81 

 ANCii.iNc; intukSt. Lawkkxck and I.akkO.ntaiuo. By JIarton W. Kvkk.manx. 



TiiK Mammaj,s OK Indiana. I!v A. W. lUi i,hr. 



( >iU' n\ tlif ailvautanes of a work iiixm the uaiiiial liibtiTv ni a rcgidii is llie 

 <ipport unity it aH'cids for tTitirisiu, correction ami foi' the accuiuiilation of addi- 

 tional material. ( hie's friends after ijoinsi: over tile jiajn-r will say they liad not 

 thought the occurrence of a t^iven sju'cies of any importance. Tht'y are common 

 in tlie neiiihltorliood. A fruitless search for that fact has ri(|nircd much time in 

 the investigation. Yet here is a per on w lio has had all the lime tlie information 

 sought, Imt thoiiyht it of no consequence. If we could oidy gel togetiier in a 

 proper j)lace tlu' fads known hy our meiidiers which are not considered of any 

 special importance, what a great help it would he to our investigators. These 

 meetings are the place for such a deposit of facts- a clearing-house in the various 

 lields of research, especially in zo(llogy, hotany, geology, ami anthroiiology. 

 Since the })ublicatiou of the papers on Indiana uuimmals hy Prof. Evermann and 

 my.self, (juite a number of notes which would have lieen very acceptable a year 

 ago have come into my hands. Many of these were called out hy the papei' men- 

 tioned, l-'rom them I select some which may lie of int(,'resl to the Academy, and 

 possibly to the public generally. 

 1. I >iih I pli !■•< ciif/i II iana Hhnw. C'ommcm ()possum. 



I am enabled through the kindness of Mr. W. W. Pfrimiuer, to report their 

 occurrence in Jasper and Newton counties. In ISIill when he first 

 knew them there, they were rare, and so continued until 1S8(». lie re- 

 calls but two si)ecimens that he had seen in that period. 'I hey have 

 been increasing since, and are now tolerably common. Several have 

 been reported the present winter from the vicinity of I-afayette l)y 

 Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test. Among them were three young. 

 Mr. K. J. Chansler, of Knox County, says: 'possums are becoming rare in 

 that locality, .\bout ISoit, he notes, as an illustration of the abund- 

 ance of the animal, one evening, after they had killed hogs, they 

 killed eight opossums in the door-yard before l)ed time. They had 

 l)robably been attracted by the offal of the slaughter. In those days, 

 in that land of the persimmon, the edges of the |)rairies were the places 

 where, in the fall and winter, the two were found together — the persim- 

 mon and the opossum. 

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