1902.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. A~)0 



to uear base of nock, being about two inches long and three- 

 quarters of au inch broad in the widest part Its coh)r is ochrace- 

 oiis-buff. The fulhiess, density and length of pelage is noticeable, 

 and the slight contrast in color of the basal portion of the fur with 

 that of the apical half is unique, so far as I have examined speci- 

 mens. In even the darkest Labrador skins of hnunalis, the triple- 

 zoned color pattern typical of marten fur is quite as marked as in 

 lighter-hued races; but in abietlnoides, as illustrated by this Gold 

 Range specimen, the subapical or intermediate color zone of the 

 individual hairs is absent and their dark apices merge insensibly 

 into the more ashy-brown of their bases. Taken as a sample, this 

 skin would seem to me to indicate that the Selkirk mountain animal 

 furnishes one of the most desirable marten pelts, from the furrier's 

 standpoint, that can be found in North America. 



The skull of this specimen, as well as that of another, sexed 

 female, from the same locality, show, in comparison with female 

 skulls of same age from the Mackenzie river regions, that abietl- 

 noides is not only specifically identical with M. a. aetiwsa, but tliat 

 it is only slightly smaller in size, being intermediate iu tlie latter 

 feature between M. americcma of Lake Superior and Arctic exam- 

 ples of actaosa. As regards coloration, abietinoides is farther 

 removed from actaosa than any other race of the americana group. 

 It is allied most closely, as regards color pattern, with its geo- 

 graphic ally, origenes of the main Rocky mountain chain. The 

 teeih, audital bullae and the proportions and configuration of skull 

 in abietinoides are precisely as in the americana, as contrasted with 

 the caurina type of cranium. 



Prof. Oldfield Thomas, who examined for me the Drummond 

 and Lord specimens of Mustela in the British ^Museum which formed 

 the basis of Gray's abietinoides, agrees with me that the Drummond 

 specimens should be considered the types iu a determinatiou as to the 

 status of this name. As the use by Gray of one or more si)eci- 

 mens, probably taken by Lord in the habitat of caurina, further 

 necessitates this division, the natural course, as already somewhat 

 explained under remarks on " tyjie locality," has been to retain 

 caurina for these and restrict abietinoides to the very distinct race 

 of ajuertcfma inhabiting the hemlock and cedar (Tsurja ct Thuja) 

 forests of the western offshoots of the British Columbia Ivockie.s. 

 Prof. Thomas states that a Drunmioud specimen in the British 



