204 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. V, 



been collected on the island appear to be extant in museums. 

 Ledru 1 gave a list of ten species as early as 1810. De Verteuil, 

 in his * Trinidad/ 2 devotes a number of pages to the mammals 

 (pp. 85-89 and 361-365), and gives also a vague nominal list of 

 the species (pp. 360, 361). The list, however, is so indefinite 

 that it is impossible to determine the number of species it is in- 

 tended to include, while the nomenclature adopted is too errone- 

 ous to merit serious consideration. His remarks on the habits 

 and distribution of many of the larger species are of interest. 



The first serious attempt to give a scientific catalogue of the 

 mammalian fauna of the island is Mr. Oldfield Thomas's 'A Pre- 

 liminary List of the Mammals of Trinidad,' 3 published early in the 

 present year. " The present list," says Mr. Thomas, " is only 

 written to form a basis on which a complete scientific list of the 

 mammals inhabiting Trinidad may be founded, and to show mem- 

 bers of the Society how extraordinary little is definitely known of 

 the mammals of the Island." He accordingly urges upon the atten- 

 tion of the members of the Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club the 

 importance of collecting specimens for transmission to the Brit- 

 ish Museum for scientific determination. Mr. Thomas's list in- 

 cludes 52 species, of which 27, or more than one-half, are Bats, and 

 8 only are Rodents, one of these being mentioned only generic- 

 ally. Mr. Thomas believes that this large number of Bats repre- 

 sents less than half of the species actually occurring on the 

 island, and calls special attention to the Rodentia as likely to 

 afford species " which are as yet absolutely unknown." Mr. 

 Thomas's foresight in respect to these groups is well vindicated 

 by the present collection, which adds one species to the list of 

 Bats, and raises the number of known Trinidad Rodents from 7 

 to 19. The number of known indigenous Muridae is raised from 

 one to eight, six of which it has been considered advisable to 

 describe as new. It is not probable that any of them are strictly 

 confined to the island, but doubtless occur on adjoining portions 



1 Voyage aux lies de Teneriffe, la Trinite, etc., I, 1810, p. 256. 



2 Trinidad : Its Geography, Natural Resources, Administration, Present Condition, and 

 Prospects. By L. A. A. de Verteuil, M. D. P., etc. One vol., 8vo., 1858. We are able to cite 

 only the second edition, published in 1884, which, so far as the natural history matter is con- 

 cerned, appears to be textually the same as the first. 



3 Journ. Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club, I, No. 7, April, 1893, pp. 158-168. 



