ZAPODIDAA—ZAPUS HUDSONIUS—GENERAL HISTORY. 479 
name of Meriones microcephalus. Yn 1856, Principal J. W. Dawson rede- 
scribed* the species as new, from Nova Scotian examples, under the name 
of Meriones acadicus. But the characters adduced by these authors in neither 
case indicate specific distinction, viewed in the light we now have on the normal 
variability of this animal. 
Though scarcely pertaining legitimately to the history of the species, 
numerous vague indications by Rafinesque of American species of ‘ Gerbidlus” 
may be here alluded to. The original quotations, together with the accounts 
compiled, chiefly by certain French writers, from Rafinesque, will be found 
in the foregoing list of synonyms. If the several supposed species have any 
foundation in nature, they are, in all probability, referable to Zapus hudsonius ; 
but I doubt that the “long-tailed”, “short-tailed”, “lion-tailed”, “shrew-like”, 
and “big-eyed” Gerbilli of M. Rafinesque are aught else than mere figments. 
This writer is also said to have renamed Davies’s animal under the style of 
Gerbillus daviesii, while he is entitled to the credit of leading American 
authors in giving the specific term hudsonius its rightful priority. 
In 1865, Professor Giebelf gave some account of the osteology of the 
animal, the dentition of which had before been specially treated by Fr. 
Cuvier (Zs. c.). In 1872, the habits of the species were made the subject 
of a special paper by Prof. Sanborn Tenney}. For additional information 
respecting its habits, reference may be made to the writings of Audubon and 
Bachman, DeKay, Samuels, and Kennicott (//. ss. cc.). 
* Notice of the species of Meriones and Arvicola found in Nova Scotia. < Edinburgh New Philo- 
sophical Journal, new series, iii, 1856, p. 1. 
t Zur Osteologie des labradorischen Springers, Jaculus labradorius. < Zeitschr. gesammt. Naturw. 
ZXy, 1865, pp. 272-274. 
¢ Hybernation of the Jumping Mouse. < American Naturalist, vi, 1872, pp. 330-3382, fig. 101. 
