THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 55 



kinds, even tliose most common, of the mice, moles, shrews, &c., are 

 very desirable. 



A particular desideratum, as yet unsatisfied, is the Florida pouched 

 rat, or "salamander," {Geomys pineti,) abundant in Florida and 

 Georgia, where, though its heaps of earth are met with in every direc- 

 tion, the animal itself is rarely seen and caught. A steel trap set at 

 night, and baited with sweet potatoes, or other vegetable substance, 

 would probably secure them readily, as the western species may be 

 taken in like manner. 



While the species from the west of the Missouri are universally 

 desirable, the large reddish-brown hare of northern Texas, the black 

 and grizzly bear, the wolverine or glutton, the black-tailed deer of 

 the Missouri, and the Rocky mountain goat, are of particular in- 

 terest. 



As an additional illustration of our desiderata among the mammals, 

 I subjoin a copy of a circular on the subject, issued by you last spring, 

 and containing special instructions for preserving and forwarding. 



Skeletons, with skulls of mammals, as indeed of all vertebnita, are 

 always desirable. 



Of birds, the most prominent desiderata from the eastern portion 

 of the continent are the American golden eagle, {Aquila cJirT/saetos,) 

 the flamingo, (Fhcenicopterus ruber,) and tbe courleco, (Aramils scolo- 

 paceus,) from Florida, and the trumpeter-swan, (Ci/gmis buccinator,) 

 of the upper Mississippi. 



Eggs of birds are always desirable, especially such as may serve to 

 complete the work of Dr. Brewer on American eggs, now under way. 



Among the North American reptiles, there are but two species of 

 serpents described by Dr. Holbrook not in the collection ; these are the 

 Coluber couperi, or gopher snake, a very large, thick blue-black snake, 

 found on the dry pine hills on the seaboard of Georgia, especially 

 along the Altamaha river ; the other is the Trigonocephalus airofuscus ^ 

 a ooppei'-head snake, having subquadrate blotches on the back, and 

 quite dark in color. This species is found in Tennessee. 



Of tbe tortoises, any terrapins from the Atlantic, Gulf coasts, or 

 the West, are desirable, and these can readily be sent alive. The 

 Florida land-turtle, or "gopher," is also wanted. Of the salaman- 

 ders, large numbers of the Menobranchus, Menopoma, Siren, and Am- 

 phiuma, are always wanted for dissection or distribution. These 

 may be popularly described as lizard-shaped animals, with slimy 

 skins, living in water or mud, especially of rice-fields, (from the south- 

 ern kinds,) having two or four legs, and with or without gills on the 

 sides of the neck. They are usually called alligators in the western 

 States, though erroneously ; in size they range from six inches to two 

 feet. 



Of fishes, those particularly desirable are the species of sunfish, 

 &c, , found in fresh- water creeks, emptying directly into salt or brack- 

 ish water. 



E — Premiums for Collections. 



It may, under certain circumstances, be desirable for State organiza- 

 tions, such as that of the New York Cabinet of Natural History, to 



