heretofore supposed to belong, in great part, at least, to the Allegha- 

 nian. Among the strictly prairie mammals represented, are at least 

 four rodents (Spermophilus tridecem-lineatus, S. Frankl'mii, Geomys 

 bursarius, ffesperomys michiganensis) , two carnivores (Canu latrans, 

 Taxidea americana), and at least one insectivore (Scalops aryentalus) . 

 Only one eastern species, the red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonius), ap- 

 peal's to find at the prairie line its western limit, if, as some have 

 supposed, it be true that this animal does not range across the conti- 

 nent. 1 Hence the difference between the mammalian fauna of the 

 prairies of the Upper Mississippi valley and that of the forest region 

 to the eastward consists in the addition of a number of species pecu- 

 liar to the prairies. 



Since all the larger species of mammalia are everywhere rapidly 

 disappearing before the revolutionizing influences of civilization, and 

 since great and general changes occur in the faunal and floral features 

 of every country when brought under cultivation, it becomes a mat- 

 ter of unusual interest to preserve as correct a record as possible of 

 the primitive conditions of our own country in this respect, for com- 

 parison with its subsequent altered status, as well as a history of the 

 change. The natural history of Iowa is of course now far from an 

 unexplored field, yet I find that no adequate record of its animals and 

 plants, nor of those of the country immediately adjoining, has as yet 

 been made. I have hence no hesitancy in presenting the few notes 

 that follow concerning some of the mammals of this State, 



FELID^. 



Two species of this family, from their known distribution, undoubt- 

 edly occur in portions of the State, but they cannot now be, and 

 probably never were, very numerous. I met, however, with no evi- 

 dences of their existence, and foiled to make special inquiries concern- 

 ing them. They are the following: 



1. Felis concolor Linnaeus. 2 (Panther.) 



2. Lynx rufus Rafinesque. (Bay Lynx.) 



The L. canadens-is may also occur in the northern parts of the State. 



1 See postea, p. 188. 



2 The nomenclature employed in this list is the same as that adopted by me re- 

 cently in my " Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts," so far as the species 

 are the same. See Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, No. vin, 

 October, 1869. 



