L33] 



noticeable several Trilliums, and the Ginseng Aralia quinque- 

 folia^ the collecting of which in this section of the Virginias 

 forms an important business with many of the inhabitants, and 

 on the summit of White Top Mountain I liave observed Oxalis 

 acetosella a very characteristic plant of the northern New York 

 and New England woods. 



The rhodendrons which are very abundant often cover areas of 

 great extent which are thereby rendered almost impassable with- 

 out the use of the axe. 



But little has been written in detail upon the Flora of West 

 Virginia but in the mountain region it resembles the Flora of the 

 corresponding section of its sister State, and in the less elevated 

 portions does not differ very markedly from that of some of the 

 parts of Eastern Virginia. A list of 77 trees and plants taken 

 from the Transactions of the West Virginia Medical Society, 

 besides other botanical information has been given by Prof. 

 Fontaine.* 



Among the mammals of the Virginias are the Raccoon, 

 Procyo7i lotor (the Aroughcun of Capt. John Smith), the 

 Opossum, Didelphis virsriniaita^ the Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes 

 var. fulviis^ the Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereo-argentatus^ the 

 Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis^ the Fox Squirrel, Sciurus 

 niger var. cincreus, the Flying Squirrel, Sciuropterus volans^ 

 the Ground Squirrel, Tamias striat7is^ the Woodchuck, 

 Arctomys motiax, the Common Hare, Lepus sylvatlcus^ the 

 Common Mole, Scalops aquaticus^ the Muskrat, Fiber zibethicus^ 

 the Skunk, Alephitis amcricana and the Mink, Putorius 

 vison. Deer in many districts are abundant and Bears are 

 not uncommon. Wild-cats are still to be found and a few Wolves 

 and panthers. On White Top Mountain I have found the Red 

 Squirrel, Sciurus hudsonius^ common. In some counties the 

 Otter, Lutra canadensis^ and a very few Beaver, Castor fiber ^ 

 are said yet to remain. Up to about the middle of the eighteenth 

 century the Elk and Buffalo were very abundant, one of their 

 favourite resorts being the Big Lick near the situation now occu- 

 pied by the town of Roanoke, at the junction of the Norfolk 



*Resotirces of West Virginia by M. F. Maury and Wni. M. Fontaine, A. M. 

 Wheeling, 1876. 



