ports that are often hard to come by. Diligent search in any sizable library will 

 find the old notes but Seton brought them together. While one may read a dozen 

 pages without learning much that is new, the fascinating manner in which Seton 

 put them down will long be remembered. 



Many who read Seton's account of a species consider that what he did not 

 record must be new. On the contrary, one can read pages without end in the 

 Lives and find that the study of any one species is yet undeveloped. Seton's 

 volumes on the game animals are a beginning. He amassed the data that have 

 helped us all, but the work is an unfinished report, as Seton knew. 



More recently, the Mammals of North America by Victor Cahalane has pro- 

 vided a wealth of information. His lucid accounts are detailed and provide a 

 ready source of information on our native species. The volumes by Francis 

 Harper Extinct and Yanisking Mammals of the Old World and the late Glover M. 

 Allen's Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, published in 

 1945 and 1942 respectively by the American Committee for International Wildlife 

 Protection, are models of inclusive but concise reports, so thoroughly documented 

 that any biologist can ill afford to pass them by without study. 



The American Midland Naturalist, Ecology, and Ecological Monographs, 

 Journal of Wildlife Mcmagement, the several AVistar Institute journals, and the 

 publications of the state colleges and universities are rich in mammal lore. The 

 many state academies have reports that are of interest to the mammalogist. 



The result of the monumental effort of Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., in compiling the 

 List of North American Recent Mammals, appeared in 1924. This indeed was the 

 crowning effort to a lifetime of research. Included are synonyms, type localities, 

 and usually the range of all the known mammals inhabiting the area from Panama 

 to Greenland. A revision of this important work is in press, Dr. Remington Kel- 

 logg assisting Miller in the task. 



A more recent check list is that of Anderson (1946). In his account of Cana- 

 dian recent mammals, Dr. R. M. Anderson, dean of Canadian mammalogists, 

 compiled a lifetime study of the mammals in the provinces north of our border. 

 His knowledge of Canadian mammals is evident in this report. 



The biology of any animal revolves, of necessity, around two major points. It 

 must eat to live and, second, it must reproduce to perpetuate its kind. The com- 

 prehensive story of reproduction is brought fully to date by Asdell's Patterns of 

 Mammalian Reproduction, published in 1946, in which the author collated most 



