84 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [ FEB. 23, 
that relates to field work in mammals has been brought to an 
almost ideal state of proficiency. And all this is due, primarily, 
to the efforts and example of one man—Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 
formerly of Locust Grove, Lewis County, New York, now 
Chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy of the 
United States Department of Agriculture. He, realizing the 
importance of well-prepared skins, in large series from as many 
localities as possible, and of accurate data as to time and place 
of capture, and of measurements taken from the specimen before 
skinning, began, many years since, to form a collection for his 
own cabinet, which eventually became one of the most extensive 
and valuable in the country. An expert himself in all that 
relates to the capture and preservation of specimens, he trained 
collectors and sent them to remote parts of the country, and soon 
gathered a rich harvest, replete with novelties, some of them 
of startling character, so widely did they differ from any- 
thing previously known. Later, under the auspices of the 
Department of Agriculture, he has pushed the work with 
still greater activity, resulting in the recent establishment of 
what practically amounts to the inception of a Biological Sur- 
vey, on a grand scale, of the United States, which, in the in- 
terest of science and in the economic interests of the country, it 
is to be hoped will be long liberally sustained. 
The number of skilled collectors is rapidly increasing, with 
the result that our leading museums are now receiving much 
more and far better material than was ever before available for 
study. ‘To contrast once more the old with the new, it may be 
stated that more specimens of the smaller mammals of North 
America were collected during the year 1890 than all that Pro- 
fessor Baird had at his command in 1857 for the preparation of 
his great work on North American mammals—specimens, too, 
incomparably better as regards their quality and utility for sci- 
entific investigation. 
While, ten or twelve years ago, it was commonly supposed 
that comparatively little remained to be learned respecting the 
mammals of North America, beyond a few details regarding 
their distribution and habits, we are now little less than awed by 
the evident extent of our ignorance of the subject, as shown by 
the astonishing discoveries of the last four or five years, and 
recognize the obvious necessity of a careful revision of the whole 
field. 
From this point the paper was continued extemporaneously, 
and the speaker, by means of specimens for illustration, showed 
the difference in the character of the material formerly avail- 
