no. 1825. THE LONG-TAILED SHREWS— H0LLI8TER. 381 



type-catalogue, as is carefully stated, the locality, Drurys Run, 

 Pennsylvania, was supplied from Bachman's description. The skull 

 of this specimen has recently been removed, and it proves to be not 

 personatus, but Sorex fumeus. A careful comparison of the specimen 

 with Bachman's description makes it perfectly obvious that it is not 

 the single specimen he had before him when he wrote the diagnosis 

 of Sorex fcmbripes. Beyond a point where a specimen of any shrew 

 might answer, it does not agree with any of the alleged characters, 

 and in all the distinctive characters mentioned differs widely in every 

 detail. In measurements particularly it differs so greatly that it is 

 at once evident this specimen has no claim as the type and it seems 

 probable it did not come from Drurys Run and was never in Bach- 

 man's hands. At the time the label was written the word "type" 

 had a very different meaning from what it now has and was used 

 for various purposes. Several specimens in the collection are 

 marked "type" which have not the slightest claim, in the modern 

 meaning of the word, to that distinction. Some were even collected 

 after the description was published. The writing on the parchment 

 label of this specimen is probably that of Professor Baird, who may 

 or may not have believed that the specimen was the original of 

 Bachman's description. 



The description of Sorex fmbripes differs so widely from any known 

 American shrew that the name is probably unidentifiable. This 

 specimen at any rate can not be considered the type, and the fact that 

 it proves to be the same as Sorex fumeus in no way invalidates that 

 currently used name. 



NOTE ON THE SOREX ACADICUS OF GILPIN. 



Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., has called my attention to the fact that the 

 identity of the shrew described by Gilpin, 1 from Nova Scotia, as 

 Sorex acadicus, has never been determined. A careful review of 

 Gilpin's papers makes it reasonably certain that . his species is 

 Sorex personatus. The only characters given which are of value 

 as evidence are the measurements, and these, though differing 

 considerably among themselves, agree best with the measurements of 

 Sorex personatus. The size as given in the table of measurements of 

 five specimens is: Length, 3f to 4 inches ( = 97 to 103 mm.), and tail, 

 1|| to 2 inches ( = 41 to 51 mm.). This is large for Microsorex hoyi 

 and too small for Sorex fumeus. Though the length of tail is some- 

 what great for S. personatus, it is too short for S. macrurus, and 

 was doubtless taken to the end of hairs. At present it seems per- 

 fectly proper to consider Sorex acadicus Gilpin a synonym of Sorex 

 personatus. 



i Trans. Nova-Seotian Inst. Nat. Sci., vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 2, 1867. Erroneously marked vol. 2. 



