42 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



members may, during the coming summer, 

 collect in the selected departments now 

 specified, namel}', minerals, carboniferous 

 and other fossils, shells, of which one mem- 

 ber might undertake the littoral, a second 

 the fluviatile, and a third the land shells ; 

 insects, one undertaking the Lepidoptera, a 

 second the Coleoptera, and a third the spiders 

 or Arachnida ; marine Algse or sea-weeds, the 

 collection and manipulation of which are 

 well suited for lady members, as their pre- 

 paration requires both patience and delicacy 

 of touch ; plants, one undertakingthe grasses, 

 another the ferns, another the flowering 

 plants, and so on. Limitation to one family 

 of a class is a good rule for a collector, for, 

 if too wide a class be attempted, a partial and 

 imperfect list is often the result. 



These seem to be the simplest methods 

 by which collections can be set afoot ; 

 and afterwards brought into your deposi- 

 tory, where the specimens maybe identified, 

 named, and a scientific arrangement begun. 



All collectors should bear in mind to note 

 carefully the locality' from which specimens 

 are obtained, with an}' special circumstance 

 bearing thereon. In some classes of objects, 

 such as lithological specimens, unless details 

 are recorded with perfect accuracy, and 

 accompany the fragments of rocks, the 

 specimens themselves become quite worthless 

 for any scientific purpose. 



These suggestions, admittedly imperfect 

 in their extent, are respectfully laid before 

 3'ou, in the hope that some real out-of-door 

 work may be commenced b}' the members 

 this 3'ear, in the field, on the shore, and on the 

 surrounding waters. 



Such work is in itself a reward ; and it 

 should be remembered that no matter how 

 small or incomplete our collection may be 

 at first, ifinvestigation be steadily continued, 

 the persistent accumulation of typical speci- 

 mens in an}' branch of natural history is vir- 

 tually the recording in visible forms of 

 actual facts in the domain of nature. Upon 

 such tangible facts, when combined and com- 

 pared with the mental inductions that follow 

 from previously ascertained phenomena, is 

 formed the true basis on which all scientific 

 conclusions rest. 



I have the honor to be, ladies and gentle- 

 men, your obedient servant," 



A. O'D. Taylor, Curator. 

 Newport, R. I., May 7, 1885. 



The Rodentia of Rhode Island. 



{Continued.) 



MusKRAT : Musquash, Fiber Zibethicus 

 (Linn.), Cuvier. 



Among the wild animals found in this 

 state, the Muskrats are the most plen- 

 tiful, found everywhere, by pond and river, 

 and frequently in little mud-holes, surpris- 

 ingly' close to active business enterprises. 

 The}' are, however, armed with abundant 

 cunning and caution, and their presence 

 would, to a casual observer, be unsuspected 

 on account of their nocturnal habits. In 

 some of the streams and ponds in the vicin- 

 ity of Providence in the early spring and 

 near sundown, they are very active, and 

 even earlier in the day a practiced eye will 

 detect them sitting snugly on some old 

 stump or stone ; the chances are, how- 

 ever, that the rat will make the first discov- 

 ery, and flounce with lightning speed and a 

 noisy splash into the water. 



Their summer houses are burrows in the 

 banks and the entrance under water, often 

 at quite a distance from shore. The bur- 

 row slants upward towards the surface of 

 the ground and often has side galleries and 

 several points of entrance. I have informa- 

 tion of a burrow in Lincoln that can be 

 traced back for thirty feet in a direct line. 

 In these burrows the young are born, from 

 six to eight of them ; these large families 

 enable the species to hold its own against 

 its many enemies, gunners, trappers, and, 

 as reported, the fox, mink, owls, and 

 hawks. 



The winter huts are composed of grass 

 and roots with verj' little mud. The shape 

 is that which would naturall}' occur from 

 piling up matted bunches of grass, about a 

 mouthful at a time, and the entrance is 

 under water. Dr. C. Hart Merriam sug- 

 gests that these houses serve in part as 

 food. I cannot discover that such is the 

 case in this state, but our winters are not 

 very severe, and there is seldom anything to 

 prevent the obtaining of fresh food, prefer- 

 able to the dead and dry material of the 

 hut ; aside from aquatic plants and an 

 occasional fora}' upon some vegetable 

 patch, fresh water clams {Unto) are their 

 favorite food. These they carry to certain 

 chosen spots before eating them, and the 



