508 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.54. 



occipital 1; auditory bulla 1; mandibles (right) 10, (left) 5; scap- 

 ula 1; humerus (right) 2, (left) 3; imiomimite (right) 2, (left) 4; 

 femur (right) 22, (left) 13; tibia (right) 9, (left) 11. 



/St. Croix: 56 specimens (representing probably about 15 indi- 

 viduals) : mandibles (right) 6, (left) 4; scapula 1; humerus (right) 

 3, left 2; radius (right) 5; ulna (left) 1; innominate (right) 3, 

 (left) 1; femur (right) 7; (left) 9; tibia (right) 4, (left) 10. 



The numerous remains of Isolohodon from St. Thomas and St. 

 Croix show no characters that suggest the existence of any tendency 

 toward local differentiation. The same fact is equally true when 

 they are compared with material from Porto Eico and Santo Do- 

 mingo.^ It seems highly improbable that any mammal could retain 

 so remarkable a degree of uniformity over such a range as this if 

 its distribution had been due to natural causes. It is equally diffi- 

 cult to believe that local forms did in fact exist on the different 

 islands, but that no clue to their peculiarities should be given by 

 the many jaws, teeth, and leg bones which have been collected. Dis- 

 persal by pre-Columbian man suggests itself as the most probable 

 means by which such a distribution could have been effected. While 

 this explanation can not yet be taken as final, it is distinctly pointed 

 to by the facts: {a) that the bones of Isolohodon have thus far been 

 found chiefly if not exclusively in kitchen middens, {h) that the 

 abundance of the remains shows that the flesh was an important 

 article of food, and (<?) that the pre-Columbian inhabitants of St. 

 Thomas had intercourse with a territory which exactly coincides 

 with the animal's known range. 



DASYPROCTA AGUTI (Linnaeus). 



An old male of the golden-rumped Brazilian agouti was collected 

 on St. Thomas. It is a perfect specimen (Cat. No. 217950, 

 U.S.N.M.), preserved in alcohol, and of its identification there can 

 be no doubt. As the animal was seen on several occasions running 

 about and evidently wild there is no likelihood that it had been re- 

 cently imported.^ The capture of this specimen is of special interest, 

 as it demonstrates the fact that the Brazilian agouti has been intro- 

 duced on St. Thomas. The species was recorded as long ago as 1852 

 by Knox,^ but it has hitherto seemed possible that there was an error 



1 Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 66, No. 12, pp. 4-5, December 7, 1916. 



-The animal was " wild-killed," although not by me. I had seen this same agouti 

 twice, but had no gun with me, as I was on my way to my own work on those two occa- 

 sions. Then I went after it for two Sundays with a gun, and of course did not see it. 

 So I finally offered a reward to my workmen for it and one of them got it with a dog. 

 From the reports I received I am sure that there are some more on the island and that 

 these are of the same variety and not the dark-rumped ones. So you can eliminate the 

 theory that this was an escaped pet or was given to me by a well-meaning friend, 

 (de Booy, letter of March 5, 1917.) 



* A historical account of St. Thomas, W. I., p. 221. 



