[Reprinted.] 



WAR DEPARTMENT, 

 SUKGEON GENEKAL'S OFFICE, 



Washington, March 31, 1877. 



CIRCULAR ORDERS, ) 



No. 1. ^ 



The attention of the Medical Officers of the Army is particu- 

 iarly invited to the following communication addressed to them 

 by Assistant Surgeon Elliott Coues, U. S. Army. 



It is hoped that their assistance and co-operation will be 

 cheerfully given for the reasons stated and in the manner indi- 

 cated by Dr. CouES. 



By order of the Surgeon General: 



0. H. CRANE, 

 Assistant Surgeon General^ U. S. Army. 



Office of U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey, 



Washington, D. C, March 13, 1&77. 

 To the Medical Officers of the Army: 



Medical Officers of the Army, and others who may be interested iu the 

 matter, are respectfully and earnestly invited to cooperate with the under- 

 signed in the preparation of a work entitled "Histori/ of North American Mum- 

 mals,^^ to be published by the Government. 



It is now twenty years since the last general work upon the Quadrupeds 

 of this country appeared. The progress of our knowledge during this period 

 renders the demand for a new treatise imperative. It is proposed to make 

 the forthcoming "History" a standard scientific treatise, covering the whole 

 ground, and fully exhibiting the present state of our knowledge of the sub- 

 ject. The plan of the work may be briefly indicated ; its scope includes— 

 1. The Classification of North American Mammals according to the latest 

 and most approved views of leading therologists, including diagnoses of 

 the orders, families, genera and species. 

 t2. The most acceptable Nomenclature of each species and variety, with ex- 

 tensive Synou,vray. 



3. The elaborate technical Description of each species and variety, including 



much anatomical detail, especially respecting the skull and teeth. 



4. "J'he Geographical Distribution of the species— an important matter, con- 



cerning which much remains to be learned. 



5. The "Life-histories" of the species, or an account, as full and conii)lrto 



as it can be made, of their habits. This is also a matter requiring much 

 further study. 



6. The Bibliography of the subject. 



